COME IN AND STAY AWHILE

Stories

Sweet Tea With Emily Dickinson

How a small crew in tiny Whitesburg, Georgia, turned the work of a 19th century New England poet into a touring fundraiser for small-town public libraries in the South.

Blue Country Mystic

How Hiss Golden Messenger’s M.C. Taylor moved to North Carolina from California and found his voice in the South.

Real Love

A Kentucky poet sings solidarity to the landscape, language, and love that claim her.

Southern by Choice or Birth

A story about one who wasn’t born Southern but got here as quick as he could, plus two more from folks whose roots are deep in Appalachian soil.

A Whole-Town Family Reunion

In the mountain town of Blairsville, Georgia, an annual Sorghum Festival has celebrated Appalachian culture for over 50 years. And it kicks off again this weekend.

A Scrape of Fingernails

An excerpt from “The Caretaker,” the latest—and possibly final—novel from a titan of Appalachian literature, North Carolina’s Ron Rash

Cornbread Is Personal

If you want to know me and my people, let me put a crusty wedge in your bowl.

Where We Go From Here

Looking back through decades of struggle, uncertainty, and hope

Toward Love

An early autumn assessment of what we hope y’all get when you open Salvation South.

We’ll Start a New Country Up

From the time they were kids, they just couldn’t wait for something bigger than their small Alabama town.

Truer Than the Truth

Why fiction is—and should always be—part of Salvation South.

Tupelo, Honey!

ELVIS! was born in Tupelo, crowned the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, and became such a legend—and punchline—that the man himself is almost beside the point. Almost.

Salt and Light

A Tennessee social worker unfurls a flag of healing and mercy.