This special issue of Southern Cultures, guest edited by Tom Rankin, features contributions by Natasha Trethewey, Tamika Galanis, Kate Medley, T. DeWayne Moore, Phyllis B. Dooney, Lynn Marshall Linnemeier, Pableaux Johnson, Joanna Welborn, Jeremy M. Lange, Rachel Jessen, Kimber Thomas, Eliot Dudik, Rox Campbell, Holly Lynton , Jon-Sesrie Goff, Elaine Sheldon, Aaron Canipe, Jared Ragland, and Alan Shapiro.