Our third issue! Click the headline to get to the issue. In the issue window, the double-chevron icon brings up a toolbar so you can zoom in and out, download a PDF, etc. A few tips for reading it: The toolbar’s box icon fills your whole screen with a flipbook in spreads, which is easier to read on some screens. You can navigate back to the Table of Contents by clicking the link at the bottom of any page. If the flipbook doesn’t act right on your device or browser, we also have every article and story available as individual posts in the sidebar. (That also helps people find content in web searches, use it for promotional stuff, etc.)
So about the issue itself… Besides Thanksgiving, November is Indigenous History Month, and of course includes Veterans Day. So we are very, very proud to feature David Kassan’s stunning portrait of one of the last Navajo code talkers, John Kinsel, who served during World War II, and David Bullens’ photo of Many Children. In future issues we hope to expand our coverage of indigenous people’s art and literature. We’re workin’ on it!
We are also delighted to bring you Mickey Raphael’s tribute to Floore’s Country Store, a beloved country music venue in Helotes, Texas. Mickey has played on that stage many times over the years with Willie Nelson & Family. He reflects fondly on that and took some great photos of this real-deal Texan venue still going strong. (And it’s a happy accident that one of our book reviews just so happens to be Picnic: Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Tradition.)
As proud as we are of all of that, Real South/West is first and foremost a literary magazine, so as always, we are pleased to offer up four new pieces of great grit lit fiction. John Dufresne explores family ties and a little quantum theory in “Entanglement.” “Tumbling” is an unforgettable excerpt from Karen Kravit’s forthcoming novel. Albert Leftwich examines family honor and revenge in “Dig Two Graves,” and Peter Stravlo graces these pages with a short but powerfully evocative piece, “Green Shelves.” Rounding out this issue are evocative, moving poems we’re blessed to have from Jesse Millner, Denise Duhamel, and Michael Hettich.
Enjoy, have a safe and happy holiday season, and we’ll do this again in January!