Literary Tennesee

The boyhood home of famed author Alex Haley, who penned the ground-breaking novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family, is in Henning, a town in Tennessee. "Roots," which was also made into a landmark TV miniseries in 1977, was inspired by family stories a young Alex heard on the porch of his childhood residence. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Haley is buried on the grounds. The inside of the home has been restored to the way it looked in 1921 when Haley was born with exhibits featuring his work and childhood memorabilia. 

Visit the places that inspired these literary legends and walk in the footsteps of their characters, courtesy of the Literary Knox Walking Tour. Elsewhere in the state, the power of words is celebrated at the International Storytelling Centre in Jonesborough, Tennessee’s oldest town. The International Storytelling Centre is the world's premier institution dedicated to the art of storytelling.