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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.

Making Berry Ink

In 1785, on the land where Clemson University now stands, the United States government signed a treaty. It promised the Cherokee people, “The hatchet shall be forever buried.” But that didn’t save the Cherokee town of Esseneca.

Light in August

Our Southern Reader’s Travelogue continues on the trail of William Faulkner, from his home in Oxford to the bookshop that bears his name in New Orleans.

Summer’s End

Every year, they gathered at the campground to feel the magic of the mountain fireflies that glowed in time with each other. Then, a harsh discovery broke the spell.

Harper Lee’s “Tired Old Town”

Visit little Monroeville, Alabama, the inspiration for the immortal “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Our Southern Reader’s Travelogue continues.

The Long Tail of Segregation

Sixty years ago, George Wallace said, “Segregation now.” Six years later, the Supreme Court said, “Integration now.” We’re still assessing the aftermath.

Old Granny Teaches Magic

A pair of poems from the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas

A “Completely White World”

When integration came, her parents sent her to a whites-only private school. For four years, she’s collected the stories of students from that era. This is what she’s learned.

This Land Was Made for You and Me

Salvation South regulars Doug Cumming and Adam Smith introduce us to Frank Hamilton, who for many decades has ridden the rails of American folk music in fine company.

The Interview

There was a time in Hudson, North Carolina, when a man would never walk into a beauty shop. But one day, in 1973, one did.

He Chooses to Remember

Thoughts on reverie, restlessness, and recklessness from the poet laureate of West Virginia.

On the Rails of the Mystery Train

He’s almost 90, and he teaches music in a little school in Georgia. He’s also an unsung giant of American folk music who played with Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. Meet Frank Hamilton.

Made You Look

The award-winning North Carolina writer David Joy’s new novel forces White characters into difficult conversations about race—and White readers to look harder at themselves.