Published by The University of Southern Mississippi since 1962, the Southern Quarterly is an internationally-known scholarly journal devoted to the interdisciplinary study of Southern arts and culture.

The Arts in the South

For SoQ, "the arts" is defined broadly, and includes painting, sculpture, music, dance, poetry, photography, and popular culture. We also publish studies of Southern culture from such disciplines as literature, folklore, anthropology, and history. For SoQ, "The South" is defined as the region from the Mason Dixon Line to Central America.

SoQ issues and features devoted to individual southern artists include: Eudora Welty, Kate Chopin, Harry Crews, Erskine Caldwell, Elvis Presley, Lee Smith, Tennessee Williams, Conrad Aiken, and Walker Percy. An upcoming issue will be devoted to Natasha Trethewey.

The Fall 2012 issue of the Southern Quarterly celebrates our 50 years of publication and contains essays on American painter Walter Anderson, the influence of Nathaniel Hawthorne on southern writers, the megachurch movement in the South, and military pastimes at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, in the early 20th century, as well as interviews with Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Beth Henley and Grammy-winning blues musician Vasti Jackson. The issue will also offer readers new poetry by United States Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, Paul Mariani, Dave Smith, Robert Morgan, Linda Pastan, David Kirby, Andrew Hudgins, and Kelly Cherry.

Regular Features

Regular features include reviews of books and films, periodic reviews of exhibitions and performances, as well as interviews with writers and artists.

Call for Papers

We are currently soliciting manuscripts for upcoming issues and invite submissions of interdiciplinary scholarly articles, interviews with major Southern writers, composers, and artists, unpublished archival materials, and poems anchored in the spirit of the South.

Our Southern Quarterly Editorial Board: