COME IN AND STAY AWHILE

Stories

Smooth river stones in clear, flowing water with sunlight reflecting off the surface, evoking Mississippi’s natural beauty. In the upper right, the Salvation South New Poets Prize Honorable Mention badge highlights Jennifer Peterson’s award-winning Mississippi poems and her recognition as a Southern poet.

Every Place Is Home to Someone

This finalist for the New Poets Prize—also poet laureate for Hattiesburg, Mississippi—takes us on intricate tours of Saturday in a small town, the thin line between redemption and judgment, and how beauty and love unfold in everyday moments.

Spring Cleaning

A poem about the springtime rituals of a Southern home.

A Summer of Rest

Salvation South’s Stacy Reece believes it’s time for a summer of rest and renewal.

You Are Safe Now

Borscht, chemo and Southern hospitality: the story of how St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis stepped in to help Ukrainian children fleeing war and fighting cancer.

The Joy of Cattywampus

Since its inception in 2009, Knoxville’s Big Ears Festival has become one of the world’s foremost gatherings for music from outside the lines. But when it returned this year after a two-year COVID shutdown, it became something greater than a chance to hear music. Instead, it brought the Knoxville community together for a joyful, citywide celebration. Big Ears offers lessons in how to make joy happen for a whole town. This is the first of a three-part series in which Salvation South studies the Big Ears method.

Mr. Portwood’s Tomatoes

Every week in summertime, he’d visit the bank where she worked, set up shop in a vacant office and sell his prize Better Boy tomatoes.

Our Queer Little Hybrid Thing

Until his death in 2019, Florida State University’s Ned Stuckey-French was a master of the tricky beast called the “personal essay.” Rob Rushin-Knopf looks back at the writer and teacher’s brilliant career.

The Wichahpi Wall

Tom Hendrix spent 30 years building a wall that is neither a barrier to keep anyone out nor a monument to glorify its builder. It is, instead, a portal to the past. It pays tribute to a courageous Native American ancestor and what her life’s journey teaches us about our common humanity and the profound significance of how we order our steps in this world.

After Our Shutdown, We’re Back at Full Steam

A severe head injury to our editor shut us down for almost two months. Now we’re back and better than ever.

Damaged Goods

Robert Fell reflects on 42 years behind bars for the murder of his wife

The Tree

A day in the life of a Florida prisoner

Writing Behind the Walls

Allison Langer began teaching writing to inmates in a Florida prison several years ago. This week, we run three pieces by inmates, set up by an intro from Allison.

Stop Standing Under Understanding

Eduardo Martinez with a poem of questions from inside the walls