John R. Shaw – Three Poems
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
I was born in Mississippi, raised in Arkansas, schooled in Louisiana, and employed in Alabama. I like fried catfish, and okra, and collard greens. I spent summer days of my childhood at Dogpatch USA and Horsehead Lake. And listened to stories about "my people" that my Grandmother told.
Aaron J. Poller – Poetry
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
A Northerner by birth, I have become a confirmed Southerner after living in North Carolina for the past nine years. Sometimes people try to tell me that North Carolina is not part of the South. Personally, as long as I can park the Honda on my front lawn, I don't consider myself a Northerner anymore.
Kelly Clayton – Two Poems
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
French drip coffee, buttered toast with fresh figs smashed on top, and a sprinkle of sugar. My eye shades roll open for my New Orleans breakfast. I was born in Louisiana just like every single one of my relatives. The few who left came back. I’m a Creole poet, lover of Mardi Gras, thunder storms, and Gulf shrimp, even though I’m allergic to them. I’m so hardcore I just takes a Benadryl then eat them anyway.
Jennifer Lobaugh – Two Poems
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
I have lived my entire barefoot-walking, gravy-eating, Johnny-Cash-loving life in the great state of Oklahoma. My grandpa picked cotton, my dad raised pigs; I guess I chose a little different direction by going to school for literature and languages. Sure, I’ve left Oklahoma a few times, but I always come back to the home of Will Rogers and Woody Guthrie, where people say “y’all” unironically and the sunsets are actually breathtaking; where Sooner football is a way of life, and my sweet tea addiction is somehow socially acceptable.
Shenan Hahn – Two Poems
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
Born in Northern VA, spent a childhood split between full-time living there and part-time living in the Shenandoah Valley, and all of my college years in Harrisonburg, VA (also in the Valley). Did not fully realize the extent of the "Southernness" of my mannerisms until faced with my husband (then boyfriend) who had spent many of his formative years in Connecticut, and would often needle me about the accent that slipped out with certain words. The following conversation occurred one day: "Please. 'Y'all' isn't a Southern phrase. Maybe it's associated with the South, but it's just a common phrase. Everyone says it." "Um, no, they don't." "Yes they do! Who doesn't say 'y'all'?" "People from above the Mason-Dixon line." "Seriously??" "...Have you ever actually been up north?" "Yes, I have, thank you very much. Wait, what else do they not do?" Things that were concluded to, apparently, not be part of the northern experience (news to me!): grits, scrapple, okra (I know okra doesn't grow in the desert, but there are really places where okra is just not eaten?), the phrase "ain't nothin' doin'," getting to miss school for the opening day of trout season, and calling Jefferson Davis "Jeff" Davis, "as if we all knew the guy."
Ann Fox Chandonnet – “Sapphic” – A Poem
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
My husband and I retired to Vale, North Carolina, five years ago. After more than three decades in Alaska, we wanted to find a spot to grow tomatoes and corn. We learned that digging into red dirt is like digging into concrete; I am now known for breaking shovels. Gardening in Southern weather, I also realized that my knees can actually sweat—a fact I was ignorant of before living here.
Scott Owens – “I Would Not Deny It” – A Poem
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
To Be a Wrestler
Dusty from his last defeat
he rises from the mat,
screams defiance, spins
with flair around the ring,
grapples whatever dares
stand before him, runs,
jumps, flexes, flings
his body against the ropes,
locks legs, arms,
heads into submission.
Victorious he stands
in the center of the ring,
arm upraised, head
thrown back in laughter,
awaits the next challenger,
sees him, seizes him
by the throat, swaps chop
for chop, stroke for stroke,
staggers, falls, is raised
to the sky, dropped to the mat,
sat upon for the count
of one two three,
loses, leaves, already
planning his return, knowing
defeat is never final,
knowing tomorrow he can start
again, knowing even death
or disbarment demands
only another mask,
another outrageous name.
Richard Peabody – “Race Poem in Three Parts” – A Poem
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
My mom grew up in Lexington, NC, I spent my summers down there. My dad grew up in VA. Now I've lived in VA for 14 years now. I love Kale. I worked on the COSMEP Book Van eons ago based in Carrboro, NC. I make sweet potatoes in hollowed out orange cups every Thanksgiving.
Rose Auslander – “Hurricane Irene” – A Poem
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
I’m a Louisianan, once removed, from Shreveport—where sweating in the sun in the brambles behind my step-grandma’s backyard, gathering the wild strawberries that grew there, and stealing a few from my sweaty hands, from the batches meant for jam, was the most delicious thing ever.
Poetry
Essays
