Essay by Lauren K. Denton Writers come from everywhere, yet it seems the South produces them at a higher rate than usual. Here, we tell stories—those we make up and others that have been passed down through generations. Maybe it’s easier—or more necessary—to tell stories down South, to put fictional lives on paper to make […]
Allen Mendenhall Interviews Lindsay Parnell, Author of Dogwood
August 13, 2015 by 1 Comment
AM: Thanks for taking the time to talk to Southern Literary Review about your novel, Dogwood. This is a remarkable and poignant book, literary fiction at its finest. You toy with stream-of-consciousness and alternating narration in the book. Why? LP: The articulation of Harper’s journey and the journey itself are irreversibility fused together. Harper’s story […]
“MISS JULIA ROCKS THE CRADLE,” BY ANN B. ROSS
December 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Paul H. Yarbrough If you haven’t read any of Ann Ross’s Miss Julia series, you have missed a clever protagonist and delightful character with whom you could have become quite close. Miss Julia is a light-plotted Miss Marple with a touch of Jan Karon’s easy-going, Southern, genteel, feminine style (think Mitford series). Ms. […]
December Read of the Month: “Larry Brown: A Writer’s Life,” by Jean W. Cash
November 29, 2011 by 1 Comment
Reviewed by Philip K. Jason Professor Cash’s life story of Mississippi author Larry Brown sets a high standard for biographies of contemporary authors. Her study is a model of how to absorb abundant and varied research materials into a sturdy, accessible prose style. Cash neatly balances materials about Brown’s personal life, his progress as a […]
“The Color of Lies,” by Donna Meredith
November 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Philip K. Jason In the season of Barack Obama’s successful presidential campaign, the stability of a small South Georgia town is threatened by racial stresses and strains. A racial slur is found on a school blackboard. A dynamic Afro-American minister threatens a law suit against the school system, challenging its treatment of Black […]
An Interview with James Nolan
November 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment
by Philip K. Jason Our review of James Nolan’s Higher Ground was posted on November 8. Contributor and new executive editor Philip K. Jason interviewed Mr. Nolan about the book. Here it is: SLR: What inspired you to build a novel about New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina? JN: Three days after Katrina hit, […]