Diane E. Dees “A Man Walks Into a Bar”
I was born in the South, educated in the South, and have lived my entire life in the South. I drink sweet tea, grow antique roses, eat Creole tomato sandwiches, and own a copy of Longfellow's...
View ArticleLanny Gilbert “Country Road”
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born in North Georgia in the Appalachian foothills. I know what cathead biscuits, protracted meetings, #9 turners and #2 washtubs are. I can read shape notes and...
View ArticleTripp Howell: “Ole’ Doc Jenkins”
A retirement home in northern Mississippi, near Memphis: “So, anyway, like I ‘uz sayin’, I was down in ole’ Doc Jenkins’ room one day back ‘fore he died, and he ‘uz tellin’ me this story ’bout this...
View ArticleBarbara Nishimoto “Identifying Trees”
Southern Literacy Statement I was born and raised in the North, but now have lived most of my adult life in the South. When I first moved my mother acted as though I were moving to another country and...
View ArticleErin Kelly “Sound No Trumpet”
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I talk slow. I eat etouffee, jambalaya and boudin. I've clapped my hands to gospel in hot, crowded churches, and visited Catholic psychics. I've gone through many...
View ArticleJackson Culpepper “Judgment House”
SLS: Growing up in south Georgia, I have a Stockholm Syndrome-type relationship to temperatures over ninety degrees and one hundred percent humidity. But the devil can have his damned gnats.
View ArticleBecky Meadows “Three Seconds”
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I grew up on my grandmother and grandfather’s farm, where we ate fried potatoes, green beans (cooked for an entire day or more on the stove in a pot), and cornbread....
View ArticleChristopher Rowe: High Water
“That was a nice cast, boy, your daddy’s been teaching you something right down there in Florida.” “Now, don’t start in again, Hiram. The child wasn’t the one decided to pick up and move off. We’re...
View ArticleLemoncharles by southern writer John Calvin Hughes
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I’m John Calvin Hughes, son of a son of a preacher chased out of Mississippi for plucking the flock. I’m a southern boy who moved south and found himself surrounded by...
View ArticleAn ESSAY to celebrate the day: “Life Mission” by Byron Crownover
SLS: Having been born in the middle of the last century, I sometimes feel as old and worn out as some of the farmland surrounding my home. Weeds taking over my mind much as they do to fallow fields,...
View ArticleTravis Turner : Chimney Sweeps
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Son of Alabama's Black Belt. English/Literature/Writing Instructor. Lover of black cats, good bourbon & better storytelling.
View ArticleScott Rooker : Dentists Abroad
SLS Statement: Growing up I remember my mom saying that we couldn't get tornados in North Carolina. 'It was too hilly here' she said. It seemed plausible. Then one a day a huge tornado came through...
View ArticleEllen Perry : I Wonder
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Mom from Colbert, Georgia, where the Confederate monument has yet to be defaced. Dad from Johnson City, Tennessee. Born in Weaverville, North Carolina, where I still live...
View ArticleTed Harrison : A Family Event
Statement of Legitimacy: Having been born to the daughter of a subsistence farmer, marrying into farming families and living in one Southern state all my life- so far—I can hope I have been weighed and...
View ArticleDexter Gore : A Rare Commodity
I am Dexter Gore, son to a potbellied-father, who is son to a one-eyed, tobacco-rollin carpenter who fished the outbreaks of North Carolina. I was born and raised in Aynor, South Carolina, a small town...
View ArticleRudy Ravindra :: GPS Lady
Southern Legitimacy Statement: What makes me a real Southerner? I don't eat corn on the cob, it gets into my teeth, and takes forever to floss it out. I don't like grits, too runny. I don't speak like...
View ArticleApril and May 2016
We are creating the Poets for Spring this weekend. Helen and Valerie created a wonderful cornucopia of poetry — available soon, so very soon. Like before tax day, depending on thunderstorm activity...
View ArticleJo Williams: Do It Yourself Medical Testing
Proving my Southern authenticity is as easy as fallin' off a mule. I was born and raised in Cowpens, SC, a famous Revolutionary War site. For nearly five decades, I lived in a farmhouse built by my...
View ArticleAustin Eichelberger : Fluency
Here's my Southern Legitimacy Statement: I could dig post holes, shovel manure and handle horses single-handed by the age of 11. I grew up on a farm 45 or so minutes from every school I attended until...
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