Tony Mancus: Hair Shirt (memoir)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I’ve lived in Virginia for the past seven, going on eight years. My blood and kin are northern, but my pace is a good bit more southerly. *This was originally published in April 2017 and is republished today,...
Helen Wurthmann: Not Funny Ha-Ha (fiction)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born and raised in Missouri, whose Southern statehood led to the civil war, regardless of whether or not modern Missourians consider themselves Southerners. Missouri and I are the middle children of our respective families: often overlooked...
Meredith Baker: The Gift (memoir)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I am from Orangeburg, SC and once fell off the open tailgate of a pickup truck because I was standing up when my uncle took off. We were looking for my cousin Mary Ann’s pet cow, Lady...
Anne Anthony: Music As Her Refuge (Fiction)
Southern Legitimacy Statement Anne Anthony lives in North Carolina though when she engages you in conversation it’s clear she was born above the Mason-Dixon Line. Still, if she’s reading you her stories, sometimes her voice slides into the gentle sway...
Amy Parker: Feeding the Gods of Vacation Karma (memoir)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Alrighty, then. Native North Carolinian, former bartender / caterer / chef, middle child of a small-town veterinarian and a home economist extraordinaire. Know the heady joy of running behind the mosquito-spray truck on a sticky summer night, and...
Summer Issue Sizzles with Great Writing
Well, how cliche’ can we be— sizzling summer issue? We’ve many a good piece hidden here on the July-August Dead Mule issue. Our writing covers the gamut of emotions– offering you some everything from great memoirs to astounding fiction to...
Luisa Kay Reyes: Closets (Memoir)
And here’s my Southern Legitimacy Statement: Luisa was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Roll Tide! On her Mother’s side her family has been in Alabama since before Alabama became a state. Her Mother was actually living in Mexico City when she...
Tammy Tolbert: Apples (Essay/Memoir)
My Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Southern Ohio, where driving forty five minutes one way puts you in West Virginia and thirty five minutes the other way puts you in Kentucky....
Alexandra Melnick: Those Killed in Mississippi
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born in South Florida, against my better judgement. I then fled to Jackson, MS and am now settling in the Delta, where we may not have many chain banks but we have plenty of Waffle...
Billy Malanga: Salt Marsh (Memoir/Essay)
Southern Legitimacy Statement : Upon graduation from college in 1984, I sweated my way through basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina. After earning the title of U.S. Marine, I was permanently stationed at Marine Corps Air Station – Beaufort,...
Neva Bryan: Sparks and Vinegar (Short Fiction)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Kentucky-born and Virginia-raised, I am the daughter and granddaughter of coal miners. As a child, I played in the woods every summer day, caught lightning bugs in jars at night, and made lunch out of saltine crackers slathered...
Kate Dolinger: The Ceremony of Acknowledgment (memoir/essay)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I am from Bristol, Virginia, a city that borders Tennessee and is “A good place to live” (so says a sign on the border). I lived on a 10-acre farm for most of my life, and now I...
Adreyo Sen: Poetry
The following is my Southern Legitimacy Statement: I just loved “Gone With the Wind.” For the longest time, I wanted to be Melanie. Now, I am inching towards Scarlett. The Knowable On quiet streets Barely kissed by the sun, A...
Tim Mattamoe: Poetry
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I live in quiet retirement in Chatham County, the gem of the Carolina Central Piedmont. I once taught history in Beaufort County, the pearl of the Carolina Coastal Plain. I am American by birth, Southerner because I...
Poetry
Essays
