Southern Exposure was an award-winning print journal published by the Institute for Southern Studies, publisher of Facing South, from 1973 until 2011. Southern Exposure earned a national reputation for its writing on a broad range of political and cultural issues in the South, with a special emphasis on investigative journalism and oral history.

On the 50th anniversary of Southern Exposure’s birth, Facing South and the Institute will be publishing a full digital archive of the journal over the course of the year. The initial installment of the archives available in March 2023 includes issues from the magazine’s launch in 1973 through 1981.

Vol. 25 No. 3/4 - Fall/Winter 1997
< Previous / Next >

Magazine cover with background of notebook paper and visual of man working on metal wheel. Text reads "New Writing from the Working-Class South"

New Writing from the Working-Class South

  • From the Editor

    2

  • Roundup

    3

  • Job Equity in the Downsized South

    What kind of jobs are there? Who has them? And who benefits? Institute for Southern Studies

    7

  • Introduction

    Writing from the Bottom Up: A Southern Tradition. By Gary Ashwill, Chris Kromm and Jordan Green

    12

  • Surprises

    By Barbara Barnett

    16

  • Deviled Eggs

    By Crystal Wilkenson

    19

  • Kentucky Blues

    By Ron Whitehead

    23

  • Temporary Balance

    By Tony Peacock

    25

  • Contacts, Pain and Pleasure

    By Laverne Zabielski

    31

  • I am

    By Sharon Shelton

    32

  • I was a Wal-Mart CareBear Wannabe

    By Lisa Martinovich

    33

  • Stone at the Tomb

    By Evelyn Miller

    35

  • Writing With Class: An Interview with Denise Giardina

    By Jordan Green

    40

  • Making Change in a Closed Little Town

    By Sara White

    44

  • Working Class Kitchen Manifesto

    By Laverne Zabielski

    47

  • My Vita, Or How I Became a Blue-Collar Writer

    By Nancy Peacock

    49

  • Photo Essay: We Are All Housekeepers

    A documentary history of struggle in the new freedom movement. By Susan Suchman Simone and Jeff Jones

    53

  • Junebug: Southern Exposure's Storyteller: America's Blackest Child

    By Junebug Jabbo Jones

    63

  • Blueprint for Change: Using Film as an Organizing Tool

    By Judith Helfand

    66

  • Reviews of Southern Media

    The Activist Cookbook by Andrew Pearson; Dixie Rising by Pronita Gupta

    68

  • Still the South: The Tea Belt

    By Mary Lee Kerr

    70
Full PDF