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.
“The Timekeeper’s Son,” by Sara Baker
September 19, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Molly Hurley Moran Set in the fictional Southern town of Milledge, Georgia, Sara Baker’s luminous novel The Timekeeper’s Son moves beyond the issues and conflicts usually associated with such settings to embrace more universal themes concerning human connection, forgiveness, and grace. The plot revolves around two families who are unknown to each other […]
Molly Hurley Moran
September 14, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Molly Hurley Moran received her B.A. in English from Brown University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of New Mexico. She is a retired Professor at the University of Georgia. She is the author of three books, the first two of which were published under the name of Mary Hurley Moran: […]
“Understanding Larry McMurtry,” by Steven Frye
September 12, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Johnnie Bernhard Steven Frye’s Understanding Larry McMurtry is a scholarly overview of the Pulitzer-Prize winning author’s body of work. It’s part of the Understanding Contemporary American Literature series published by the University of South Carolina Press. Founded by the late Professor Matthew J. Bruccoli, this series explores modern American writers. Bruccoli is quoted in […]
Allen Mendenhall Interviews Dan Leach, Author of “Floods and Fires”
September 7, 2017 by Leave a Comment
AM: Congratulations on the publication of your collection of stories, Floods and Fires. We share a publisher—the University of North Georgia Press—as well as a connection to Greenville, South Carolina, where I went to school at Furman. You graduated from Clemson in 2008. Were you writing stories then? DL: Thanks, Allen. Congratulations to you, as […]
September Read of the Month: “The Headmaster’s Darlings,” by Katherine Clark
September 5, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Ashley D. Black Most people who are raised in a small, Southern town would agree that preserving local traditions is of the utmost importance to its residents. At times, however, maintaining a town’s customs can prevent the populace from evolving with the rest of the country both politically and culturally. Those who challenge […]
Ashley D. Black
August 31, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Ashley D. Black is an assistant professor of English Education at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. A native Alabamian, she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English Education at Troy University and a Ph.D. at the University of Alabama in Secondary Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning. Although she is living in the Midwest, she will […]
Allen Mendenhall Interviews DJ Donaldson, Author of “Assassination at Bayou Sauvage”
August 29, 2017 by Leave a Comment
AM: Thanks for doing this interview, Don, and congratulations on the publication of your latest in the Andy Broussard mystery series, Assassination at Bayou Sauvage. How has this series developed over the years? DD: The first book, Cajun Nights, was a very strange story, partially because the editor at St. Martins, who ultimately bought it, asked me […]
“Riding on Comets,” by Cat Pleska
August 23, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Donna Meredith Though her family was hardly perfect, Cat Pleska leaves readers feeling uplifted rather than grungy from being dragged through the dirty laundry in her memoir, Riding on Comets. In part, the warm tone results because she never doubted that her parents wanted the best for her. Without words, they implied that she […]