Top 10 Stories of 2012
As 2013 kicks off, we wanted to take a moment to remember 2012 and recap some of our most popular stories and features. We’re excited about what the New Year holds and look forward to bringing you new content, more giveaways and even more reading lists in the coming months.
1. Where to Eat in the South in 2012
We started 2012 off with a list of 50 restaurants redefining Southern food, sparking 31 comments about your own favorite eateries and dishes. Now that you know where to have the best sit-down meal, we’re following up with a list of the best food trucks later this month. Stay tuned!
2. Flannery O’Connor Recording Found
In January, we also announced the discovery of a 1962 recording of author Flannery O’Connor in Lafayette, Louisiana. As the recording was digitized, a symposium developed around it and clips became available, we shared it all with you. We also developed lots of fun content, like Flannery O’Connor’s Top 8 Freaks, to celebrate a year that became about how relevant O’Connor’s works still are today.
Our Literary Friday series officially began on February 24, offering up Southern literary news, events, videos and more each Friday. We also began scheduling Twitter chats with Southern authors like Michael Lee West and Erika Robuck for Literary Friday and giving lots of books away, which will of course continue in 2013.
4. Greatest Bromances in Southern Literature
In March, writer Hunter Murphy counted down the greatest male bonds in Southern literature for us. His No. 1 bromance? Mark Twain’s Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer.
Arguably our most popular in-depth story of the year, April’s look into the future of a tiny Alabama community sparked much discussion and interest. We’re still getting comments on this story and it also resulted in a photo of a Gee’s Bend quilt being featured on the cover of a McGraw Hill textbook titled “Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives.”
6. Summer and Fall/Winter Reading Lists
Our seasonal reading lists continued last year, offering up beach reads and romances during the summer and mysteries and thrillers for the fall and winter. We also created a few additional reading lists throughout the year, like 10 Required Reads for Adults, 13 October Reads and Books to Read During a Hurricane.
Every Wednesday in October, we ran a ghost story in partnership with The Moonlit Road as part of our Haunted South section, hopefully keeping y’all spooked leading up to Halloween.
In November, we offered up a taste of the Deep South by presenting some of the best Southern food products on the market. After officially tasting each one, we were excited to recommend mustard sauce from Texas, cheese biscuit mix from Alabama, peanut butter from both Virginia and North Carolina, jelly from Georgia and even some moonshine.
9. Voting on Pushcart Prize Nominations
For the first time in 2012, we nominated original poetry, fiction and nonfiction that appeared in our Southern Voice section for The Pushcart Prize. Y’all helped us narrow down our favorites, and we mailed in six submissions for official nomination before the December deadline.
10. Author Birthdays
We expanded our coverage of Southern literature in 2012 by marking author birthdays and other notable dates with special posts and content. Some of the authors featured last year included F. Scott Fitzgerald, Lillian Smith, Richard Wright, Truman Capote, John Kennedy Toole, Joel Chandler Harris, James Lee Burke, Tennessee Williams, O. Henry and William Faulkner.