A conversation about “Teaching Black History to White People” by Leonard N. Moore

Teaching Black History to White People (University of Texas Press, 2021) by Leonard N. Moore is an important book that joins the ranks of Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste, Henry Lewis Gates’s Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow, and James W. Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me in assuring that all […]

May Read of the Month: “Only Oona” by Tamatha Cain

Tamatha Cain’s Only Oona (Orange Blossom Publishing, 2023) is not only a remarkable woman’s story; this outstanding historical novel shines as a glittering Who’s Who in the 1940s. With impeccable research, Cain brings Oona O’Neill Chaplin to life, stretching from her early years in the Bermuda countryside to teen years roaming the streets of Manhattan […]

Donna Meredith interviews Tamatha Cain, author of “Only Oona”

Tamatha Cain’s latest novel, Only Oona, focuses on the life of Oona Chaplin. The daughter of famous playwright Eugene O’Neill, Oona marries famed silent film star Charlie Chaplin. The novel paints a vivid portrait of a warm and intelligent woman who rubbed shoulders with many of the most prominent creative people of her times, such […]

Donna Stanley Meredith interviews Dawn Major, author of “The Bystanders”

Southern Literary Review Editor Donna Meredith interviewed Associate Editor Dawn Major about her debut novel, The Bystanders. As you can see, their initials are the same. To differentiate, Donna used the initial of her maiden name Stanley, thus DSM.  DSM: So, Dawn. One of your main characters in The Bystanders, Shannon Lamb-Samples, is the ultimate […]

“Chief Corn Tassel” by Mitzi Dorton

With thorough research, Mitzi Dorton brings the inspiring story of Chief Corn Tassel to life. Much of Chief Corn Tassel (Finishing Line Press, 2022) is told through the Cherokee chief’s own words and recorded speeches. An impressive section of illustrations appends the book. Known as “the best statesman” and “the greatest orator of the late […]

A Conversation on the April Read of the month: “The Bystanders” by Dawn Major

Southern Literary Review congratulates Associate Editor Dawn Major on the publication of her debut novel, The Bystanders (Mooncove Press, 2023). SLR’s Editor Donna Meredith and Associate Editor Claire Matturro discuss Dawn Major’s novel, The Bystanders.   DM: The first chapter begins with the archetype of a stranger coming to town. In this case, the strangers […]