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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.

I Am Not a Rock Star

Sometimes, the haircut you want is not the haircut you need.

Inside the Family Circle

Fiction from Mississippi’s Michael Farris Smith, verses from Ohio’s poet laureate, and a Christmas memory from Deb Bowen prove why we need your support in this membership drive.

There Must Be Light

The poet laureate of Ohio—a ninth-generation Appalachian—on holiness, the murmur of autumn trees, and the anticipation of honeysuckle.

Takin’ Up a Poundin’

You can give just for giving’s sake. Or you can give to fill a need. A Christmas story from coastal North Carolina.

Join Us for a Year of Unity and Hope

Weave yourself into this tapestry of Southern voices—support us now for a front-row seat to captivating stories, a standing discount on exclusive merch, and priority access to the inaugural Salvation South Writing Workshop coming this January!

How It Is Down Here

In Mississippi, in 1963, it took an assassin’s bullet to give a young man a peek behind the curtain of the Lost Cause.

The Squirrels, the Twilight, the Kudzu, and the Mine-Dumps

Six centuries of Appalachian history in four poems.

Used Dishes: A Thanksgiving Story

When he left his native North Carolina to pastor a church in Vermont, he learned a new way in which grace travels back and forth.

Why Salvation South Matters

Testimonials from the storytellers who bring their work to Salvation South

A Refuge for Storytellers, a Haven for Readers

Salvation South has become something special—and, we hope, an essential part of your week. Please help us keep it alive and thriving.

Zen and the Art of the Deviled Egg

Salvation South co-founder Stacy Reece finally gives up her recipe. Except it’s not really a recipe. More of a method, maybe.

A Note to Florida Legislators

“Educate” has Latin roots, meaning “to draw out” from within or “to lead out” into something larger. The Alabama poet Dr. Jacqueline Allen Trimble calls out the powerful people who want our schools to do neither.