Cornbread Nation 1

The first volume in what will be an annual collection, Cornbread Nation gathers the best of recent Southern food writing. In fifty entries--original features and selections previously published in magazines and journals--contributors celebrate the people, places, traditions, and tastes of the American South.

In these pages, Nikki Giovanni expresses her admiration for the legendary Edna Lewis, James Villas remembers his friend Craig Claiborne, Rick Bragg thinks back on Thanksgivings at home, Robert Morgan describes the rituals of canning time, and Fred Chappell offers a contrarian's view of iced tea. Collectively, writes John Egerton, these pieces buttress our conviction that nothing else the South has to offer to the nation and the world--with the possible exception of its music--is more eternally satisfying, heartwarming, reconciling, and memorable than its food. With the publication of Cornbread Nation, we acknowledge with gratitude the abiding centrality of food in the ongoing life of the South.

Contributors include:

Colman Andrews

Jim Auchmutey

Roy Blount Jr.

Gene Bourg

Rick Bragg

Fred Chappell

Lolis Eric Elie

Damon Lee Fowler

Nikki Giovanni

Jessica Harris

Karen Hess

Jack Hitt

Ted & Matthew Lee

Ronni Lundy

Robert Morgan

James Villas

Robb Walsh