Southern Legitimacy Statement — I was born, and have lived, and have not left for more than 25 days, an area bound to the east by I-65 in Birmingham and to the west by Lurleen B. Wallace Blvd in Tuscaloosa, and bounded no more than ten miles to the north…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was raised dirt poor on a poor dirt farm in eastern North Carolina. I have written since I was small and have always been fascinated by people’s motivations. I somehow was able to get a good education and eventually tenure at a major university. I am…

The Witch, The Egg, and the Cure Imagine that you have asthma. You are ten years old. Your life just started yet every day feels like a step closer to the end. You try to take a deep breath but doing so makes you cough for five minutes. Snacks and…

Southern Legitimacy statement(s): 1) I’m from further South than most Southerners, 2) Dang redbugs! Southerisms from the Spanish Moss Belt I live in Alachua, Florida. Not quite the Florida most people think of when they envision South Beach, The Orlando Magic, or Tampa International Airport. I am in live oak…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born and raised in Missouri and now live (very, very) close to Atlanta. With the exception of college, I have spent my entire life in the South. Nudge Apa The Hungarian word for grandfather is nagyapa.  My great-grandfather died a mere two days prior to…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: This piece details a memory I share with my little sister while visiting my mother’s best friend, who was born and raised in the South. She ran her household as if she still lived in Oklahoma even after she moved to California. I was born and raised…

SLS: When I close my eyes and recall my childhood, I see hay, tractors, ponds, creeks, cows, and biscuits. Lots and lots of biscuits. Biscuit Reflections Not to toot my own horn, but a few months ago, I started thinking. I guess I shouldn’t even feign pride. After all, it’s…

Southern Literacy Statement: I am originally from south Louisiana, where I grew up on the Bayou Teche. I left in 1989 for graduate school at the University of Tennessee, then taught at Texas A&M for a couple of years, followed by one year living outside of the South, teaching in…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born in New Orleans and spent the first ten years of my life in southern Louisiana. Since I was ten, I’ve lived in Kentucky. My daddy is from Arkansas; my mama born in Mississippi. I grew up on boats and in gardens and saying ma’am…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: Growing up in South Jersey with West Virginia roots brings a person towards the equator to seek understanding. While in South Carolina I decided I want to be a writer and I moved to Florida to find salvation for my mind, relaxation for my body, and to…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I am a Southerner though for sure. I was raised in Florida by a dad whose family crept down from Georgia and a mom whose ancestors moseyed down from North Carolina. My grandaddy said you were all right if you came from North Carolina but South Carolina,…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I go to school in Alabama, and every Friday the cafeteria serves mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, collard greens, corn bread, and fried chicken. Don’t worry, there is no shortage of y’alls, ain’ts, and down yonders in my life. Take a Step. A Small One. You wait…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: Honeysuckles, Chopped Pork BBQ and Muscadine Wine I remember walking from my grand mama’s house with my brother. We’d walkthrough the lane that was in truth a two way, one way street. I mean the signs said one way but cars went both ways and nobody seemed…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: Born in San Diego, raised in Western PA, during my fourteenth year of existence, my parents decided to relocate the family to South Carolina. How I hated the humidity, the drawling language, and politeness. Almost two decades have passed. Could’ve moved back up north on multiple occasions,…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: My family never hid our crazy folks; they generally sat on the front porch and enjoyed the breeze just like the family who weren’t crazy. Come to think of it, we all had some crazy mixed in amongst our sanity. My mother cooked red-eye gravy every time…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: Howard is a retired materials management and manufacturing professional with over forty years in the military and manufacturing arenas. He spent time at sixty plus posts while in the military and has traveled to all fifty states (working in twenty-two of them). Howard earned a Masters from…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I grew up in a small farming town in Northeast Arkansas a mere seven miles south of the Missouri border. As a child, I would marvel at how quickly the accents changed once crossing the state line. I currently reside in Arkansas after a brief stint living…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I may have grown up a Yankee, but I moved to Austin, Texas at 6 years old and have almost forgotten that I used to find it weird to say “y’all.” In Which Nothing Happens I was in the 5th grade when he called me a whore….

Southern Legitimacy Statement:
My yard dogs are polite and only bark when strangers walking by neglect them and forget to speak to them. The voices of people I’ve never met will waft up to the second story windows of my home, “Hello there, everything okay today? How ya’ doing? Sweet pups. Nice pups … “

Southern Legitimacy Statement: One hundred percent Southern. Born and bred in deep southern Georgia below the gnat line, and currently living in the humid swamps of north-central Florida. If I were a death row inmate my request for a last meal would consist of fried chicken livers, harmony grits. pickled…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: Alex Pickens grew up in Southern Appalachia and has been studying and writing satire for decades, though he is seeking help. His comedy has been widely published and his screenplays have even earned him invitations to Hollywood. In his spare time he reads the Classics, fingerpicks the…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I am a farm girl who still reaches for her gum boots to go feed the birds. I grew up in the arms of a grandmother who worked 40 hours a week for 36 years in a tube factory and a retired grandfather who, after a heart…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: You can’t go much further south than living in Miami Beach. Although most would disqualify my city as The South, I promise I can fish, cook collard greens, and sing all the lyrics to Southern rap songs better than any true Southerner. I also say “Yes, ma’am,”…

Southern Legitimacy Statement: Though I live in Massachusetts now, I was born and raised in Houston, and part of my heart will always be in Texas. I know some folks don’t call Texas the South, but I always have, seeing how my mom always had a can of bacon grease…