THE BIBE OF BARBARA KINGSOLVER Comes to Tennessee Shakespeare Company This Month

 Tennessee Shakespeare Company will bring the page to the Tabor Stage its next installment of the Southern Literary Salon Series: The Bible of Barbara Kingsolver on Sunday, May 19 at 3:00 pm.  

The Kentucky-raised Kingsolver, who won last year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, has authored nine novels, three nonfiction books, two collections of essays, two books of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a children’s book.

Generously sponsored by Dorothy O. Kirsch, The Bible of Barbara Kingsolver, which will run for approximately one hour without intermission, is curated and directed by TSC’s Stephanie Shine. TSC’s Southern Literacy Salons are unique, fun social hours of curated readings, scenes, and discussions that explore Southern authors and their works, with a signature cocktail or two. 

The cast includes TSC company actors Shine, Dan McCleary, Lauren Gunn, Nicolas Dureaux Picou, and TSC newcomer Sarah Hankins.  The actors will read and play Kingsolver’s work, bringing to life moments from Prodigal Summer, Demon Copperhead, and The Poisonwood Bible, as well as selections from her poetry, nonfiction works, and interviews. 

“I have had a personal relationship with Barbara Kingsolver’s works for over 30 years,” says Shine.  “We’ve grown up together. I find that her expansiveness, fueled by her intelligence and curiosity, makes her writing of vital importance. She always opens her readers’ eyes to social subjects that humanity needs to explore in a way that is palatable, although sometimes painful, in its honesty.”

Barbara Kingsolver is a celebrated American novelist known for her insightful exploration of social and environmental issues. She was raised in rural Kentucky and currently lives in Appalachia, the influences of which can be felt throughout her work. Kingsolver's profound understanding of the natural world infuses her work with vivid imagery and ecological consciousness. She has gained wide acclaim with her bestselling novels that explore the complexities of family, community, and the intersection between the personal and the political. Her novel Demon Copperhead, which is a modern retelling of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield set in Appalachia, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2023. 

"My job, as I understand it,” Kingsolver has said, “is to invent lives that are far more enlightening than my own, invested with special meaning. That’s the whole advantage of fiction over life: you get to control the outcome.”

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