Change of Leadership at SLR

Allen Mendenhall, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

After devoting more than a decade of service to Southern Literary Review, including serving as editor-in-chief and publisher, Allen Mendenhall is stepping down from those roles. Allen has written and published over one hundred of his own book reviews and author interviews on SLR, most recently moving from Q/A print interviews to a video format. As the managing editor, he also was responsible for timely editing and posting of other contributions to the website. Countless Southern authors have benefitted from his efforts on their behalf. Thank you, Allen! We wish him continued success in his career at Troy University, where he serves as Associate Dean in the Sorrell College of Business and Executive Director of the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy. He plans to continue his Literary Lawyer blog at https://allenmendenhallblog.com/.

Donna Meredith is stepping up as the new editor of SLR after serving five years as associate editor and a regular reviewer for fifteen years. Donna’s award-winning novels include Buried Seeds, The Glass Madonna, The Color of Lies, Wet Work and Fraccidental Death. She also has authored one nonfiction title, Magic in the Mountains. She has written columns for the Tallahassee Democrat, including series on environmental issues, Florida state parks, the RV lifestyle, and youth gardening programs. She served as editor of the Seven Hills Review for seven years and was president of the Tallahassee Writers Association.  An honors graduate of Fairmont State College, West Virginia University, and Nova Southeastern, she taught high school English and Journalism for three decades before retiring. To learn more about Donna, visit www.donnameredith.com.

Longtime contributor Claire Matturro will remain as associate editor. She’s been a newspaper reporter, a lawyer, and taught at Florida State University College of Law and as a visiting professor of legal writing at the University of Oregon School of Law. An honors graduate of The University of Alabama School of Law, she is the author of a series of comedic legal thrillers published by HarperCollins, as well as a cozy mystery and a legal thriller noir. Her latest books are The Smuggler’s Daughter (Red Adept Publishing 2020) and Wayward Girls (Red Adept Publishing 2021) with a co-author. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in Kissing Dynamite, New Verse News, One Art, Muddy River Poetry Review, Topical Poetry, The Tiger Moth, Lascaux Review, Slant, and Writing in a Woman’s Voice. Claire remains active in writers’ and environmental groups. To learn more about Claire, visit www.clairematturro.com.

Dawn Major will be joining SLR as a new associate editor. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Etowah Valley Writing Program at Reinhardt University, her BA in English from Kennesaw State University, and a Creative Writing Certificate from Emory Continuing Education. She was awarded the James Dickey Fellowship and acted as editorial assistant for the James Dickey Review. She’s won the Dr. Robert Driscoll Award for Excellence in Writing on Regional Themes and the Faculty Choice Award also for Excellence in Writing. Her published work may be found at Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozark Studies, Georgia Gothic Anthology, Springer Mountain Press, Southern Literary Review, Five Points-A Journal of Literature & Art, James Dickey Review, Sanctuary Journal, Sediments Literary-Arts Journal, and Family Life Publications. She is a member of Atlanta Writers Club, Broadleaf Writers Association, Georgia Writers Association, and Horror Writers Association. To learn more about Dawn Major, visit her website at www.dawnmajor.com where she shares her work, collaborations, and advocates for southern authors. She lives in Atlanta with her family and is seeking publication of her book, The Bystanders.