Celebrate 30 years of the OA.
With original work from Imani Perry, Kristen Arnett, Diane Roberts, and so many others, our Spring Issue honors our past and looks into our expansive future.
With original work from Imani Perry, Kristen Arnett, Diane Roberts, and so many others, our Spring Issue honors our past and looks into our expansive future.
“Four years ago in April Christ appeared to me in a dream firmer than a dream. He was not radiant but nevertheless pronounced against a red-brown background of low mountains on the near horizon. A camera would have placed Him on the surface of Mars or in front of a quiet sandstorm in Jerusalem.” — Barry Hannah, “Christ in the Room”
Essays by Charles Portis, Barry Hannah, Wendy Brenner, Kevin Brockmeir, Gary Hawkins, Will Blythe, and more. Fiction by Carol Ann Fitzgerald, Michael Parker, and Judy Budnitz.
Other contributors include Roy Blount Jr., John. T. Edge, Paul Reyes, and more.
Editor’s Box
by Marc Smirnoff
MESSAGES FROM THE FRONT
Delivering the motley South to your doorstep!
with Paul Maliszewski, Emily Witt, Lawrence Wilson
OA Comix
SAMMY’S WORLD
by Kristin Gore (writer) and Ellen Forney (artist)
Gone Off Up North
WHERE’S THE BIG IDEA?
by Roy Blount, Jr.
Saying It
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME
by Kaye Gibbons
Local Fare
PIGGLY WIGGLY AIN’T NO HOGGLY WOGGLY
by John T. Edge
The Future
CHANGE IN THE DELTA
by Matt Dellinger
Sense of Place
TRI-COUNTY FAIR—PETERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA
photographs by Mary Noble Ours
The Moviegoer
LIFE STUDIES
by Gary Hawkins
Guest Music Column
THE WORST FORM OF IMITATION?
by Will Blythe
Writing on Writing
A KIND OF MYSTERY
by Kevin Brockmeier
Writing on Writing
THE WIND BLOWETH WHERE IT LISTETH
by Charles Portis
Dealer’s Choice
SON OF A PREACHER MAN
Marshall Frady (1940–2004)
by Hal Crowther
Books
FAULKNER AS RACIST
by Marc Smirnoff
Books
ST. CASSIUS
by Paul Reyes
Southern Reader
ROUGHHOUSING IN THE SOUTHERN LIBRARY
by J.B. Slogan
Southern Scenes
WALNUT GLEN, WEST VIRGINIA
Photo by Mary Noble Ours
Poetry
BRUCKER ALONE
by Rob Griffith
LOVE AND DEATH IN THE CAPE FEAR SERPENTARIUM
Some passions are more dangerous than others.
by Wendy Brenner
THE KINDEST CUT
A Civil War surgeon carves a place in one family’s history.
a story by Judy Budnitz
CHRIST IN THE ROOM
The author’s life after seeing Jesus.
by Barry Hannah
ARE YOU READY TO BE SEEN?
What should a frustrated writer do if his main competition is his best friend?
a story by Jennifer S. Davis
HIDDEN MEANINGS
A college student turns in a no-holds-barred homework assignment.
a short story by Michael Parker
KING VOLCANO
Intimate encounters on a Hawaiian island.
a short story by Carol Ann Fitzgerald