ATHENS, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Bitter Southerner, the five-time James Beard Award–winning media brand telling the true stories of the American South, released Issue No. 5 of its print magazine today, in celebration of its 10th birthday. Gracing the cover of The Birthday Issue is New Orleans patron saint Big Freedia, the Queen Diva, blowing out 10 candles on a birthday cake, the embodiment of the joy and celebration within the pages. The brand’s annual Membership Drive also launches today, revealing two anthologies available for pre-order in April 2023.
The fifth issue is a rager of a dinner party with wildly intriguing guests telling stories around the table: world-class writers, artists, poets, photographers, and musicians. Highlights include:
- According to Big Freedia, “There’s so much negativity and things happening around the world. Somebody got to bring good energy and positivity.” Novelist Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s conversation with Big Freedia about their mirrored childhoods in NOLA, acceptance, loss, and reconciliation, featuring photos by Cedric Angeles
- Bestselling author and recent National Humanities Medal recipient Ann Patchett writes “A Letter from Home”
- An essay by Farhan Mustafa on Immigrant Spaghetti and the universal noodle that unites us all
- Cedric Smith’s paintings and Celia D. Luna’s “Cholitas Bravas” on skateboards
- Rien Fertel’s love letter to Melba’s, the beloved New Orleans laundromat-daiquiri bar-po’boy shop-bookstore all in the name of literacy
- Plus favorite banned books from Imani Perry, Joy Oladokun, Kiese Laymon, Kishi Bashi, and others
Through storytelling and activism, The Bitter Southerner leads a decade-long movement across digital and print magazines, books, podcasts, and commerce. The media brand remains on the forefront reporting a true, more progressive, more modern account of what the South is, in all its complexity. From the beginning, The Bitter Southerner challenged the models of traditional media, launching 10 years ago with long-form stories and ecommerce when neither were embraced. Last year, The Bitter Southerner won its fifth James Beard Award, for Food Coverage in a General Interest Publication, and has seen tremendous growth and profitability over the last three years.
The Bitter Southerner launches its annual Membership Drive today, ending April 10, which offers various membership levels for supporting their independent journalism. Package tiers include print magazine subscriptions, exclusive apparel, and pre-orders of the forthcoming anthologies revealed today. From BS Publishing comes Food Stories, Writing that Stirs the Pot, including 20 stories and essays, and No Place Like Home, A Decade of Bitter Southerner Photography from Across the American South, a stunning collection of images that broaden the notion of what is considered Southern photography. Pre-order available now as part of the Membership Drive and mid-April to all customers online in the bsgeneralstore.com as well as wholesale buyers.
ABOUT THE BITTER SOUTHERNER
The Bitter Southerner is the five-time James Beard Award–winning media brand telling the true stories of the American South to break stereotypes about the region and its people. Founded in 2013, the Athens, Ga.–based brand connects an activated and vocal global community making the South, and the world, a better place. Today, The Bitter Southerner publishes weekly digital stories, a twice-yearly print magazine, books under its BS Publishing imprint, the “Batch” podcast, and iconic apparel and home goods in the BS General Store. bittersoutherner.com
