Meet the Editors

Donna Meredith is publisher and editor-in-chief. Claire Hamner Matturro, Dawn Major, and Mary Ellen Thompson serve as associate editors. Hank Lazer is poetry review editor. RIGHT: Photographs by VanessaK Photography, LLC.

Welcome!

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 […]

“The Game” by Brandon Keller

In his gripping debut novel The Game: A High-Stakes Conspiracy of Power, Poker, and Profit (Black Rose Writing, 2025), Brandon Keller explores the ruthless race to control artificial intelligence—an innovation powerful enough to reshape the future. With its fast-paced plot and financial intrigue, The Game will appeal to fans of Stephen Frey’s financial thrillers and […]

“Rural Astronomy” by Georgann Eubanks

Reading Georgann Eubanks’s Rural Astronomy (EastOver Press June 2025) felt like revisiting a hometown after a long absence—some of the landscape has changed, some of the houses sport new shutters, some of the memories are bittersweet, and the territory is both comforting and strange. It’s no wonder that Eubanks leads readers through a literary journey […]

“The Dark Library” by Mary Anna Evans

Mary Anna Evans has been intriguing readers with her masterful and intelligent mysteries for over two decades. During this time, Mississippi-born Evans earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Exeter and became an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma. […]

“The Wars Between Us and Them” by P. V. LeForge

The setting for  The Wars Between Us and Them (Back Bay Books, 2025) by P. V. LeForge is Detroit, Michigan—his birthplace. So why is a Southern publication reviewing a novel set so far north? Because LeForge’s parents moved to Florida when he was just an infant and he remained there most of his life. He […]

“The Pursuit of Elena Bradford” by Ann H. Gabhart

The Pursuit of Elena Bradford (Revell, 2025) by Ann H. Gabhart is set in the 1840s, a time when societal expectations often stifled women’s talents and ambitions. But Elena Bradford’s mother has a plan—one that could save their family from financial ruin. After her father’s poor financial decisions left them on the brink of losing […]

BettyJoyce Nash interviews Valerie Nieman, author of the novel, “Upon the Corner of the Moon”

Introduction: BettyJoyce Nash interviewed Valerie Nieman, author of Upon the Corner of the Moon. She and Nieman share a background in news reporting at the Greensboro News and Record, and both earned MFAs from Queens University of Charlotte. A prolific novelist, Valerie Nieman’s latest book re-imagines Shakespeare’s Macbeth. She weaves literary legend and history into […]