Elizabeth Hudson (@elizahudson) is editor in chief of Our State magazine, an 81-year-old regional magazine all about the people, places, and things that make living in North Carolina great.
A few weeks ago, I found a box in my attic labeled “Old College Papers.” After cringing through the first notebook on top — Lord, that was enough — I did what any self-respecting editor 20 years out of school would do. I pitched that entire box straight into the recycling barrel before anything else Pandora-like flew out of it.
I did, however, salvage one piece of paper. It was titled “Nine Traits that Exist in Southern Writing,” evidently from a course in Southern literature, one I’d long since forgotten. But I was happily surprised to note just how timeless these themes are, whether in fiction or nonfiction. I see them carried out in the stories we publish in the magazine every month, and in great pieces produced nationally every day.
Here are my picks for a few great (Southern) #longreads that reinforce the following nine traits:
1. Deep Involvement in Place: ‘Saints the Soul of America’s City’ (Wright Thompson, ESPN, 2009)
2. Strong Family Bonds: ‘The Ghost’ (Elizabeth Gilbert, GQ)
3. Celebration of Eccentricity: ‘Love and Death in the Cape Fear Serpentarium’ (Wendy Brenner, Oxford American)
4. Strong Narrative Voice: ‘The Girl in the Window’ (Lane DeGregory, Tampa Bay Times)
5. Themes of Human Endurance: ‘Elegy of a Race Car Driver’ (Jeremy Markovich, SB Nation)
6. Embracing Local Tradition: ‘An Ode to Waffle House’ (Tom Junod, Esquire)
7. Sense of Impending Loss: ‘Just One More’ (Gary Hawkins, Oxford American)
8. Persuasive Sense of Humor in Face of Tragedy: ‘Now We Are Five’ (David Sedaris, The New Yorker)
9. An Inability to Leave the Past Behind: ‘Linville Caverns’ (Matt Crossman, Our State)
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