Author: Posted by Dead Mules

Poetry

Grey Held: Poetry: Jan 2022

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I grew up in the capital of the Confederacy, a stone’s throw from the James River. My dad grew up on Monument Avenue, a stone’s throw from the Jefferson Davis monument. My grandpa used to say “you...
Essays

KD Smith: Creative Non-Fiction: Jan 2022

Southern Legitimacy Statement: “Stop bein’ ugly or I’ll paint your back porch red.” Jerked from the reverence of a funeral graveside prayer because the fire ants have crawled into your sandals, driving nails into your feet. Sitting on the porch...
Essays

Shelia Arnold: Memoir: Jan 2022

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I’ve lived in West Tennessee all of my life, and though I believe myself to be the most polished of my siblings, I still have quite a bit of residue on me. My six brothers and I...
Essays

Matthew Stokes: Memoir: Jan 2022

Southern Legitimacy Statement: My first cousin initially said it and has reminded me often, “You know where your roots are.” His words were in response to my living and teaching in northern China for two years. I was born in...
Essays

Howard Pearre: Memoir: Jan 2022

Southern Legitimacy Statement: You may be from around here if you’ve ever loved how cool June mornings are until about eight, but didn’t mind the afternoon heat as long as there was some shade, a breeze, and a glass of...
Poetry

James King: Poetry: Jan 2022

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born and raised one block south of the southern shore of Lake Erie, not far from the Cuyahoga River, which back then was redder than the reddest red clay of Georgia. We didn’t brag about...
Essays

James Ryer: Essay: Dec 2021

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I frequently think about how the South and it’s defining characteristics, good and bad, exist in other cultures and, more recently, have reflected on that in my writing while carefully cultivating timely opportunities for drinking Coke and...
Essays

Trish Cantillon: Memoir: Dec 2021

My Southern Legitimacy Statement: Born and raised in Southern California and smart enough to marry a man from Abilene, Texas who has fostered my love of hush puppies, collard greens, and, DUH, barbecue! The Wrong Job at the Right Time...
Essays

Lauren Karcz: Memoir: Dec 2021

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I’m a lifelong Atlantan who’s been known to sit, unfazed, in my hot car in the summertime to finish listening to a song. Even in the city, the notable features of my block are two churches and...
Fiction

David VanDevelder: Fiction: Dec. 2021

Southern Legitimacy Statement: We were a prototypical southern nuclear family. My Papaw came up in the Great Smokey Mountains, near Farner, Tennessee and Cherokee, North Carolina. When he was nine, he lost track of the time one summer evening, squirrel...