Southern Review of Books

05/29/2025

“The Sparta of this collection is not intended to be an exact representation of the real-world Sparta of White County, Tennessee (for one thing, the book’s Sparta is a little bit bigger than the real town; it has a Chuck E. Cheese, after all). But I did use the real-world Sparta’s geography and natural world to inform my poetics, to bring Helen’s world of hills and kudzu and fields to life.”

Check out our fresh interview with Maria Zo***la! scribnerbooks

An interview with poet Maria Zo***la about her debut collection.

05/27/2025

"For all the darkness oozing from the pages, the prose glistens gloriously — “When the sun hit the pool and the trees sprinkled new leaves onto its surface, the water looked like copper.” In doing so, the novel establishes a duality between horror and beauty that flows through every crevice and crack of the narrative, leaving the reader repulsed and raptured in equal measure."

New review of THE LAMB by Lucy Rose. Harper Books

Originally written as a series of interconnected flash fiction pieces, Lucy Rose’s “The Lamb” is a folk horror novel at its sinister heart.

05/23/2025

“This play is written in a way that provides a sensitive, rather than sensationalist, approach to unveiling a pivotal part of Marie Laveau’s life, highlighting her humanity, compassion, and intelligence. It’s a striking work of art that tells part of the story of an extraordinary person who was, and remains, the Queen of New Orleans.”

New review of Carolyn Nur Wistrand’s play, SHE DANCED WITH A REDFISH. UL Press

A review of Carolyn Nur Wistrand’s play, “She Danced with a Redfish.”

05/22/2025

"The novel affirms that Atlanta, like its protagonists, is home to a multitude of fantasies and contradictions."

New review of THE FANTASIES OF FUTURE THINGS by Doug Jones. Simon & Schuster

The codes of masculinity, gay or straight, play an important role in “Fantasies,” which draws upon moments of historical change to reveal the precarious position of the Black gay male a…

05/21/2025

"Short stories bring me the most joy, and that’s what I’m after: joy."

New interview with Daniel Wallace on his new short story collection, BENEATH THE MOON AND LONG DEAD STARS. Bull City Press

People are capable of a complicated and probably infinite range of feelings: between good and bad, happy and sad… however briefly, and however brief, these stories can take you to some of the…

05/19/2025

"A review of The Essential C. D. Wright is less a review of Wright’s work than it is a reflection on Wiegers’ and Gander’s editorial choices. There can be no doubt that the right team took charge of this project, and that it was a labor of love."

New review of THE ESSENTIAL C.D. Wright, edited by Forrest Gander and Michael Wiegers.

A review of “The Essential C.D. Wright,” a collection of excerpted works by C.D. Wright, edited by Forrest Gander and Michael Wiegers.

05/17/2025

We're so excited about our new summer book club! The SRB crew and Bradley Sides invite you to be a part of the literary communities we're building in the South and read along with us (on your own or maybe with your regular book club)! Learn more about how it works at the link below.

The SRB crew and Bradley Sides invite you to read along with us!

05/16/2025

There are so many people that are hurting right now, and so many causes that need funding. But if you have a little extra, now is a good time to support small literary organizations and presses, indie bookstores, and writers. To that end, here’s a roundup of new releases to add to your bookshelf!

A roundup of the best new Southern releases in May 2025.

05/14/2025

"As much as this memoir explores the way water floods, it illustrates the power of memory to flood our consciousness."

New review of NIGHTSHINING by Jennifer Kabat. Milkweed Editions

A review of “Nightshining” by Jennifer Kabat.

05/13/2025

"It makes me think about yearning as motion, as running in place, digging in deeper, exhausting yourself into oblivion and yet finding a way to continue on — and love, reciprocal love, as real movement, the ongoing traveling to a place with and for each other."

Mesha Maren interviews Mac Crane on their new book, A SHARP ENDLESS NEED. The Dial Press

https://southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/05/13/a-sharp-endless-need-marisa-crane-interview/

05/12/2025

"I came upon a William Faulkner interview with The Paris Review that speaks of artistic failure specifically, and serves as the epigraph to the title poem of this book, but felt so resonant and meaningful to me. I suppose I recognized my own thinking in the words, and felt a deep kinship with the whole idea of striving, failing, failing better, being somehow both fallen far short of a dream of 'getting it right' in writing and in life, and yet, somehow, still doing something splendid."

New interview with Rebecca Lindenberg on OUR SPLENDID FAILURE TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE. BOA Editions

An interview with poet Rebecca Lindenberg on her latest collection, “Our Splendid Failure to Do the Impossible.”

05/12/2025

"SOAKED is filled with unforgettable characters and landscapes that mirror each other, the past from which they emerged and the future in which they must survive. LeBlanc offers the fiction world a new exploration of human nature and what they will and will not do to adapt their lives to unpredictable weather, environments and even those around them."

New review of SOAKED by Toby LeBlanc. Cornerstone Press

A review of Toby LeBlanc’s debut story collection.