See that pretty painting to the right. It's so southern. Stick those flowers in a vase and you can almost taste the genteel old ladies sipping mint juleps on their antebellum back porches.

But truth: that ain't the south today. And those flowers—they're kudzu blooms. Just like kudzu, the 21st century south is a mix of traditional and new, regional and international. And even though kudzu is unfairly dismissed as a weed, it has a vitality and ability which far surpasses that of most plants native to America.

storySouth's most important mission is to showcase the best fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry that writers from the new south have to offer. Special emphasis is given to finding and promoting the works of promising new writers.

In addition, storySouth aims to prove that the internet is not just a medium of flash and style; that excellent writing can attract attention without programming gimmicks and hard-to-read fonts. To this end, storySouth practices clean, simple web design.

And what storySouth is doing must be working, because over the last six years our magazine has been recognized for its unique look at southern writing. Stories, essays, and poetry published in storySouth have been honored by the Chronicle of Higher Education's Arts and Letters Daily and selected for an anthology of best web-published fiction. storySouth also runs the annual Million Writers Award, which honors the best online fiction of the year and was named a Hot Site by USA Today. To read about these honors and more, check out storySouth's award-winning writings page.

Online fads can't help but fade away; great writing endures. storySouth is all about the writing.