WNBA Nashville ChapterWe gather, celebrate, and serve book lovers in the
Greater Nashville area and beyond |
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Want to have a greater role in the future of our fantastic organization?
We are seeking two new Board Members for the upcoming 2026-2028 term, beginning June, 2026: Program Chair Southern Festival of Books Chair If interested, please click WNBA Program and SFOB Board Position Descriptions.pdf for a description. Your WNBA-Nashville Board is eager to continue providing networking, socializing and professional development opportunities. We look forward to a great new membership year. For questions, and to discuss your interest further, contact us at [email protected] 
Please join us at our May Garden Party on Tuesday, May 5th. It’s one of our favorite annual events, and a great opportunity to celebrate, network and socialize over appetizers, wine and other beverages.
No need to RSVP. We’ll see you there. Please keep in mind this is a member-only event, but guests are welcome to join as new WNBA members at the event. Watch for the location in the upcoming May newsletter. For inquiries or questions, contact us at [email protected]. See you soon! Poetry and Friends“Life in Verse: The Power of Storytelling Through Poetry” Camaraderie and poetry were on the menu at Carrabba's on April 7 when WNBA Nashville met to celebrate National Poetry Month. Our program featured published poets Carly Marlys, Heather Cadenhead, and Kate Gaston. Carly, Heather, and Kate each read from their collected works and answered our questions about writing poetry. Carly, Heather, and Kate can all be found on Substack. Check them out! The evening also included some friendly conversations as we enjoyed our delicious meals from Carrabba's. It's always great to get together and see old friends and make new ones! We especially welcomed our newest members and our guests. From Pitch to PurchaseOn March 3, WNBA members gathered to network and for a program called “From Pitch to Purchase: How Books Actually Land on Shelves” presented by Susanne Marx, Territory Manager (Sourcebooks) and Linda Jameson Harris, former Executive Director, Mass Merchants. They shared a behind-the-scenes look at the distribution and sales process, leading a masterclass in strategy, relationships, and the perfect pitch. Participants learned all about books sales and the logistics it takes to get a book into every corner of the retail world.
Great Group Reads
WHAT: Save the Date~ Virtual Pitch-O-Rama is April 25
Are you developing a concept for a new book? Do you have a manuscript in progress? Have you always wanted to publish that book you’ve been working on for years? If this sounds like you, we would love to invite you to WNBA-SF's Pitch-O-Rama 2026! Everyone is welcome to participate! Pitch-O-Rama is a virtual event, where writers will be given the opportunity to pitch their works to agents and editors for publication. WHEN: Saturday, April 25, 2026 at 8am - 1pm PT WHERE: Virtual COST: Early Bird registration: only $85 as a WNBA member and $130 as a non-member (Rates go up March 1)! REGISTER HERE Lines from Lauren
Hi everyone! My name is Lauren Scott. I’m 12 years old, and I’m the youngest member of the WNBA Nashville chapter. Each month, I write a little challenge for our members to help keep the month fun and full of books!
I was on Canva the other day working on a school project, and while searching for a slideshow template, I made a really cool discovery: book bingo. I had seen things like this before, but it never really hit me how fun they can be. Not only do they create an exciting book-reading plan for the year, but they’re also something you can do with friends and family as a great bonding activity. So this month, I invite everyone to try a book challenge with your family and/or friends. It doesn’t have to be book bingo- just anything that gets your mind racing and has you running to your book shelves, the library or a book store to grab that one book you’ve been wanting to read for months but have been putting off. Here are a few ideas to get you started: • Complete a series • Read everything by one author • Ask your local librarian for a reading list • Explore a country you’d like to visit through books • Read books from a specific decade • Make your way through the classics • Explore classic retellings • AND MORE! Happy reading! Lauren Scott Upcoming Events Monthly Programming for Members. Guests welcome! May 5 Annual Garden Party for Members Only (but guests are welcome to attend and join at the event). May 19 Book Club Discussion The Lion Women of Tehran 6:00 pm at Carrabba's Did you realize there are more pages on our website than this one? Click above the website header on the three lines or the plus sign to find the links to our other pages. You'll find lots more content and information! To join click here. And don't forget to check out our Member News page. Let us know when you have some news to share! |
WNBA Book Club Goes Monthly
There is a quiet magic in reading alone—but an even greater one in reading together. As the new Book Club Chairperson for WNBA, I’m delighted to introduce a new monthly format for our book club gatherings. This shift opens the door for more frequent connection, richer conversation, and a stronger sense of community—one book at a time.
Book clubs do something special. They take a solitary act and turn it into a shared experience. They invite us to see through new lenses, to listen closely, and to linger a little longer in the world of a story. Around a table—whether in a cozy home or a favorite restaurant—books become bridges, conversations deepen, and connections grow into friendship. As our WNBA chapter continues to grow, we are inviting members to host a gathering. Choose a month, select a book, and decide on a setting that feels welcoming and warm. If you’re interested, please sign up with Kimberly Dana at [email protected] and include your preferred month, location, and book selection. Because the stories we read matter—but the connections we make around them matter even more! Warmly, Kimberly Dana WNBA Book Club Chairperson 
Join us for our May Book Club as we dive into The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali—a powerful story of friendship, courage, and resilience set against the backdrop of Iran’s changing history. Following two women whose lives intertwine across decades, the novel explores the bonds that shape us and the choices that define us.
