Christopher Forrest: Bullet Holes and Grief (a poem)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Vanceboro tobacco made it possible for me to internet you these poems. So cheers to generations that burned trash, gave scraps to dogs, sang Friday night gospel at Dudley’s Crossroads, and my unbreakable love for Dixie Queen....
Tom Sheehan: Two Poems
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I have read, visited in NC and worked in Tennessee. Ed. note: Mr. Sheehan is a frequent Mule contributor and one of our favorite writers. Please welcome him back to the Mule for the umpteenth time. TWO POEMS...
Claire Fullerton: “One Good Mama Bone” (book discussion)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Being from Memphis, Tennessee, I am an avid reader of Southern writers. Pat Conroy, Anne Rivers Siddons, Donna Tartt, and Ron Rash are among my favorites; all tell a tale in incomparable language, and all speak to...
Wendy Reed: True Condition (Essay)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Wendy Reed is an Emmy-winning writer and public tv producer, who teaches in the Honors College at the University of Alabama. Her books include Accidental Memoir: How I Killed Someone and Other stories and All Out of...
John Chavers: Cutie Patootie (memoir)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: “Almost half of my life has been spent in the South. I’ve lived in Boston, Paris, and a few other places as well. I call Austin, TX home now.” Cutie Patootie I fell in love with him the...
Clint Bowman: Poetry
Growing up in the rural outskirts of High Point in the Piedmont of North Carolina, Clint Bowman spent much of his time in the outdoors finding inspiration in the wilderness that surrounded his childhood home. A 2015 graduate of North...
Tony Mancus: Hair Shirt (memoir)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I’ve lived in Virginia for the past seven, going on eight years. My blood and kin are northern, but my pace is a good bit more southerly. *This was originally published in April 2017 and is republished today,...
Helen Wurthmann: Not Funny Ha-Ha (fiction)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born and raised in Missouri, whose Southern statehood led to the civil war, regardless of whether or not modern Missourians consider themselves Southerners. Missouri and I are the middle children of our respective families: often overlooked...
Meredith Baker: The Gift (memoir)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I am from Orangeburg, SC and once fell off the open tailgate of a pickup truck because I was standing up when my uncle took off. We were looking for my cousin Mary Ann’s pet cow, Lady...
Anne Anthony: Music As Her Refuge (Fiction)
Southern Legitimacy Statement Anne Anthony lives in North Carolina though when she engages you in conversation it’s clear she was born above the Mason-Dixon Line. Still, if she’s reading you her stories, sometimes her voice slides into the gentle sway...
Amy Parker: Feeding the Gods of Vacation Karma (memoir)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Alrighty, then. Native North Carolinian, former bartender / caterer / chef, middle child of a small-town veterinarian and a home economist extraordinaire. Know the heady joy of running behind the mosquito-spray truck on a sticky summer night, and...
Summer Issue Sizzles with Great Writing
Well, how cliche’ can we be— sizzling summer issue? We’ve many a good piece hidden here on the July-August Dead Mule issue. Our writing covers the gamut of emotions– offering you some everything from great memoirs to astounding fiction to...
Luisa Kay Reyes: Closets (Memoir)
And here’s my Southern Legitimacy Statement: Luisa was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Roll Tide! On her Mother’s side her family has been in Alabama since before Alabama became a state. Her Mother was actually living in Mexico City when she...
Poetry
Essays
