Meet the Editors

Donna Meredith is publisher and editor-in-chief. Claire Hamner Matturro and Dawn Major serve as associate editors. RIGHT: Photographs by VanessaK Photography, LLC.

Julia Lindsay

Julia Lindsay was born and raised in North Carolina and received her B.A and M.A in English from Appalachian State University. She is now a Ph.D candidate at the University of Georgia, combining her interest in SF and Southern literature in her research on contemporary Afrofuturist texts taking place in the American South. She has […]

“The Cape May Carving Tree,” by John Riddle

Essay by John Riddle On a recent trip to Cape May, New Jersey, I needed a few moments to get out of the sun.  It was a hot and humid day, and the shade from three nearby trees was calling my name.  As I stood beneath the center tree, I noticed there were about three […]

SOUTHERN FESTIVAL OF BOOKS ANNOUNCES AUTHOR LINEUP FOR 33RD ANNUAL EVENT

SOUTHERN FESTIVAL OF BOOKS ANNOUNCES AUTHOR LINEUP FOR 33RD ANNUAL EVENT The State’s Largest and Free Literary Event Will Feature 100 Authors NASHVILLE, Tenn.— July 15, 2021— The Southern Festival of Books announced tonight the first of its lineup of authors for its 33rd annual event, happening in-person October 9-10 at downtown’s War Memorial Plaza. Online programming, as […]

“Writing Appalachia,” edited by Katherine Ledford and Theresa Lloyd

Reviewed by Charley Hively In his 1949 semi-autobiographical work The Thread that Runs So True, Jesse Stuart struck a resounding chord which still resonates today.  Set against the backdrop of rural Kentucky, Stuart recounts his 20-year career as a schoolteacher, a man horribly afraid of failure, but just as doggedly determined to succeed.  His almost […]

“When Stars Rain Down,” by Angela Jackson-Brown

Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro When Stars Rain Down (Thomas Nelson April 2021) is a delicate yet brave coming-of-age novel by Angela Jackson-Brown. Delicate in its tenderness and kindhearted embrace of its characters and their culture, the book is warm, loving, and evocative in its depictions of family life in the Deep South. It also […]

July Read of the Month: “Breath Like the Wind at Dawn,” by Devin Jacobsen

Reviewed by Charley Hively Devin Jacobsen’s debut novel, Breath Like the Wind at Dawn (Sagging Meniscus Press, 2020), opens with a garbled mixture of jarring Western lingo and syntax, graphic violence, and sexual innuendo, but one important detail slowly emerges: gold. Quinn and Irv, a pair of outlaw twin brothers, ambush and slaughter a group […]