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 Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street,” by Karen White
March 3, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Brandy Renee McCann The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street, the sixth novel in the Tradd Street mysteries series by Karen White, brings readers along with Melanie Trenholm as she uncovers the story of a Revolutionary War era spy ring. The rich and evocative language of the opening scene unmistakably draws readers in and […]
“Shakespeare’s Secrets,” by Bonnie Hoover Braendlin
February 25, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Janet McCann Bonnie Hoover Braendlin’s second mystery in the Caulfield-Sheridan series is a delight. In the first novel, Love and Death in Venice, she takes her duo to Venice where they get themselves in grave danger attempting to solve a murder that leads to the center of a truly evil organization. Her second, […]
Janet McCann
February 23, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Janet McCann taught creative writing at Texas A&M from 1969 until 2015, is now Professor Emerita there. Journals publishing her work include Kansas Quarterly, Parnassus, Nimrod, Sou’wester, Christian Century, Christianity and Literature, New York Quarterly, Tendril, Poetry Australia, etc. Her most recent book-length poetry collection: The Crone at the Casino, Lamar Univ. Press, 2015.
February Read of the Month: “Goshen Road,” by Bonnie Proudfoot
February 10, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Donna Meredith Bonnie Proudfoot’s Goshen Road dives deep into West Virginia rural life with a tale that sweeps across multiple generations. The novel has been selected for the Women’s National Book Association’s Great Group Reads program and is longlisted for the 2021 PEN/Hemingway Award for Best Debut Novel. The novel provides multiple viewpoints, […]
Crook’s Corner Book Prize
February 3, 2021 by Leave a Comment
The $5000 Crook’s Corner Book Prize is awarded annually for best debut novel set in the American South (author may live anywhere). Books published between January 1, 2020 and May 15, 2021 may be submitted by authors or publishers. Self-published books are eligible, but e-books are not. Young adult books are not eligible. $35 entry […]
“Wanting Radiance,” by Karen Salyer McElmurray
January 27, 2021 by 1 Comment
Reviewed by Donna Meredith The pages of Wanting Radiance, a luscious literary novel by Karen Salyer McElmurray, are haunted by characters yearning for love—or something else they can’t quite name. As Ruby Loving says, she is “hungry and what she wanted was a miracle to fill her up.” Her daughter Miracelle thinks the emptiness might […]
“Obscura,” by Frank Paino
January 20, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by William Walsh I remember in graduate school how I admired Frank Paino’s ability to move people with his strength of words and deep painful angst on subjects that neither I nor most poets could write about. I felt his passion for history and the truth his narrators were conveying. Whether the narrator was […]