Bradley Sides is the author of the novella The Volcano Keeper (Regal House).

“When a volcano suddenly emerges in the middle of his family’s Alabama cattle pasture, young Charlie Melvin is confronted with a promise his grandfather once made—that something extraordinary would rise from the land.

“As Charlie comes of age, he wrestles with the meaning of the volcano and the legacy of his family. His story unfolds through evocative vignettes that explore love, loss, responsibility, and faith.”

Most Anticipated Books for Fall 2026 — Southern Living

“Charlie’s adventures, fears, and goodness will keep the reader going. This is a remarkable novella.” —George Singleton, author of Wounded Boarders

Sides is the author of the previous story collections Those Fantastic Lives and Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood, which was a finalist for the 2024 Book of the Year award at Southern Literary Review.

His fiction has been featured on LeVar Burton Reads, and his reviews, interviews, and essays appear at Chapter 16, Electric Literature, The Millions, The Rumpus, Southern Review of Books, and elsewhere.

He lives with his wife in Madison, Alabama, and teaches writing and literature at Calhoun Community College.

Rebolú is the premier Afro-Colombian ensemble in the United States, playing the rich, rhythmic, and undeniably danceable music of Colombia’s Caribbean coast.

Founded by singer, composer, and gaitero Ronald Polo together with master percussionist Morris Cañate, the ensemble weaves indigenous and contemporary instruments into a vibrant expression of Afro-Colombian culture.

It’s no surprise that the group’s most recent recordings are titled Mi Herencia (My Heritage), and El Reto (The Challenge) as Rebolú remains true to its cultural roots while simultaneously forging new paths.

Harkening back to the Mardi Gras Indian funk sound and instrumentation established by the Wild Magnolias, Dat Mighty 9 performs live as an eight-piece band, featuring vocals, guitar, bass, drums, masking and layers of percussion, and trombone.

Producer, recording engineer, and drummer Eric Heigle expands the sound with sequencers, synthesizers, and drum machines. The end result: propelling a deep New Orleans tradition into thrilling new territory.