Emily Choate | writer

My latest piece is up this week. We all know that processing the past year’s national upheaval has taken a toll. Maggie Smith and Saeed Jones addressed this cultural threshold by assembling poems and essays from a powerful group of writers in The People’s Project. I’ve reviewed it for Chapter 16—a tremendous publication that chronicles our TN literary landscape every week, despite the unique obstacles of this era. Find my review here and, if you’re able, consider supporting Chapter 16 and Humanities Tennessee.

I’m so pleased to share my latest poetry round-up review for Chapter16.org! In Stephanie Niu’s I Would Define the Sun, Richard Tillinghast’s Night Train to Memphis, and Abby N. Lewis’s Aquakineticist, the nonhuman world shows up in myriad ways, offering us spaces in which we can align with the mysterious aspects of life that sustain us, challenge us, and fill us with awe. You can read my review at the equally awe-inspiring Chapter16.org.

I had the chance to review Ocean Vuong’s new novel, The Emperor of Gladness, for Chapter16.org. In addition to sharing my review, I want to plug Chapter 16’s stellar work covering the literary ecosystem across TN, sending book coverage into places it might not otherwise reach. As part of Humanities Tennessee, it’s one of many invaluable programs under threat of extinction–thanks to DOGE cuts. Please check out my review and Chapter 16, where I’ve been a happily contributing writer for over a decade. Let’s advocate for the Humanities!

Today is the pub day for poet Tiana Clark’s new collection, Scorched Earth, and I’m so excited to share my Chapter 16 review of this terrific work. From the piece: “Through smoldering honesty and formal inventiveness, the poems in Tiana Clark’s Scorched Earth insist on foregrounding the rough truths that shake loose during times of upheaval.” You can read the review here at Chapter 16. (Update: this piece also appeared in the Nashville Scene.)

I’m excited to share my review of novelist Geraldine Brooks’ new book, Memorial Days, which tells the story of Brooks’ decision to unleash the grief she suppressed after the sudden loss of her husband, celebrated writer Tony Horowitz. Memorial Days is a moving portrait of a marriage between two gifted writers, and it’s also tough to put down. My review’s up at Chapter 16, and you can read it here.

I snapped this photo while reviewing poet Maria Zoccola’s thrilling debut collection—Helen of Troy, 1993. A side-eye to the Classics seemed just right. If you vibe on literary collisions between podunk southern women and Classical mythology—LIKE I DO—you’ll love this book. It was a blast to review, and you can read that piece over at Chapter 16.

Today, my latest poetry roundup review has appeared at Chapter 16. In Blas Falconer’s Rara Avis, Danielle Chapman’s Boxed Juice, and Todd Osborne’s Gatherer, our world’s inherent uncertainty takes center stage, fueling each poet’s inquiry into how our everyday lives (and our deeper internal longings) can survive the unknowable. Given current events, the necessity of such inquiries seems to grow by the day. You can read my review over at the ever-necessary Chapter 16.

I wrote a review for the new fall issue of Still: the Journal. So check out my piece (on Kirsten Reneau’s debut essay collection, Sensitive Creatures) and then spend some time with this great-looking final issue of a wonderful journal!

I’m excited to share my review of Didi Jackson’s wonderful collection, My Infinity. This is one of my favorite books of the year, and I hope you’ll check it out, especially if you love poems that are intimately tied to visual art—Hilma af Klint, in this case. My review of My Infinity is up today at another infinite wonder, Chapter 16.

I’m happy to share my latest review for Chapter 16. In We Burn Daylight, Bret Anthony Johnston evokes Romeo and Juliet’s teenage lovers amid a religious community’s fiery standoff with authorities that closely parallels the 1993 Waco siege. I especially admire Johnston’s ability to manage multiple POVs to tell a story that covers a long stretch of time, as in his terrific previous novel, Remember Me Like This. You can read my review at the equally terrific Chapter 16.