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Stories

Kentucky poet Emma Aprile, winner of the Salvation South New Poets Prize, smiling outdoors with trees in the background; featured in an exclusive interview and poetry collection for Salvation South, highlighting emerging Southern poets and contemporary poetry.

We Are All From Where We Are

Louisville poet Emma Aprile, winner of our inaugural Salvation South New Poets Prize, discusses her creative process, the landscapes that shape her work, and what it means to write from and for the South.

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.

A Eulogy for King Coal

In Appalachia, the relationship to coal is changing. An Oscar-nominated filmmaker and a Methodist preacher have created a eulogy for King Coal—a rite that reminds us how difficult, but necessary it is to say goodbye.

An Overdue Reckoning

In South Carolina, a family with multiple generations of service will celebrate this Veterans Day, even as injustice against Black veterans remains unaddressed.

Diving With Ghosts

A Marine vet from the South searches for memories of a grandfather who fought in the Pacific during WWII—and for meaning in the wars he and millions of others have fought.

Yes to the Work

Five poets on the complex undercurrents of military service.