WNBA Nashville ChapterConnecting the Book Community
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February meeting
WNBA February Meeting, 2/2 Dalt's American Grill White Bridge Road 5:30 pm WNBA: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow We are kicking off our 2023 programming with a member-wide gathering to learn more about the past, present, and future of the WNBA. Find out how and why the Nashville chapter started, then share your vision of WNBA's future during a casual small-group discussion. This is a great opportunity to meet up with fellow book lovers and shape the organization's priorities for the upcoming year. Please join us at Dalt's American Grill on White Bridge Road on February 2nd, 5:30 pm. We want to learn more about you and what you want the WNBA to be in 2023! Member News Don't forget to check out our Member News page regularly. Our members are doing great things and have great tips for you! If you have anything you would like to add, complete our contact form. Member news can be about anything that you want to share, your retirement, a promotion at work, your latest publication, your appearances, or a work in progress. News of current members only will be published. Our members are awesome! Thanks to Lee Fairbend for this important news item.
The League of Women Voters of Nashville presents HOT TOPICS Friday, February 3, 2023 — 12:00 pm This will be a virtual event. Program begins promptly at noon. Library Services at Metro Nashville Public Schools Lindsey Kimery is Coordinator of Library Services at Metro Nashville Public Schools in Nashville, Tennessee, and a past-president of the Tennessee Association of School Librarians. She serves in leadership roles for the American Association of School Librarians and Future Ready Libraries. She has served in TN public schools for over twenty years. Lindsey will be sharing recent legislation that impacted school libraries. The topics include:
This event is free and open to everyone! After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. REGISTER FOR HOT TOPIC Great Group ReadsWith a new year, we're gearing up for another season of Great Group Reads and we'd love to have you join us as a reader on the committee. If you'd like to help shape our annual list and can commit to reading 20-25 or so publisher submitted books between March and July, this might be the perfect chance for you to volunteer for WNBA. If you want the chance to read some amazing books (often prior to their publication) that you might never have come across otherwise and to be a part of helping other readers find the perfect book or books to share with their book clubs, libraries, and reading friends, this might be perfect for you.
All current WNBA members in good standing are welcome. We'd especially love to have more readers of color and readers from other marginalized communities join our committee. For more detailed information on how to become a reader, please e-mail Kristen Knox at ggr@wnba-books.org. Nashville member Dorothy Vaughn has been a member of this committee for several years. She says, "Each year's GGR books for consideration are like my very own summer reading list. I really anticipate that there will be gems to enjoy. The group of books provided include diverse settings and social environments, address the issues of yesterday, of generations past, as well as of right now. My favorites each year are ones that tell new untold stories. There is still so much to learn and to love in a great book." WNBA Award
It's time for nominations for the WNBA Award. Any member in good standing can nominate someone for this award. To learn more about this process and the award, go to WNBA Award - WNBA-Books where you will find all the requirements and information you need to make a nomination. You will also see a list of previous recipients of the award. The deadline for nomination submissions has been extended until February 12.
Holiday Dinner
WNBA's Holiday Dinner was held on December 8 at the Woman's Club of Nashville. We enjoyed a delicious dinner in a beautifully decorated Classical Revival style mansion built in the 1920's. We welcomed Mary Beth Harding of the Nashville Adult Literacy Council as the evening's guest speaker. Mary Beth told us about NALC's mission which is to help Nashville adults with the reading, writing, and English-speaking skills they need for the life they want. Learners at NALC reach their goals through lessons with teachers and tutors. Some classes are in person, but, since the pandemic, NALC has also found that online tutoring is very successful. Most of the tutors are volunteers and more are needed. There is a waiting list of around 300 learners who would love to improve their literacy skills. If you would like to tutor a student, look at NALC's website for more information. Scheduling is flexible and can be arranged with your student however best works for the two of you. At the top of the homepage, click on How Can I Help? Nashville Adult Literacy Council (nashvilleliteracy.org) To see more pictures of this event, click here. From a NALC volunteer
I’m Kayla Stierwalt, virtual English teacher, writer, and WNBA Nashville book discussion chair. My education experience and Nashville community have grown as I’ve joined the Nashville Adult Literacy Council (NALC), a local nonprofit that promotes literacy for adult learners. Volunteering as an ESL tutor at NALC has been a great way for me to deepen my connection with the Nashville literacy community and, more importantly, with my student.
NALC pairs each tutor with one student for a period of at least three months. Our twice weekly virtual sessions have given us a place not only to strengthen language skills and meet the student’s goals through the provided lessons and materials but also develop rapport—we’ve bonded over our shared fondness for Taylor Swift and the Backstreet Boys. NALC provides training and continued support through tutor-mentor check-ins and educational opportunities like speaker events. Building trust so the student feels comfortable asking questions and sharing experiences means a lot to me, and I love seeing her confidence grow. Tutoring gives me an opportunity to work with adult students and give back to the city that shares so many literary joys with me. The NALC website includes information about upcoming tutor training as well as other resources. Visit to volunteer or donate to Nashville literacy. Nashville Adult Literacy Council (nashvilleliteracy.org) |
WNBA Loves Books! We write them, we publish them, we sell them, we teach children and adults to read and appreciate them, we loan them, we borrow them, we give them, we read them, we listen to them, and share them with friends. --Lee Fairbend From our President
I hope your holiday season has been a wealth of good memories. The snow a few days before Christmas made for a picture-perfect holiday and a delight for my Golden Retriever.
