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...
Almyr L. Bump :: Quiet Splendor; Other Clay; A Harsh Reminder ::
I am a native of Dobson, North Carolina, so yes, I am in fact south of somewhere! I am an infantry officer working as a regional response planner for NORTHCOM Homeland Region I. Quiet Splendor Landmarks and milestones speakto us...
Lisa Kosow :: Jerry Lee Lewis Pushes a Piano into the Ocean :: Three Poems ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born in the Blue Ridge mountains in southwestern Virginia, and those mountains are still imprinted on my soul—I find it necessary to visit and hike there every year. My father raised me on bluegrass music,...
Trent Brown :: And I Was Afraid, Because I Was Naked, And I Hid Myself ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born and raised on a farm in Cerro Gordo, North Carolina – a town of around 200-300 people you have almost certainly never heard of. The main attractions are: the Wikipedia description of the town’s...
Stephanie Katz :: Fiddler Crab Claws in the Moonlight ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I’ve spent my whole life living in Florida on an island south of Tampa. My mother, who grew up in the southern tip of Ohio, wanted to raise me by the beach, baptized by salt and sun....
Theresa Jones :: Hundred Dollar Shoes ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born and raised Roll Tide. I learned to cook with three spices: salt, pepper, and bacon fat. I was a young adult before I ever heard of barbecued beef. Barbecue sauce was white. In the...
Eleanor Levine :: Lurch ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I love the South and went to Hollins University and received an MFA in Creative Writing in Roanoke, VA. While in Roanoke, I worked in a box factory, but was not very successful. They kicked me out...
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...
What’s the Collard situation?
Are you Southern? Then you know what I’m talking about here. Collards. The Collard Man, who sold his produce at the corner of Bridge Street and Third died this year. For months, a large white bow with a lovely silk floral...
David Kirby :: My Hometown ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I spent the first twenty-four years of my life in the South, so when I started looking for jobs, I decided I’d live anywhere but. I ended up with five job offers, all in Southern cities. I remember...
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...
Christopher S. Bell :: Stream ::
Southern Legitimacy Statement: My South is steam rising up from the lake water and a wealth of abandoned antiquieties sitting on shelves, thier paint slowly fading from the heat. It’s an empty space that flakes like skin and haunts from...
Raymond Berthelot :: Three Poems ::
And of course I’m a Southern writer geographically, and socially I’d imagine. Somebody has got to be on the outside, and if I am to be out, I’d rather be South of out. Three Poems Absences We’ll cook the black...
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...
Poetry
Essays
