The Southern Literary Review celebrates Southern authors and their contributions to American literature. We feature classic writers who have defined Southern literature, and we highlight emerging authors with interviews, profiles, and book reviews. We support independent bookstores. If you subscribe to our newsletter, please add southernliteraryreview@comcast.net to your email contacts list so that the newsletter doesn’t […]
“The Swellest Wife Anyone Ever Had,” Poems by Jennifer Schomburg Kanke
June 1, 2026 by Leave a Comment
The Swellest Wife Anyone Ever Had (Kelsay Books, 2024) by Jennifer Schomburg Kanke chronicles the life of Enid, an Appalachian housewife born in 1919, through vivid imagery and keenly observed detail. The poet creates rich portraits not only of Enid’s personality and growth, but also of the people, landscape, and culture that shape her life […]
“Words Alone Are Certain Good” by Trenton McKay Judson
June 1, 2026 by Leave a Comment
“You can dance in a hurricane, but only if you’re standing in the eye,” sings Brandi Carlile. No one was dancing in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. In Words Alone Are Certain Good (Pen & Leaf Press, 2025), Trenton Judson writes of characters paddling, swimming, crawling, clinging, but rarely dancing, during the storm and its […]
“A History of Heartache” by Patrick Strickland
June 1, 2026 by Leave a Comment
The first story in A History of Heartache, Patrick Strickland’s debut short story collection, gives away the title when we learn an alcoholic mother “has a history of heartache, most of which she drums up all on her own nowadays.” The question that arises again and again in these loosely-interconnected stories is this: Is heartache […]
“The Burning Side” by Sarah Damoff
May 20, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Sarah Damoff’s second novel, The Burning Side, is just as rich in poignant moments and nuanced characters as her first, The Bright Years, which Southern Literary Review selected as its 2025 Book of the Year. The Burning Side explores two very different marriages, revealing both the best and the worst of committed love. One begins […]
“Perfect Unfolding: Seven Years of Life-Changing Solo Adventure, One Year that Broke me Open” by Kristy Halvorsen
May 19, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Suspend all expectations when you open Kristy Halvorsen’s memoir, Perfect Unfolding (Coddiwomple Now, LLC 2026). With raw candor, in fragmented “nomadic mosaic” style like Maggie Nelson’s Bluets, she unveils how she finds herself set loose after her boyfriend leaves. Yet her mom helps her realize her dreams are not crushed but parked in her driveway—if […]