level:deepsouth is a crowdsourced online anthology about growing up Generation X in the Deep South during the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. The anthology remains open to submissions of nonfiction, images, or contributions for the lists.

On March 1, 2023, level:deepsouth celebrated three years online! The project contains an anthology of long form and shorter works of nonfiction, book reviews, and a variety of images. It was created with the goal of documenting and sharing the experiences of Generation X in the South during the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s by collecting personal essays and memoirs about our lives back then and since then. Though any submission that fits the subject matter was considered, Foster has primarily been interested in essays or memoirs by writers who were born between 1965 and 1980, and who grew up in the region.

a selection of Foster’s editor’s blog posts from the project:

South Carolina, ca. 1980

(More) Portraits of the Editor as a Young GenXer

Georgia, ca. 1980

the recent death of Anne Rice

Mississippi, ca. 1980

Alabama, ca. 1980

Arkansas, 1993: A Brief Primer on the West Memphis Three

The Lower End of the Highest Rates

“Say hi to your new mom!”

Portraits of the Editor as a Young Gen-Xer

Some good things happened too.

Historians and Journalists on the Generation-X South

Good Tunes: Local Music Festivals

Intro: Definitions, Numbers, an Exodus, and the Stories