WNBA Members will gather on Tuesday, May 19th at 6:00 p.m. at Carrabba’s in Green Hills for an evening of thoughtful conversation and connection. RSVP with Danielle via email: [email protected] We hope you’ll join for a meaningful discussion—and a wonderful night out with fellow readers! Greetings from Ami
Greetings, WNBA members! 2025 was surprising and fulfilling for WNBA Nashville with many opportunities for networking, socializing, and volunteering for the good of the community. Here’s a quick recap of the year: 7 chapter meetings https://www.wnbanashville.org/programsevents.html#/ 3 Summer Happy Hours at Pinewood Social https://pinewoodsocial.com 7 book club discussions https://www.wnbanashville.org/book-club-discussions.html#/ 3 community service projects including a spring book drive for foster families, a fall book drive for the Debra Johnson Rehabilitation Center, and a Christmas book wrap for CASA https://www.wnbanashville.org/philanthropy.html#/ 2 members only events: May Garden Party at Ami’s featuring Southern Festival of Books’ Serenity Gerbman + our annual Holiday Party at Natchez Country Club 2 amazing events at Southern Festival of Books https://www.sofestofbooks.org *Coffee with Authors, WNBA Nashville’s exclusive, ticketed event: https://www.wnbanashville.org/southern-festival-of-books.html#/ chaired by Jennifer Sellers and moderated by board secretary Melissa Collings with Bruce Holsinger (Culpability) Jenna Levine (Road Trip with a Vampire) and narrators Amanda Stribling and Austenne Grey https://www.wnbanashville.org/southern-festival-of-books.html#/ *Booth time at locations #57 and 58, thanks to Libby Simons, Southern Festival board chairperson and all of you who volunteered time and energy greeting and serve book lovers (and their dogs) at this free and open to the public event. Looking ahead we’ll continue programming on the first TUESDAY of each month. I look forward to chapter meetings, summer happy hours, members-only events (Garden Party and Holiday Party), book club discussions, Southern Festival of Books celebration, & many other philanthropic projects. A huge thank you to the Nashville board. You make this chapter so special: https://www.wnbanashville.org/2024-2026-board-members.html#/ You can count on your board to advocate for a growing, thriving community. And we welcome your ideas! If you’d like to serve, let a board member know. This chapter is strong because of YOU! Thanks for your continued support of our thriving Nashville literary and arts community. Stay tuned for an update on 2026 so far. We're looking forward to seeing you at our Garden Party on May 5! Gratefully, Ami McConnell, President WNBA Nashville Chapter 📚💙 WNBA Nashville exists to gather, celebrate, and serve book lovers in the Greater Nashville area and beyond. 
Vanderbilt University Presents
the 38th annual Southern Festival of Books, a program of Humanities Tennessee 2026 OCTOBER 17 (9am to 6pm) OCTOBER 18 (10am to 5pm) Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, Tennessee State Museum, and Tennessee State Library and Archives We're excited to celebrate the written word with you downtown this fall! Initial lineup to come midsummer. In the meantime, happy reading!
Bonnie Blaylock suffers from logolepsy, an obsession with words. She’s been drawn to the written page from early days, born into a large family with sisters happy to read to her endlessly.
In the fall of 1989, in the middle of grad school, she happened upon an inaugural open-air event in the middle of Nashville called the Southern Festival of Books. Wandering through the fabulous booths sponsored by book people with bookish pursuits, she had the outlandish dream of being there herself someday as an author. At SoFest, she discovered a booth hosted by the Denver Publishing Institute and enrolled in its inaugural class, where she learned the ins and outs of publishing, met people in the industry, and learned how the slow wheels of book production turned. In grad school, she read and wrote her way through the classics, screenplays, mysteries, and period fiction for an MA in creative writing from the University of Tennessee (#GoBigOrange). Afterward, she spent several years in technical and research writing for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and sales support writing for a software outfit, all the while hungrily studying the craft of fiction and reading constantly. Technical and sales writing was dusty and dry, but it still involved words! The writing train jumped the tracks when life turned hectic after children were born, and she and her husband (a veterinarian) ran a small-animal hospital in Murfreesboro for over twenty years. Soon after her firstborn left for college, she wrote her first blog post, which eventually led to summoning the courage to submit those personal essays for publication. When the nest emptied, she wrote a novel (a science thriller) and faced the learning curve of writing queries, synopses, and rejections. A few years ago, she found the WNBA booth at SoFest and signed up on the spot. Not long after, Bonnie had an author slot at the WNBA booth and experienced a full-circle moment of gratitude that, three decades later, the dreams of that twenty-something grad student had come true. Her first published novel, Light to the Hills, was released in 2022. Southern historical fiction, it takes place in Eastern Kentucky in the 1930s, when a packhorse librarian learns the power of words can bring mountain justice to a remote community in the hills. March 2026 saw the release of her second novel, The Water Women, historical fiction set in Sardinia, tracing generations of mothers and daughters who pass down the ancient craft of weaving sea silk until war disrupts their idyllic island. Next year, her third historical novel, The Lookout, is scheduled for publication. When she’s not writing, reading, teaching in some capacity or traveling, Bonnie is usually outside with her hands in her Murfreesboro garden. In addition to wrangling chickens and miniature donkeys, she is also a beekeeper. 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 we share them with friends. --Lee Fairbend |
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, contact [email protected]