Deep South Magazine

Deep South is a digital magazine that focuses on the literature and culture found in the Southern United States. Our mission is to honor Southern writers by conducting interviews, reviewing their works, and curating reading lists. We also explore significant literary sites and shine a light on book festivals and other literary happenings. Every Friday, you'll find a summary of the latest news in the literary world.

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Chapbooks to Close Out National Poetry Month

2 weeks ago | deepsouthmag.com | Erin Z. Bass

Reading Richmond Poetry Fest founder Rosa Castellano’s debut collection is described as “encountering a contemporary Kindred-in-verse.” Transported from the poet’s Florida childhood—raised in a trailer park called Camelot by interracial parents—into the fictionalized lives of Black sisters surviving Georgia in the years after emancipation, Castellano raises a question central to her identity: what might it be like to pass as one or the other–as Black, or as white.
Still Life in C Minor (after Mary Oliver)

1 month ago | deepsouthmag.com | Kellie Brown

by Kellie BrownFour notes glide up,one steps down,repeats, leaps three,retreats to the keynote. A simple motif,mere musical grammar,surely not the beginningsof a masterpiece, notBeethoven’s fateful knocking. Yet ordinary starts canyield grand finales. And what is our one life,wild and precious,if not a melody of days,soaring then tumbling,fading then sparkling,dying yet alive.
Tell Me Again ... An Interview With Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

1 month ago | deepsouthmag.com | Erin Z. Bass

Lafayette, Louisiana, resident and Managing Editor of Country Roads Magazine Jordan LaHaye Fontenot’s debut true crime novel Home of the Happy: A Murder on the Cajun Prairie hit bookstores on April 1. She launched to a sold-out crowd at Cavalier House Books in Lafayette, visited Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi, earlier this week and has more events scheduled throughout Louisiana through June 12.
Not My First Choice for a Gated Community

1 month ago | deepsouthmag.com | John Sears

by John Michael Searskeeping with traditions of smallish southern townsthat see themselves as unpretentious, more laid-back,with the changing weather being the only topicthat sometimes inspires debates or neighborly chats,our perimeter fence entails no showy displayof high security, since there’s so little crime,and no checking of visitors at our unattended gatewith its Catholic saints depicted in rusting iron.
A Visit to Gothictown

1 month ago | deepsouthmag.com | Erin Z. Bass

Georgia author Emily Carpenter‘s new book Gothictown had me at “echoes of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery” from its back cover description. The 1948 short story by the female horror master calls to mind secrets in a small town and an encroaching sense of dread. Carpenter’s setting of the fictional town of Juliana, Georgia, is all that and more. Carpenter remembers the first time she ready “The Lottery” in high school.
Fried Chick'n From the 'Modern Mountain Cookbook'

1 month ago | deepsouthmag.com | Erin Z. Bass |Haley Roberts

In her new book The Modern Mountain Cookbook: A Plant-Based Celebration of Appalachia, Appalachian vegan and author Jan A. Brandenburg embraces her grandmother’s fearless approach to cooking while staying true to her own beliefs to create a cookbook that captures the flavor and comfort that came with every bite of her favorites from back home.
Vice Releases Cajun Mardi Gras Episode

2 months ago | deepsouthmag.com | Erin Z. Bass

In the first episode of its new series “GATHERINGS,” Vice spends some time at various courir de Mardi Gras celebrations across South Louisiana. Described as exploring the communities and events that give people a sense of belonging in an increasingly isolating world, the series depicts Mardi Gras as an important tradition that is becoming more and more inclusive. Host and Southern native Jackson Garrett gets down in the trenches in Eunice and Church Point at some decades-old courirs.
An Excerpt From 'Crossroad Blues'

Feb 14, 2025 | deepsouthmag.com | Ariel Slick

Azoma, Louisiana, 1924Angelo Davis had made a deal with the Devil, and now he walked toward his death. His grandmother would kill him when she found out. Her house wasn’t much more than a few boards put together, like most folks around here. Just wood and rusty nails keeping their souls together. Angelo stepped up the porch. Lifted his hand to knock. Turned right around, stepped down, and took a step back toward the road. Took a few more steps, then slowly turned.
REPETITION IS LIFE

Dec 18, 2024 | deepsouthmag.com | Erin Z. Bass

I always go to bed early and get up early. I went to bed around 8:00 p.m. on December 3, 2023, Sunday night. After a good night of rest, I get up around 2:30 a.m. I thank Almighty God for blessing me to see another day. I like that time of morning, it’s very quiet. It’s many guys on the zone, but most of the guys are asleep, except for a few guys in front of the television. So, I consider this my time, in a way I’m alone, because most of the other guys is sleep and in another world.
Exploring the Southern Art of Relaxation: Traditions and Modern Wellness

Dec 10, 2024 | deepsouthmag.com | Erin Z. Bass

The South knows how to slow down. People sit in rocking chairs on porches that wrap around houses. They listen to the soft sound of cicadas at sunset and linger over dining tables long after the meal is eaten. This timeless way of life now mixes with modern wellness trends. It creates harmony between old traditions and new ideas. Over the years, Southerners have become experts in relaxing. They find joy in simple things. People enjoy sweet tea on hot days.