Paul Gilberry: The Iroquois King
Once we needed Christmas lights for a 4th of July party, so I went out to the shed, which was getting a little rough after Katrina and Wilma, and there was a possum sleeping on the Christmas lights, and I...
Reine Bouton: Moving On
My SLS: Native New Orleanian. Lover of family, jazz, grits, gumbo, Mardi Gras, porches, and Pimm’s Cup. Besides living in New Orleans, I have a son, a dog, and a cat, and have taught English at Southeastern Louisiana University...
Jake Ford: Sacrifice
Southern Legitimacy Statement (redux): ’m a fifth generation East Tennessean. I’ve cleared fields, dug post holes, chopped wood, and hauled hay. Had a beagle named Clyde that wadn’t worth a damn. As a teen I worked at the local AM country...
Eve Lyons: Don’t Mess With Texas
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I grew up in San Antonio, Texas. Eve’s poetry can be found here on the Dead Mule. Don’t Mess With Texas In sixth grade I started middle school. I was terrified to go to Garner, my local public...
Allison Thorpe: Four Poems
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I’ve swallowed moonshine and lived to brag about it; escaped a copperhead’s randy tongue; ridden a tobacco setter like some rogue elephant; eaten fresh-caught bluegill at dawn; been romanced by a choir of whippoorwills; and fallen asleep amid...
Edward Lang: The Strange Case of David Lang
The Strange Case of David Lang I was named for my great-grandfather, David Lang. David has long been a source of speculation and fascination owing to his disappearance near Gallatin, Tennessee, on September 23, 1880. He supposedly vanished into thin...
Matt Starr: Phoenix
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I’m so Southern that it’s literally the only thing I know how to write about. I was born and raised in the mill town of Kannapolis, North Carolina to a family with accents so thick you could...
CL Bledsoe: Waiting for the Miracle
Another in our bi-weekly Series of Memoirs from Mule editor CL Bledsoe. His southern bona fides run deep, just read on… Waiting for the Miracle My home town was like this: ( ). Wynne had eight thousand people, a Wal...
Jake Ford: The Sacrificial Llama
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I’m a fifth generation East Tennessean. I’ve cleared fields, dug post holes, chopped wood, and hauled hay. Had a beagle named Clyde that wadn’t worth a damn. As a teen I worked at the local AM country...
JL Myers: Martyrs
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Generations of men in my family proudly have the middle name Leroy, including myself. And all of us have had home-cooked meals of squirrel or frog legs or venison and never turn down a slice of vinegar...
Hannah Jane Pearson: The Sum Belongings of a Long-Time Collector
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Texan turned South Carolinian, I’ve been tailgating more than I’ve been kissed–but I get all the sugar I need from my sweet tea.
CL Bledsoe: Three Stories about Hamlin, Arkansas
Southern Legitimacy Statement: CL Bledsoe grew up on a rice, cattle, and catfish farm in eastern Arkansas. He had a redbone hound named Red and a cat named Dog. He lives in northern Virginia with his daughter, where the food...
James Carbaugh: Ladies’ “Better” Dresses
Southern Legitimacy Statement: As a child I remember two bumper stickers that screamed out the following: “If your heart isn’t in Dixie, then get your ass out:” and, “I don’t give a damn how they do it in Ohio.” After internalizing...
Patrick Metoyer: From Where I Am
Southern Legitimacy Statement river town sleepy town cajuncreole spicy foods filé gumbo sultry air pop guns china berry trees joie de vivre laissez bon temps rouler
Robert Thompson: Potty Mouth Philosophers
Southern Legitimacy Statement: There is a warmness to the South. Beyond the obvious, the steamy summers and Goddawful humidity, its native peoples don’t hesitate to pass the offering plate for Ms Jenny’s nephew who came down with a dreadful ailment...
Poetry
Essays
