Meet the Editors

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

Gale Massey interviews Florida author Lauren Groff about her new bookstore “The Lynx”

The Lynx Bookstore 601 South Main Street Gainesville, FL 32601 Introduction: Walking into the bookstore, I noticed the open and high ceilings, the quiet hum of shoppers, the bookstore’s staff, and immediately felt at home. To my right, a large window let in an abundance of natural light, and just beyond that was a wall of […]

“Distant Relations” by Cheryl Whitehead

Cheryl Whitehead is both a gifted poet and a gifted storyteller—and these can be two distinct, albeit complimentary talents. In Distant Relations (Loblolly Press 2025), Whitehead weaves these dual talents together into an always engaging, often uncanny collection of poetry rich with family, nature, culture, and transcendency. Her verses reverberate with turmoil and grace, all […]

Gale Massey

Gale Massey is the author of the novel, The Girl from Blind River, which received a Florida Book Award, and the collection, Rising and Other Stories. Gale’s stories and essays may be found in Lambda Literary, the Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Bay Noir, and Saw Palm. Massey, a Florida native, lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Claire Hamner Matturro interviews Cheryl Whitehead, author of the poetry collection “Distant Relations”

Claire Hamner Matturro: Thank you, Cheryl Whitehead, for being willing to share a bit of yourself with Southern Literary Review. First, congratulations on your very fine book, Distant Relations (Loblolly Press 2025), which is an engaging, evocative collection of poetry involving nature, family, farms, and much more. Your poems are exquisitely detailed in such beautiful […]

“The End of Tennessee: A Memoir” by Rachel M. Hanson

Few would deny that Hanson is an exceptional wordsmith. The prose in her memoir, The End of Tennessee (U of SC Press), regularly slips into the poetic as she details her tragic coming-of-age that resulted in estrangement from both of her parents and even her siblings. That Hanson was dealt a poor hand early in […]

“Dressing the Saints” by Aracelis Gonzalez Asendorf

Aracelis Gonzalez Asendorf’s Dressing the Saints (Black Lawrence Press 2024) is a collection of nine short stories that vividly explores the lives of Cuban Americans. The book, which won the Gold Medal for Fiction at the 2025 Florida Book Awards, brings to life the close-knit immigrant communities of South Florida and the rich cultural heritage […]