Old about page, new one coming eventually on account of none of this has really changed so why re-write it, eh? Except to say:

Ruth Florence Chapman Heinold is ninety years old today, April 13th, 2007.

ABOUT
The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature is found on the web at: www.deadmule.comFounded in 1995 [Dead Mule Faculty and Alumni can be found by clicking here]

Originally, the Mule was a traditional print literary journal supported in part by a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council. Note should be taken here that Ellen Roberson drew the original dead mule. After fulfilling grant specifications and publishing an inaugural paper copy of the Dead Mule, the Mule went online as a private publication supported by Valerie and Robert MacEwan, Ruth Heinold, and through Dead Mule Gear sales receipts. We’ve never asked for money to help pay for publication online. The bottom line is, server space was graciously donated by John Biggs on BigWideLogic for a while, we used Digital Space for a few years and then we were severely hacked (even the backups were compromised), and now we use GoDaddy and pay less than $50 a year for hosting fees. We donate our time. Ends up being a very affordable venture for us. One of those joy of doing it things, ya know?

Our staff volunteers to help with the Mule. When we pay writers or give prizes, we fund it ourselves — out of our own pocket. Grants are nice but paperwork sucks. We don’t charge reading or submission fees, and intend to always be that way. Writers shouldn’t have to pay to have their submissions read or to have their work published or to be in a “contest.” Good literature is not a lottery. All writers who submit to the Mule get equal consideration, regardless of previous publication credits. It’s the writing that counts to us. Okay, enough of that…

The Dead Mule is published in The South, USA — in North Carolina to be more specific.

Again, we say, an almost complete list of our writers and faculty can be found by clicking here.
Standard Publication Policies:
Editorial comments and email concerning Mule content (not technological questions or comments) should be sent to vmac at macewan dot net and should contain “Editorial Comment” in the Subject line. For a kick, read the blog “Mental Kudzu” at MacEwan.net which now features the stories and journals of Spencer Montgomery, male writer. And for Linux tutorials and other online wonderment, try Macewan.org.

The Mule does not discriminate but good taste and superb quality supercede all other criteria.

While many fine literary sites exist online, the Mule does not contain a link page. Publicly, we neither endorse nor condemn any journals. We also do not publish our contributor’s bios or previous publication credits. Google does a very good job of this for us.

Copyright — Creative Commons but also, we’d like to copy Half Drunk Muse’s copyright statement because it’s a good one. Obviously we’ve inserted our name:
Submission to and acceptance by Dead Mule grants us first electronic and indefinite archive rights. All other rights revert to the author upon publication. Please credit Dead Mule as the first publisher if you reprint elsewhere; we like seeing our name in print, too.

With gratitude and affection, we give thanks to those friends who have helped and encouraged us through the years:
Phoebe Kate Foster — assistant editor /fiction (what a friend and editor, she’s always here for the Mule)
Helen Losse - Poetry Editor (she worked her buns off on this spring Mule, she’s the one who finds the best poets, you know.)
Wesley Burnett
Ruth Heinold
Caroline Anthony Atkins
Jane and Andy Olsen (Oliver and Emmett)
Jeremy Jethro, for whom no words can properly describe
Kevin Blankenship - past co-editor/poetry (who will return eventually!)
Debbie McGillis, NC Arts Council
Janis Owens
Charlie Whitley, poet and friend supreme
Danny Lee Ingram
Tim Peeler, one of the first Mule Men
Gerald Bosacker, a consistent Mule friend over the years, one of our first contributors
Ed Lynskey
the ever-fantastic Mr. Tim Bullard — the original Mule Friend
Carter Monroe
CL Bledsoe
Wayne Scheer
Zan Nordlund
Ann Hite
Tracy Whitaker (thanks for the quick read/comment, dearie)
Gideon C. Kennedy
G. C. Smith
John Biggs

and many more…

Editor/Publisher: Valerie MacEwan

Site Administrator and Architect: Robert MacEwan [backend based on WP1.5+]