Synkroniciti is excited to welcome back writer Terry Barr. Last year we nominated Terry for a Pushcart Prize for his essay “Straight to the Scalp,” from our “Empowered” issue, a tale of hair length and gender in the American South. The “Curiosity” issue features another southern story, “A Record of My Grandmother’s Lovin’,” which explores his feelings growing up with an unconventional grandmother. “Your grandmother tells you that she’s written a song called “I Want Your Lovin’;” how should you respond? She’s in her 60s and you’re 12.” Picking up hints throughout his childhood and adolescence, he pieces together a racy identity for Ma Ma, one that still fascinates and discomfits him to this day, symbolized and embodied by this double-sided 45 rpm rockabilly record. Terry’s sense of humor and easy-going, informal style draw us in, showing us the foibles of southern family life, where the skeletons don’t always stay in the closet, but adult society looks away politely when they come out to dance.
Read Terry’s engaging essay in the upcoming “Curiosity” issue, now available for pre-order here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/. The issue drops on June 1st, online only.
Terry Barr’s latest essay collection, The American Crisis Playlist was published last fall by Redhawk Publications and is available there and on Amazon. His essay “Greyhound Seats” won first place in Tell Your Story’s spring 2022 contest. His work has also appeared in EMRYS Journal, storySouth, Under the Sun, Shark Reef Review, and Call Me [Brackets]. He lives in Greenville, SC, with his family and teaches Creative Nonfiction at Presbyterian College. If you notice him at your local coffee shop, he’d love to treat you to a latte, provided you can name the one Faulkner novel he loves best.