
Katheryn Krotzer Laborde :: Off Balance ::
SLS: My mother was from Richmond, though I think she was born in Lynchburg. Because my father was from Philly, I grew up thinking I was the product of a mixed marriage. I lived here and there (Virginia, Tennessee, Texas)...

Kay Jenkins :: Marie Margan ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Not a bone in my body is non-southern. Brought up by my grandparents, whose people spent a hundred and fifty years moving south from the Northern Neck of Virginia through North and South Carolina. Finally, in the...

Monica Viera :: Fighting the Death Instinct ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Monica Viera lived in the 7th ward in New Orleans after getting accepted into a writing commune. She lived in a shotgun house and warded off crackheads on her walk to work in the French Quarter. Fighting...

Janie Borisov :: The Islands of Weed and Mushrooms ::
*Hello hello! So I live in Australia, south of just about everywhere (aka the Butt of the World). Having spent the bulk of my adult years travelling, I like to muse about my wanderings. This piece is about the southernmost...

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...