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Stories

Virginia poet Sharon Ackerman's Appalachian verses capture Carolina wrens, bloodwort meadows, and climate change in evocative poetry that bridges generations and landscapes.

The Berry Behind the Brambles

Ackerman’s verses—rich in the landscapes of the Blue Ridge—bridge our generations, from a rickety shelf stacked with jelly jars to climate-anxious meadows.

Sweet Woman of God

In 1998, Atlanta author Mark Beaver’s father asked him to write to the governor of Texas and call on him to stay the execution Karla Faye Tucker—a question that left him to ponder the tug of war between mercy and justice.

Irish Exits

A lost dog brings Janie Doyle face-to-face with her peculiar neighbors, who live only three blocks away—but in a world that’s entirely different from Janie’s.

Refrigerator

In summer’s swelter, consider the blessing of ice and the consequences of technology.

Yard Work

Punishment and glory–it’s all manifested right out there in the yard.

Teacher, Mother, Poet, Star

Join Salvation South in an intimate conversation with the prize-winning Alabama poet Jacqueline Allen Trimble.

Where We Went Wrong

The poems of South Carolina’s Ray McManus explore how boys become men—in ways healthy and unhealthy—perhaps better than any poet in the South.

Southern Manhood

Your willingness to be a jackass will never make you a man. Writers like South Carolina’s Ray McManus are shredding the futile and stupid myths about what exactly makes a Southern man.

To Hear What We’ve Come for This Long Time

One time and place nourishes the next, just like your broken eggshells feed your garden.

It’s Always Forward

Poets can see into and beyond the surfaces of things: a slumber party, the fraught present, a forest. South Carolina’s Ray McManus shows how it’s done.

The Survival of the Community, Not of the Fittest

The pandemic left communities in Eastern Kentucky fighting for survival and waiting on government responses that came too slowly, so Misty Skaggs turned to the ancient principle of mutual aid.

A Series on Neighborly Action: “Love Louder”

In this ongoing Salvation South series, we amplify the voices of Southerners who demonstrate radical love and acceptance, challenging negative regional narratives through their transformative community work.

The Way Love Finds You

Music, mystery, and magic are everywhere: just ask this mystic Southern poet.