As a source of beliefs, myths, and narratives, the family has always been central to Southern culture. So it can be frustrating for those Southerners who either do not fully embrace their family’s traditions or who know little about their family. This essay takes us to Louisiana, where the writer…

One metaphor for our emergence from childhood is the narrative of the butterfly, whose transformation is mythic. In the South, our own transformations into maturity can include realizing that not everyone can show their true vibrant colors, and that not everyone wants to. In this essay, a multifaceted narrative set…

Whether in the Upper South or the Deep South, storytelling is integral to Southern culture. As children, we are affected in significant ways by not only our experiences and observations, but by the narratives we hear. In this essay, one writer winds through four different, complex aspects of identity —…

The blues is a mythic aspect of Southern culture. While this important music was created in African-American communities in the South, it has since crossed many boundaries and become part of a wider national narrative. In this essay, we follow one writer’s experience in Mississippi as he attempts to explore…

For Immediate Release August 3, 2023 Nobody’s Home will publish four new works! On Thursday, August 17, the online anthology Nobody’s Home: Modern Southern Folklore is adding four new works of creative nonfiction by writers from the South. With a focus on the beliefs, myths, and narratives in Southern culture…

In the post-Civil Rights era, the visiting-the-New-South book emerged, and Albert Murray’s South to a Very Old Place may have been the first of its kind. Published in 1971 on the heels of The Omni-Americans, it preceded books like VS Naipaul’s A Turn in the South (1989), Eddy Harris’s South…

“In the News” is published quarterly and provides a sampling of stories, articles, or reviews that reference or relate to beliefs, myths, and narratives in Southern culture since 1970. “Tennessee House speaker considers rejecting federal money” from PBS NewsHour (February 8, 2023) “‘Basically, we’ll be able to educate the kids how Tennessee sees fit,’ [House speaker Cameron] Sexton said, pointing out that rejecting the money would mean that Tennessee would no longer have ‘federal government interference.’”

The 2012 documentary My Louisiana Love intertwines filmmaker Monique Verdin’s examination of her own indigenous culture in southern Louisiana, which is declining, with explanations of the forces that are working against it and the people working for it. Assisted by her husband and focusing on her dying father and elderly…

You should read Part One first. — My route home from Norfolk, Virginia to Montgomery, Alabama went a little further inland, running through Asheville, North Carolina then over to Chattanooga, Tennessee through the Nantahala National Forest before turning south to head back home via Birmingham. I was thankful that much of the journey out of Norfolk through…