Taylor Shenk :: Everybody Knows Tina ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: The South is the only place where I’m not called country, but rather more of a city girl. Such twang isn’t found any higher than Virginia, the only place I’ve ever called home. I find my identity...
Kenneth Parsons :: Leo Kotke Turns 80 ::
Leo Kottke plays slide guitar and uses open tunings (chordal tunings) that originated in the Southern U.S., chiefly among black blues guitar players. I was born in Kentucky, and the finger-picking style is common in Nashville, Tennessee (think Chet Atkins),...
Neha Agarwal :: Split ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Heat that bears down like warm inland waters, spice that nourishes even as it cuts through, and stories that are passed down as precious family heirlooms. I am not from the American South, but I know a...
Mary Sturgill :: On Becoming an Orphan ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Mary Sturgill bleeds Carolina blue. Though her journalism career has carried her across the US, every mile traveled was a winding road leading her back home to the South. After a stint in Southeast TX, Mary made...
Blair Kinsey :: My Friend, the Doorstop ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: … born and raised in Austin, Texas. After a few years in Memphis, Tennessee, she now calls Austin home again. Here, she works with Austin Bat Refuge, rehabilitating winged creatures on their way further south for winter...
Jordan Hoban :: An Honest Life ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: [NC resident] for 32 years. From a young age, I attended an Independent Baptist church on the outskirts of Charlotte, NC, and was educated in the church’s Christian school, which influenced my writing by exposing me to...
C. Christine Fair :: The Railroad Tracks ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I have lived in Virginia since 2004. I’ve lived here longer than I’ve lived anywhere else. It is my home. I AM a Virginian. The Railroad Tracks Holly and I were thirteen and life was waging a...
June Issue illustrations :: The Federal Theater Project, Library of Congress files ::
The featured images coming up in the June 2025 issue of the Dead Mule come from the Library of Congress (as per our usual). While searching for a decent raccoon illustration for Blair Kinsey’s creative non-fiction essay, I came across...
Iysis Ray :: Bodega Boys ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born in The Bronx Hospital, on Pelham. Those roots will last forever. I don’t act like I’m from the Bronx, my father agrees because I won’t eat a bacon, egg, & cheese, or a peanut...
Myasia Morris :: Fourth of July ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: The south means family to me. Manning, South Carolina is where family is for me, every fourth of July where we have a block party. Food, socializing, fireworks, dancing, games, people of all ages are brought together....
Matt Cook :: Best Late Night Adventure ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I am a student athlete. This story is about a night with two best friends. Best Late Night Adventure James and I are cruising around after practice. Beautiful night out, we blast music and eat Raising Caines....
Sarah Parkinson :: Stupid. Dumb. Emotions. ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I have no true origin, I can claim no land, but I can claim it all, and most recently, the South too. I am a military child who moves every 2-3 years. I move so often that...
Poetry
Essays
