Margaret Donovan Bauer :: Ted’s Push ::
Southern legitimacy statement: As I tell my students, I am from as far South as you can get: Franklin, Louisiana is at the bottom of the state. I grew up on the Bayou Teche there, in a plantation house my...
Jeremiah Stricklin :: Pretty Boy ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: My mom used to tell me that’s why my eyes were brown. That’s my family’s version of a compliment. To be full of crap means you tell good stories. To tell good stories means you’re worth keeping...
Elizabeth Wadsworth Ellis :: Blank Tile with Tree ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I reside south of Canada. I have visited friends in Bluffton, South Carolina. A woman there told me, “You Yanks burned down everything!” We ventured into Savannah, Georgia during my visit. Blank Tile with Tree I drew...
Richard Cutler :: The Squirrels Eat My Roof in January ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: The Pamlico River divides Beaufort County in North Carolina into north and south portions. I was created, birthed, and reared and made into who I am today on a black dirt farm on the north side of...
Terry Ann Thaxton :: The Doll in the Mirror ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement Fifth generation Floridian. So far south, I ain’t got a twang. But my great-great grandparents (Joseph B. Keen/e, 1837-1898 and Mary P. Bronson, 1840-1921) are buried in the Shingle Creek Cemetery south of Orlando, Florida, tucked behind...
Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy :: Grandmammy ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I am a writer and author with a rich family history. My folks either are Southern or on my dad’s side of the house, immigrants who came in the late 1800’s. I’m a widow with a big...
Kimberly Williams :: “Southern Cornbread Dressing as described in The New Perry Hotel: A Century of Southern Hospitality, A Compilation of Memories and Favorite Recipes of Nannette Green in Her 50th Year at the New Perry Hotel” by Bobbe Nelson ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Born and raised in west Georgia and east Alabama, my high school mascot was a distinguished Civil War soldier and my grandparents never pronounced the “r” in my first name. Pot likker soothed my colic and constipation,...
Judy Merens :: Ghosts of Thanksgivings Past ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I have dual citizenship in both the South and the Midwest. I am a new writer, reborn by discovering writing in my 70’s (years, not the decade.) I love the South–the food, the music, the lakes and...
Tyler Ayres :: Cut Tomatoes ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Though I was sired in New York City, my folks brought me up in Central Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania isn’t the South, you say? Alright, friendo. Step into my office. See this map? Pittsburgh over on this side, Philly...
Lee Anne Sontheimer Murphy :: Asleep in the Arms of Jesus ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: My ancestors wore Confederate gray and stood with Lee at Appomattox. My husband’s folks hailed from Louisiana and I learned to make gumbo and chicken maque choux and boudin from a Cajun lady named Miss Odile. My...
James Huneycutt :: Drug Policy Memo ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: The author is an ex-offender who runs a successful plumbing company in Virginia. He scribbles on the backs of invoices, estimates and parts lists. These scraps accumulate on the dashboard of his plumbing van until he can...
Erin Savage :: When a Tea Party Is Not a Tea Party: An Unwanted Invite ::
Southern legitimacy statement: My parents dragged me away from the home I loved in Louisville, to put down roots in the frigid Midwest. My time residing in Louisville, the home of my earliest memories, was well spent though. When I...
Albert Dixon :: Storms of My Youth ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born in the South, I live in the South: Athens, Georgia. I’ve tried to leave, a few times, but I always come back. Nowhere else feels like home. Storms of My Youth There was a...
Poetry
Essays
