History faculty members Michael Birdwell, W. Calvin Dickinson and Wali Kharif join more than 200 authors at this year's Southern Festival of Books, set for Friday-Sunday, Oct. 7-9, at War Memorial Plaza in Nashville.

Birdwell and Dickinson co-edited Rural Life and Culture in the Upper Cumberland (University Press of Kentucky, 2004), a look at the people and events that have given our region a unique niche in American life and culture. Kharif is a contributing author.

Their presentation begins at 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 8, in Conference Room II of the Nashville Public Library.

Birdwell and Dickinson have made previous appearances at the Southern Festival for other books, including Upper Cumberland Historic Architecture (Hillsboro Press 2002), and Tennessee Tales Textbooks Don't Tell (Over Mountain Press, 2002). Rural Life and Culture is going into its second printing.

The Southern Festival of Books, now in its 17th year, is sponsored by Humanities Tennessee, and admission is free. War Memorial Plaza is located at the corner of Sixth and Union in downtown Nashville. Talks, readings and panel discussions take place in the library and select areas of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center; all festival events are within a two-block area. After each session, book signings will be held on the plaza in the signing colonnade.