The Southern Literary Review celebrates Southern authors and their contributions to American literature. We feature classic writers who have defined Southern literature, and we highlight emerging authors with interviews, profiles, and book reviews. We support independent bookstores. If you subscribe to our newsletter, please add southernliteraryreview@comcast.net to your email contacts list so that the newsletter doesn’t […]
“Beware the Tall Grass” by Ellen Birkett Morris
December 18, 2024 by Leave a Comment
It’s easy to see why Ellen Birkett Morris’s enchanting debut novel, Beware the Tall Grass (Columbus State University 2024), won The Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence. The novel expertly entwines two moving tales, that of Eve Sloan, a mother trying desperately to understand and protect her son Charlie circa 2010; and that of […]
“House of Glass” by Sarah Pekkanen
December 16, 2024 by Leave a Comment
House of Glass (St. Martin’s Press 2024) by Sarah Pekkanen is a wonderfully crafted, well-paced mystery with a good bit of psychological thriller blended in. It is a character driven “who done it?” but not in a police procedural way as no law enforcement detectives are center stage in solving the death of a young […]
2024 Book of the Year
December 15, 2024 by Leave a Comment
2024 Book of the Year WOFFORD’S BLOOD By Donna Coffey Little Wofford’s Blood (Mercer University Press 2024) is a stunning work of historical fiction based on the life of James Daugherty (J. D.) Wofford, a half White, half Cherokee, who became a conductor and interpreter on the Trail of Tears. Outstanding research underlies […]
2024 Book of the Year Finalists & Book Lovers Gift Guide
December 11, 2024 by 2 Comments
Book of the Year to be announced Sunday, December 15. Which one will win? Any of these titles make fine holiday gifts. (Finalists listed alphabetically by title.) Birdhouse Jesus by Terri Chastain Using a combination of charm and horror and finally transcendence, Chastain creates a protagonist who comes to terms with childhood abuse by […]
SLR welcomes Mary Ellen Thompson as Associate Editor
December 9, 2024 by Leave a Comment
We welcome Mary Ellen Thompson to Southern Literary Review’s staff as an Associate Editor. She likes to read and review fiction, historical fiction, biography, Southern fiction, and cozy mysteries, memoir is iffy and just depends on the subject. She doesn’t like violence, crime, or whining. She does like doing author interviews and gaining insight into […]
“Walton’s Creek, Land of our Fathers” by Rickie Zayne Ashby
December 8, 2024 by 1 Comment
Walton’s Creek, Land of Our Fathers (Acclaim Press 2024), Rickie Zayne Ashby’s debut novel, is a book you should judge by its cover. Not only is the artwork evocative of the story inside, but also the cover itself under the dust jacket, is a thing of beauty. This book is available in hardcover only, so […]