John T. Edge Reveals the History of Southern Cooking in “The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South”

John T. Edge, a nonfiction mentor in our low-residency MFA in Narrative Media Writing, recently published a book that has been named one of the ten best summer reads by Publisher’s Weekly. Southeastern Booksellers Association also made “The Potlikker Papers” an Okra Pick. 

“The Potlikker Papers” sheds light on the connection between southern cooking, politics, social history and civil rights. Edge goes back in time and tells the story between historical figures such as Georgia Gilmore and civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, and the importance of cooking in the south. Edge examines how food fueled civil changes and brought the south together. Fast forward to today, and Edge profiles the South’s greatest cooks, including Paula Deen.

Edge is a two-time James Beard Award-winning author and a food historian who believes, “the best cookbooks are storybooks.” Edge is a contributing editor at Garden & Gun, a columnist for the Oxford American, and a nonfiction mentor for UGA’s MFA. He also directs the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi. Edge has written for The New York Times Magazine, Lucky Peach, GQ, and Creative Nonfiction. His work has been featured in 11 editions of the annual Best Food Writing compilation.