Oxford American

24/07/2025

Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, North Carolina stands as the premier art museum of eastern NC. This summer, CAM invites you to explore three exhibitions that challenge norms, claim space, and celebrate our shared humanity across the Carolinas and beyond.

“We Belong Here” showcases 130+ works by some of the biggest names in contemporary art including Jeffrey Gibson, Mickalene Thomas, Kehinde Wiley, and more.

“The Game Changers” celebrates Frankenthaler, Diebenkorn, and Rauschenberg, mid-century icons who transformed American art forever.

Step into Cameron Art Museum this summer and discover these three incredible exhibitions.

22/07/2025

In “How Contract Poultry Farmers are Transitioning to New, Profitable Ventures,” Chris Pomorski documents the tumultuous relationship between company and farmer, and how groups like the The Transfarmation Project offer a brighter future for the food industry.

Read the feature online now:

Contract farmers in North Carolina are transitioning from factory farming to sustainable agriculture, turning poultry barns into profitable, eco-friendly work.

18/07/2025

In this brand new feature, photographers for the Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project worked to capture each of the state’s 120 counties over the span of ninety years, culminating in a “. . . visual tone poem about Kentucky.”

Explore the collection here: https://oxfordamerican.org/eyes/documenting-kentucky-three-photographic-surveys

17/07/2025

Introducing the Arts & Culture Issue!

The Fall 2025 Issue will think expansively about the arts and culture that define and disturb our ideas of the South and Southerness.

Through new fiction and poetry, criticism, and reporting, our contributors look outward and inward to better understand the music, writing, and art that moves them.

Click the link to pre-order now for August delivery and find it on newsstands on September 2nd.

The Fall 2025 Issue will think expansively about the arts and culture that define and disturb our ideas of the South and Southerness. Through new fiction and poetry, criticism, and reporting, our contributors look outward and inward to better understand the music, writing, and art that moves them. C...

15/07/2025

“This is a woman who shirked the prospect of fame in order to preserve the essence of pure praise in her music.”

—After discovering that her grandmother, Ella Hanshaw, had made over one-hundred recordings of her original songs, Kelly Kerney set out on a journey to preserve and share them for the very first time. The North Carolina- and Kentucky-based label SPINSTER was the first to publish Ella’s secular and gospel music in an album titled “Ella Hanshaw’s Little Black Book.”

Read about Ella Hanshaw’s origins and listen to her never before heard music here: https://oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/ella-hanshaw-woman-on-fire

12/07/2025

“They shape—and are shaped by—their settings: the dining hall, the community center, the craft house, the bayou. They’re part of the city’s skin.”

—In a feature article from Burnaway, Daniel Fuller examines the murals of John T. Biggers across public places in Houston, citing that their accessible and unguarded locations are what defines them.

Explore the full narrative and view the murals here: https://oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/houston-muralist-john-t-biggers

11/07/2025

In this brand new feature, Vann Thomas Powell visits the sites of the American Civil War over 160 years later, aiming to, “capture the reverberations of the Civil War rippling into our time.”

Explore the lasting impact of these sites here: https://oxfordamerican.org/eyes/on-contentious-ground

10/07/2025

In recognition of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Oxford American invites submissions from writers, journalists, photographers, and community members to share their work that reckons with the storm’s lasting legacy.

We are seeking essays, reported dispatches, profiles, and photography that explores the themes of displacement, the storm, and the ongoing impact of Katrina, both within and beyond the Gulf Coast.

Learn more and submit your work before Thursday, July 31 at oxfordamerican.org/submissions

09/07/2025

“The resulting documentary, ‘Long Journey Home,’ captured how geography shaped our identities; and the film’s soundtrack, Steve Earle’s ‘Hillbilly Highway,’ articulated our searches for a better life, personal honor, and especially our loyalty to our roots.”

—Author and professor William H. Turner reflects on the Appalshop-produced 1987 documentary’s impact on his personal and professional life, and how the film drew him into the Appalshop and Appalshop Archive network. Documents surrounding the film are still undergoing restoration after they were nearly lost in the Eastern Kentucky floods of 2022.

Read more and watch the documentary here: https://oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/appalshop-spotlight-long-journey-home

08/07/2025

Our hearts are heavy for our friends and neighbors in Texas impacted by the devastating flooding.

In moments like these, we look for ways to support our communities. From now until Saturday, July 12, $5 from every Music Issue sold will be donated to the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund.

Revisit your favorite music editions from years past, or pre-order the upcoming Austin Music Issue to support those affected by this tragedy.

https://www.oxfordamericangoods.org/collections/music-issues?mc_cid=684f1f0e46&mc_eid=UNIQID

07/07/2025

🌷✨ Your sign to grab your girls and book a getaway to Tupelo, MS!

🔗 to plan your trip.

bit.ly/VisitTupelo-OA

05/07/2025

“Virginia was a major player in the founding of this nation. But it’s telling which aspects Virginia chose to brag about to schoolchildren.

How you tell a story, and what parts you tell, matters.”

–In “Chosen History” from Issue 105, Mychal Denzel Smith takes notes on the state of Virginia. Read the full essay at the link below.

https://oxfordamerican.org/magazine/issue-105-summer-2019/chosen-history

Art: “Jefferson,” by Maxine Helfman, from the series Forefathers