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Stories

The image shows a dramatic artistic photograph of a wooden spoon engulfed in orange and red flames against a black background, with fire trailing from both the bowl and handle of the spoon. The composition symbolically represents the intersection of chronic illness spoon theory, trauma, and Appalachian wooden spoons through its powerful visualization of a kitchen implement transformed into something both destructive and beautiful.

Spoon Theory

Morgan DePue on how good memories, childhood trauma, and chronic pain can all rest in the hollow of that wooden spoon you hold in your hand.

Deeeee-Luxe!

Now on our podcast feed, experience Salvation South Deluxe—a monthly longform story in audio form. In our first episode, we revisit Old Fort, North Carolina, where citizens crossed the old racial boundaries to rebuild their small town’s economy.

Old Long Since

As we greet 2024, look fondly (but briefly) backward. Then seek your sources of hope, because hope has no end.

Oh, Blessed Unity

Salvation South wishes you peace and a merry whatever you celebrate.

There Are Many Souths

It’s time you wrote your own. Join Chuck Reece and Meredith McCarroll for Salvation South’s first virtual writing workshop

The South We Thought We Saw in the Bandit

Forty-six years ago, some young Southern boys watched “Smokey and the Bandit” and saw a region where the little guys could win. Were we looking at it wrong?

Requiem for a Dollar Store Christmas Bear

His mother could afford only a single Christmas gift, and he treasured it. It kept him warm. At least for a little while.

The Moments at Hand

The most weathered hands hold the most profound stories.

One Last Weekend to Join the Salvation South Family Circle

Read this roundup of four weeks of amazing stories, poems, and films—all reasons to join the Salvation South Family Circle.

A Gift of Hope

One of the finest Southern writers in history, Ron Rash, now 70, has a long talk with Salvation South about his career as a teacher, novelist, poet, and storyteller.

“Where’s the Reservation?”

Tourists come to North Carolina’s Cherokee Country and buy lots of souvenirs. But they rarely connect with the essence of Cherokee culture, which lives in the people’s stories, the geography beneath their feet, and the cosmography above.

Fleeing for My Life

A South Carolina poet on how we leave a special place—but it never leaves us.

A Toast to Unforgettable Stories and a Call to Join the Family Circle

There isn’t one South. There are 10,000. Join us on our journey to tell the stories of them all.