A Magazine for Literature of the American South
The Southern Literary Review celebrates southern authors and their contributions to American literature. We feature the classic writers who have defined southern literature, and we highlight emerging authors through interviews, profiles, and book reviews. In an effort to back independent bookstores and to encourage creativity in the publishing world, SLR is an IndieBound supporter.
How did you choose “The Patron Saint of Dreams” to be your title piece for the collection? PG: That essay tells the story of my mother’s death — and my inability to write about her illness and death for a long time. Then one night I dreamed of her — and this dream was a [...]
By Donna Meredith In a well-known poem, Robert Frost once depicted humans as standing on a shore looking out to sea, unable to perceive much about their world. Philip Gerard, however, writes from the North Carolina coast with an unusual gift for peering not only “out far,” but also “in deep,” a talent vividly [...]
Cameron Williams was born in Burlington, North Carolina, where she lived for three years before her family relocated to Florida. Despite her upbringing on Florida’s east coast, among the snowbirds and tourists, Cameron was raised to appreciate all things Southern. She especially enjoys cooking and drinking an occasional glass of bourbon. Cameron is a Ph.D. [...]
Profile by Cameron Elizabeth Williams By the age of thirteen, Donna Tartt had already begun to establish herself as an emerging literary talent. Born in Greenwood, Mississippi, in 1963 and raised in nearby Grenada, Tartt spent her childhood enjoying the company of her great-aunts, great-grandparents, and grandparents. Tartt was especially fond of—and likewise adored by—her [...]
By Donna Meredith By day Doug Alderson helps to coordinate Florida’s designated paddling trails, including the 1,515-mile Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail. He also assists with a website for Visit Florida on all types of non-motorized trails. By night he moves away from the computer for a few hours to unwind in the cabin [...]
Review by Donna Meredith Doug Alderson’s Wild Florida Waters: Exploring the Sunshine State by Kayak and Canoe takes us on an amazing journey down miles of winding rivers. Alderson has a gift for making readers feel immersed in the scent of muddy bottoms, enthralled by the cries of limpkins, and calmed by paddles slurping [...]
Robert Morgan. Lions of the West: Heroes and Villains of the Westward Expansion. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2011. Good histories don’t just tell stories; they make arguments. Robert Morgan’s arguments in Lions of the West, subtle though they are, run as follows: historians and storytellers cannot help but view dramatic [...]
Reviewed by Paul H. Yarbrough If you haven’t read any of Ann Ross’s Miss Julia series, you have missed a clever protagonist and delightful character with whom you could have become quite close. Miss Julia is a light-plotted Miss Marple with a touch of Jan Karon’s easy-going, Southern, genteel, feminine style (think Mitford series). Ms. [...]
