Harry Neil :: We Discover Cottage Cheese ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born in a very rural part of North Carolina’s Cape Fear Basin. My grade school was part of Penderlea, “America’s first farm city,” a depression-era homesteading project that ultimately failed. I went on to the...
R. L. Frazier :: Timmy ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I grew up in a part of Oklahoma known as Little Dixie. I don’t consider Oklahoma to be in the Deep South any more than you do, but I believe most Oklahomans to be Southerners – the...
Matthew Bearden :: A Trip Through God’s Country ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born and raised in Palestine, Texas. I carry it with me. I may be a pro-choice, non-southern baptist, resident of Wisconsin, but I am still a Texan! I’ll be thankin’ of all y’all when I...
Ashley Elizabeth Hewitt :: Woodsia Lane ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Born in Jackson, Mississippi, I attended Millsaps College and more recently completed my MFA in Creative Writing at the Mississippi University for Women. I have lived in New Orleans for twenty years but built a log cabin...
Rory Squires :: A Love Letter to Humanity ::
SLS: My mother’s extended family originated in West Virginia, so half of the family has accents. While I live in Pennsylvania, I can still point out and label the southern states, and I adore the Waffle House. *Ya’ll need to...
Kayla Branstetter :: Changing Directions ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: On your website, you stated “Let the bitter past be studied–not re-lived.” “Changing Directions” mirrors that southern attitude because Tony allowed me to interview her about her bitter past for others to study in hopes they will...
Cynthia Gilmore :: My Boobs at Sixty ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I moved south kicking and screaming in 2015 with my partner, a leg man. He stalks women on the balmy South Carolina coast where I left him, while I’ve made a peaceful home in the mountains of...
David VanDevelder :: A Requiem for Grandmother Tree ::
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...
Jessica Pisano :: Hometown Lies ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born in Jacksonville, Florida, have lived in Asheville, North Carolina, for over thirty years, and feel most at home on the Tybee Island beach. Hometown Lies “No soy de Miami, pero mi abuela es de...
Marlene DeVere :: My Airline Interview ::
southern legitimacy statement: It’s not just the music or long summers, but the slow and easy breezes and sweet teas that makes Southern exposure life-fulfilling. Schooled in Southern Illinois, thrived in Houston, Texas, and now awake in the setting sun...
Rebecca Band :: Making Light of a Thing ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Driving south down 17, I know when I’m finally home. The distinctive smell that continues to get stronger. It can be overwhelming, and certainly repulsive to some at first, but over time it becomes an oddly welcoming...
Melissa A. Morgan :: Fine Folks ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was raised south of the Mason-Dixon line and east of the Mississippi River. I was raised on yes, ma’am and no, sir. I was raised on lightening bugs and white lightning. I was raised on grits...
Basil McQuade :: Telling Stories/Immaculate Sadness ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I’m southern in the stepson way. I glean from trips and family and stories– and I understand the pieces, if not the whole picture. I know just enough about anything to be seemingly proficient in conversation. It’s...
Poetry
Essays