One of my favorite memories from the 2022 holiday season will be the WNBA dinner at the Woman’s Club of Nashville. Laughter and conversation floated throughout the two dining areas. Mary Beth Harding, Vice President Community Development, with the Nashville Adult Literacy Council was our speaker. She shared the challenges of working with adults learning to read and also shared the joy of fulfillment that it brought to staff and the adults. Members of WNBA donated $1500 in December to Nashville Adult Literacy which helped them reach their $50,000 goal. Thanks to all of you. Kathleen Dietz Philanthropy Focus
The WNBA Nashville Board has determined that our membership would like for our organization to place a focus on philanthropy in Nashville, especially in support of nonprofit organizations in our area that are centered around books and literacy. We have asked Lee Fairbend, long time WNBA member and co-founder of Book'em to be our philanthropy chair and we have created a Philanthropy page on this website. Please look at Lee's latest postings on this page and consider helping us make Nashville a better place to live.
We have a project with Book'em coming up in February! News from Chapter 16WNBA Nashville member Peggy Peden brought this to our attention. Thanks, Peggy!
If you're a writer looking for new places to submit your work, here's some news you can use: In collaboration with Nashville's nonprofit writing center, The Porch, Sewanee poet and editor Leigh Anne Couch is launching a new literary journal called Swing. In an email announcement, Couch writes that Swing will "publish the best work from the South and beyond twice a year in a print magazine of inventive design." Porch co-founder (and Chapter 16 contributor) Susannah Felts will serve as assistant editor, and Rachel Briggs is on board as designer. Swing is accepting submissions now. We would like to feature great books you've read or literary field trips you've taken or anything bookish you would like to share with our membership. If you have read a book that you love and want to recommend, let us know. If you've been somewhere literary, we might want to go too! Tori Ross told me that the Frist Art Museum will be having a Beatrix Potter exhibit April 7 - September 17! As retired children's librarians, that's exciting news to us! I actually went to Beatrix Potter's house in England a few years ago. So let us know about something fun and literary that you've seen or done. Just go to the Contact page and let me know so we can share it with everyone! Nancy Dickinson, Webmaster WriterFest Nashville 2022By Catherine Hooper
This was my first year to attend WriterFest Nashville, and I loved it! This conference offered advice, support, and networking opportunities for authors, music business professionals, and filmmakers (but I’d say most everyone I met was an author). The panels were fun, interesting, and educational. The guest speakers were well prepared, knowledgeable, and organized. With three types of workshops available each hour—Honing your Craft, Publishing, or Learning the Industry—there was always something interesting to attend. I sought out social media learning opportunities and after two sessions, I changed topics, having reached sensory overload from all the new, useful information. Friday’s Networking Lunch was a fantastic opportunity to have lunch with an author or agent or other professional of your choice. I was able to discuss an agent’s favorite authors in my genre and socialize with other creative guests at the table. Brava to Ami McConnell for a wonderful educational and networking experience. To learn more about WriterFest Nashville, click here.
March 18, 2023 10:00 am Book Discussion 
It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist--the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind. Fun-loving Enid Pretty in her tight-fitting pink suit and pom-pom sandals seems to attract trouble wherever she goes. But together these two British women find themselves drawn into a cross-ocean adventure that exceeds all expectations and delivers something neither of them expected to find: the transformative power of friendship.
All book discussions are currently being held on Zoom.
Upcoming Book Discussions March 18 May 20 July 15 Next Literary Society: February 16 at 7:00pm Join us for some conversation!Would you like to have a chance to socialize with your fellow members of WNBA without leaving home or having to fight Nashville traffic? At 7:00 pm on the third Thursday of February, April, June, August, October, and December, you can do just that! That is when we have our Literary Society meetings where we share books that we've been reading. But we also talk about life and get to know each other a little bit better. Join us for some online fellowship! You should receive an email with the Zoom link early in the week, but if you don't, let us know through the contact form on this site and we will send it to you. Please contact us early in the week as this site is not constantly monitored. Our next Literary Society meeting is February 16 at 7:00 p.m. "I look forward to hearing everyone talk enthusiastically about the books they're reading, and what they most enjoyed. It's always a nice variety. My "books to read" list has grown every time we chat over Zoom." -- Tori Ross The WNBA has announced its 2022 Great Group Reads List! See it on our national organization's website at 2022 Great Group Reads - WNBA-Books
Board Members Your current Nashville board members are hard at work all year long, planning events and opportunities for our organization. If you have any ideas or concerns, let us know. Contact information and board members are listed here. Check out WNBA's national website to find out what is going on around the country in all of our chapters. Women's National Book Association (WNBA) - WNBA-Books |
About the Nashville Chapter
Since 1955, the Nashville chapter of the Women’s National Book Association has been promoting reading, supporting literacy, and advancing the role of women in the community of the book. We offer informative programs and networking opportunities from September through May, a book discussion group that meets six times a year, and various charitable and outreach activities
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Questions?
All events, with the exception of the annual Christmas dinner and the Garden Party, are free and open to the public. For more information, or to request a Zoom code, contact wnbanashwebsite@gmail.com