I’m Bound to Leave This Dark Behind
A small-town boxer fights with family obligations, lost love, and the pull of his roots as he chews on whether to sell his dying father’s cherry orchard.
Stories
The Crossing
The Appalachian mountains are full of women who “become everybody’s mother.” This poem from Marianne Leek pays Christmas homage to one of them.
By Marianne Leek /
A Little House of Hope
To get through times like these, we’ve got to build our own little houses of hope and then live in them.
By Chuck Reece /
That Wasn’t for Me
Erik Peters brings us a small piece of fiction about a small gesture — and how such gestures can mean so much.
By Erik Peters /
The History of St. Nick
Their mother was honest with her children. If only her children hadn’t been honest with their classmates.
By Peter Dye /
Faithful Friends
Our editor ponders whether we can create a new recipe for a happy Christmas.
By Chuck Reece /
Learning to Love the A Minus
Or, How the Pandemic Kicked My Kitchen Perfectionism to the Curb
By Susan Rebecca White and Illustrations by Stacy Reece /
The Special Decadence of Pimento Cheese
Sarah Brown knows exactly what’s right and exactly what’s wrong in the making of pimento cheese, specifically the sort that will send a shiver down your spine.
By Sarah Brown /
Four Poems by Will Wellman
Will Wellman brings us four poems from his heart — and from his native home of Florida.
By William Wellman /
The Old Man’s Favorite Bird Dog
His dog’s name was Rusty. He was a German shorthaired pointer. Daddy said he was the best bird dog ever.
By Chuck Reece /
Reconciliation Road
In a story from 2021, Maurice Carlos Ruffin and Tad Bartlett hit the road in Louisiana to talk about — and then write about — the South’s future.
By Maurice Carlos Ruffin and Tad Bartlett /
About Salvation South
A refuge for Southern storytellers and a haven for Southern readers