Anna Davis-Abel :: Southern Sweet Tea ::
Southern legitimacy statement– The South is inextricable from me as my bones. I was born in Mississippi to two families that traced their lineages to poor antebellum share croppers and then grew up in Alabama. I left the south for...
Eric Olsen :: Life, Legacy, Fractured Spines, and the Power of Now ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I am a grits, sweet tea, and collards enthusiast. I have a recipe for each that I make myself regularly. *ya’ll need to read this essay.. Life, Legacy, Fractured Spines, and the Power of Now April 13,...
Barry Gordon Thompson-Cook :: It Was On a Bayou ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Barry Gordon Thompson-Cook was born in Louisiana and is buried there. In between, he lived in Dallas, Omaha before moving back to Louisiana. He left his beloved Opelousas to marry a Yankee, to the horror of his...
Jen Aceto :: I Found Ease in Oklahoma ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Despite being born and raised on the coast, I felt most at home among the art deco buildings of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve participated in a number of debates about whether Oklahoma is in the South or...
Hampton D Harmon :: The Cast of the Murdaugh Saga ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I am from the “salt water south” near Myrtle Beach, where we make taffy from ocean water and moss creates shadows on moonlit walks with friends and lovers. I spent my summers barefoot both in the yard...
Marsha Owens :: As Though We Had Choices ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Born in Richmond, VA, I’ve made it my forever home. My paternal grandpa was a waterman on the Chesapeake Bay, and to this day, I’m a seafood snob. I married an ex-Amishman to whom all things Southern...
Jim Hinson :: Tomato Sandwich Fantasies in Mid-November ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I grew up kicking the 2 inches of pink dust that is formed when the characteristic red clay of the Carolina Piedmont is subjected to a long summer’s baking. Until I was eighteen, I lived in the...
Donna Harlan :: Everybody Has a Snowman Story ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I grew up in the foothills of East Tennessee, and honestly wasn’t always proud of it, knowing that others thought we didn’t wear shoes (never mind that I enjoyed being barefoot and still do). In college I...
Kelsey Erica Tran :: The True Meaning of Culture ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Growing up in Maryland, I got to experience summer bbqs and grilling burgers during the Fourth of July. Urban barbecue was a local chain that reminds me of my childhood. After taking swimming lessons during the summer,...
Ted Harrison :: This Year a Kayak ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I am born and bred in the South and I have been fortunate to have some of my scribbling published in this journal. In the past I have written of my attempts to pick cotton on my...
Kyla Houbolt :: Where We Went ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Once, near the coast of NC, (where I was born and raised) I watched a man wheel the entire carcass of a frozen dead pig into the front door of the Piggly Wiggly. I guess it was...
David Grubb :: The Rodent Queen of Half Dome ::
Southern Bona Fide I’m still a bonafide southern fried hunting and fishing machine. I’ve gotten up before dawn and bagged an 8’ gator, went right up to dusk to put an arrow in the heart of a tusky razorback, and...
Nora Super :: Brains vs. Beauty ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, I moved to Washington, DC, right out of college to try to change the world. When I left New Orleans, I rejected the party culture: full of festivals, jazz music,...
Poetry
Essays
