God’s Silence, Humanity’s Deafness

The seriousness of Cormac McCarthy’s writing and his own umwelt compels us to judge his work on the work alone.

Christopher C. King Mar 28, 2023

Remembering Cormac McCarthy

McCarthy’s literary contribution is a shorthand and reference point for American fiction of the late 20th century.

Oxford American Jun 14, 2023

The End of the Trail

Cormac McCarthy should revisit his home in Tennessee, where stoic cowboys and desert oracles don’t much signify.

Hal Crowther Sep 30, 1998

Old Woods and Deep

But there’s a second layer of distortion with McCarthy. Since publishing his first novel in 1965, he’s given only a few interviews, none personal.

Noah Gallagher Shannon Sep 05, 2017

Spring 2023 Issue Hits Newsstands March 28

With new short fiction, literary and musical criticism, and collection of fine art, the spring issue breathes deeply and emerges hopeful.

Oxford American Feb 28, 2023

Issue 120, Spring 2023

Instagram

The Dead Give Him Stories

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William Giraldi Jan 28, 2016

Issue 98, Fall 2017

BIG EARS, A REANIMATION

The experimental quality is the thread that stitches all the disparate pieces of the weekend-long event together. The festival combines musical performances with panels and talks, art installations, film screenings, and interactive workshops, pieced together like Dr. Frankenstein’s monster—the creature made of many parts. Big Ears, Knoxville’s monster, might be one of the most quietly earth-shattering, subtly luminous festivals the world over.

Holly Haworth May 07, 2015

FOX-TEETH IN YOUR HEART

I guess I usually begin with a situation, maybe a “what if” question. In “Blood Brothers” it was “what if these meth heads in East Tennessee got their hands on Grindr?” That was back when the Grindr app had first come out, like spring or summer of 2009. I immediately wondered what the people I went to high school with in rural East Tennessee would make of it.

Grant Taylor Dec 14, 2015

Hell With The Lid Taken Off

...From “Portraying Appalachia...

Matthew Newton Mar 25, 2014

IF I WAS A PET, I WOULD COMMIT SUICIDE

I usually get “this minimalist prose” or “simplistic prose.” If they’re so simple, you try doing it! I’ve worked my ass off to make those stories feel conversational. I’ve put a lot of work into creating something that’s practical—like a table, practical and to be used.

James Williamson Oct 09, 2012

INTRODUCING THE FALL 2017 ISSUE

The Fall 2017 issue of the Oxford American is on newsstands nationwide today.

Oxford American Sep 05, 2017

The Ballad Of Jimmy Crack Corn

...Picture it: You drive home from the grocery store, pull into your cul-de-sac, a short and quiet street. You like the way the afternoon sun casts ac...

Nov 18, 2012

Tell the Kids I Love Them

My father’s suicide carved a deep gash in me. Though that wound has been a source of intense pain, it has also given me a greater capacity to experience joy.

Jeremy Redmon Jun 01, 2022

The Mountains Aren't Empty

I first devoured Robert Gipe’s books and plays because I wanted to understand Appalachia.

Beth Macy Sep 04, 2018

Vessel of Antiquity

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Megan Pugh Mar 19, 2019

R.E.M. for the People

It was R.E.M.’s ability to sound like a pop band and still address an audience of hipsters that set them up for the kind of success they are now enjoying.

Elizabeth Wurtzel Nov 10, 2020

Madness in the Cupboards

woods isn’t the rapper you let simmer in the background; you have to lean into his vivid prose.

Marcus J. Moore Mar 28, 2023

Mystic Nights

The album changed how listeners and ambitious writers and performers thought about Bob Dylan and about the possibilities of rock & roll.

Sean Wilentz

Someday

Highlander, he said, was “the only desegregated place in the South,” and soon the young professor was putting his body on the line.

Daniel Brook Jan 27, 2014

Scout's Honor

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Isabelle Baldwin Jun 10, 2014

No Twang of Conscience Whatever

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Patsy Sims Nov 05, 2014

JASON ISBELL’S ONGOING MOMENT

I think the best that we can do as songwriters is try to document and try to record something about the time that we’re living in. If you want to connect with people who are alive now—unless you’re singing to ghosts—you better talk about things that are happening in the present.

Maxwell George Jul 09, 2015