Atalanta
By MEGAN CLARK FICTION HONORABLE MENTION When Toby, Beeville Junior High’s best wrestler, snatched George’s glasses off her face during
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Three Secrets
By MARY POPHAM FICTION FINALIST There was no rain, but the wind rattled the single-paned storm windows. Flashes of lightning
Read moreA.J. and Crazy Woman
By LINDA L. DUNLAP FICTION PRIZE WINNER Judge: Angela Jackson-Brown, author of Drinking from a Bitter Cup “‘A.J. and Crazy
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By JULIE WHITEHEAD FICTION FINALIST Trey Parker sat in his darkened hotel room staring at the gun he held in
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By LENORE WEISS FICTION FINALIST Bryan Thurmond cantered down to the river wearing a pair of khaki twills, a man
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Judges announced for 2015 contest
The 2015 New Southerner Literary Contest opens August 1 and runs through September 30. In addition to publication in the
Read morePreacher Man
That was the summer I fell in love. 1977—the hottest summer in 50 years. The heat lay in our holler like somebody had left open a window in hell. Days were so long, the sun never really set, only napped a few hours before waking up full of red-hot fury. At night the darkness wasn’t true, not the black of a winter’s night, but rather faded like the negative of an old photograph.
Read moreHosanna, a History
I am jobless and homeless, with a teenage daughter to support, which is why my daughter, Katie, and I have driven to the property of an 85-year-old woman I barely know, where I am prepared to wheedle, grovel—whatever it takes—to convince the old lady to give me a roof over my head. The woman stands before us in overalls, arms folded, waiting. She has a real name, but everyone in the valley calls her Ma. She is a wizened tiny creature, with thick unruly gray hair. After decades of working outdoors, she is brown and crackled like pine bark. I remembered her and her empty farmhouse when the sheriff’s deputy showed up at my door with an eviction notice.
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