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 […]
“Goat-Footed Gods” by Kathleen Driskell
November 10, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Goat-Footed Gods (Carnegie Mellon 2025) by Kathleen Driskell is a superb, evocative, and magical collection of poems that track both reality and myth, beauty and violence, life and morality, and nature in its many guises. It’s a rare collection of poems, both haunting and hauntingly beautiful from an award-winning Kentucky poet. From the moment of […]
Poetry Books of Note: “Aurora Cantus: a Poet’s Book of Hours;” “Titanfall;” “A Field Guide to North American Trees”
November 9, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Multi-talented Silvia Passiflora’s Aurora Cantus: a Poet’s Book of Hours (Scriptaluna Press 2026) is a lyrical and enchanting book filled with vivid imagery, uplifting thoughts, flights of fancy, and moments of wonder. Passiflora, who is also a gifted musician, uses rhyme and rhythm with an acute awareness of both the sounds and the significance in […]
“Appalachian Grit Lit:” an anthology of short stories, edited by Rhonda Browning White
November 9, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Appalachian Grit Lit (Redhawk Publications 2026), edited by Rhonda Browning White, is a splendid collection of short stories that vividly captures both the rugged character of Appalachia and the distinctive qualities of the grit lit subgenre. Layered, compelling, and often unflinching, these stories reveal the resilience of ordinary people confronting hardship while introducing some memorable […]
“Historic Resting Places of Alabama: Cemeteries and Graveyard Around the State” by Mollie Smith Waters
November 9, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Part history lesson, part cultural anthropology, and part curiosity about mourning and burial customs of our collective past, Historic Resting Places of Alabama: Cemeteries and Graveyard Around the State by Mollie Smith Waters is a well-researched, documented, and authentic guidebook. Her theory is that cemeteries hold the keys for understanding place, an ideal quality of […]
Elizabeth McConnell
November 8, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Elizabeth McConnell is a poet and Master Naturalist from Morgantown, WV. Elizabeth earned a BA in English from Hollins University, Roanoke, VA. Previously she has worked at the Morgantown Public Library in Morgantown, WV and served on the Library Board of Trustees. Elizabeth is an active member of the Morgantown Writers Group, Monongahela Master Naturalists, […]
“Creekwater Mansions” by Ian Hall
November 8, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Elizabeth McConnell Appalachia is a region of great complexity and rich history. It offers no simple explanation, definition, or identity. Everywhere layers. On any car, bus, train or trail, one encounters remarkable horizons of mineral layer on top of mineral layer. The rich, stained and vibrant history of this region creates a source […]