Books for the Weekend

For over four decades, the Southern Festival of Books has brought authors of international renown to Music City and provided a forum for local authors–well-known and unknown–to share their work with the community. As it prepares to launch its 36th iteration this weekend, the festival is poised to build on last year’s postpandemic momentum thanks to the work of Serenity Gerbman, Director of Literature and Language Programs for Humanities Tennessee, and her team. “We are so excited about the second year in our new location [on Bicentennial Mall],” Gerbman said via email. “As we hoped, the event is expanding with the added space. We have a record number of vendors, as well as music and performance stages, a creativity zone for all ages, food trucks, and a beer garden.”

Though the schedule of author talks and signings offers an abundance of literary riches, the festival aims to appeal to as wide a swath of Nashvillians as possible. “The author lineup has superstars in so many genres; we really do think there is something for everyone at the Festival,” Gerbman said. “From fantasy bestseller TJ Klune to breakout smash God of the Woods by Liz Moore to folk legend Joan Baez, the Festival is welcoming 200 authors from all over the country for the weekend. People can view the schedule and make a personalized plan for the weekend in our free app.” 

More information, including the full schedule and parking map, can be found at the Southern Festival of Books’s website.

🚨 Do You Feel Safe? While Nashvillians seem to appreciate the work MNPD is doing, over half feel the city is less safe than five years ago. According to the Nashville Police + Public Safety Alliance’s first public opinion poll, 90 percent of participants feel they’ve been treated fairly by police. Though only 46 percent want more police presence in their neighborhoods, 69 percent approve of the job MNPD is doing.

This new Nashville alliance hopes to continue collecting data like this to help shape public safety policy. Check out the full survey results here.

🧊 AG Puts ICE on Ice Yesterday, the Tennessee Attorney General’s office shared documents exposing a plan to release thousands of dangerous illegal aliens into the state. In 2022, the Governor’s office prevented the would-be catastrophe after being looped into a conversation taking place between the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, former Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s office, and the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. Had the plan progressed, ICE wanted to release more than 7,000 detainees from Louisiana—some with “criminal records including homicide, sexual assault, aggravated assault with a weapon, armed robbery, kidnapping, smuggling aliens, drug trafficking, burglary, and fraud.” 

“The federal government’s single most important job is to keep dangerous people out of our country and instead it has let killers and rapists illegally cross our border and walk free on our streets,” said AG Skrmetti in a press release. “While the urgent work to fix our broken immigration system continues in Washington, my Office will keep fighting for transparency and accountability.”

🎓 School Choice Back On The Docket It looks like Governor Lee is fervently renewing his effort to pass a school choice bill in Tennessee. According to Chalkbeat, a new proposal will be the first bill of 2025’s General Assembly. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson plans to file his ordinance the morning after Election Day.

Though the legislature didn’t get the governor’s initiative over the finish line this spring, school choice advocates might be able to capitalize on some of the momentum ginned up by presidential candidate Donald Trump. "We're going to move education back to the states," he said during his commemorative return to Butler, Pennsylvania a couple weeks ago. A Tennessee legislative panel has even considered ways the state may be able to reject federal education funds. You can read more about some of the proposed changes the House and Senate majority leaders may attach to the new school choice legislation here.

DEVELOPMENT

• SoBro restaurant and bar building listed for sale (NBJ)
• Luke Bryan, Jockey International to open new concept in 12South (NBJ)
• Local investor acquires Sylvan Park commercial buildings (Post)

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide and yearly festival guide.

TONIGHT

🪕 EmiSunshine @ Station Inn, 9p, $20, Info

🎸 Goose @ Ascend Amphitheater, 7p, $29.50, Info

🥁 LIVE JAZZ: Parker James, Paul DeFiglia, & Anson Hohne @ Vinyl Tap, 7p, No Cover, Info

🎸 Shane Smith and the Saints @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $54+, Info

🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelly’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

🎸 Open Mic @ Fox & Locke, 6:30p, Free, Info
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📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

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