The Sucarnochee Review, named for the Sucarnochee River that runs nearby, has been published annually by the Department of English and History since 1974. In recent years it has published fiction, poetry, art, and photography from students, faculty, and writers nationwide.
What’s in a Name?
The Sucarnochee River begins in swampland near Porterville, Mississippi, fifteen miles across the Alabama line, and runs thirty-five miles, down through Sumter County, Alabama, until it joins the Tombigee River near the Rooster Bridge.
Sucarnochee (suke’naci) is the Choctaw word for “hog river” or “a place where hogs bathe.” It is derived from shuka (hog), in (its), hacha (river). Shuka was the word for opossum, but the similarity between the go and the native opossum led to a common name.
There are as many as fourteen different spellings of Sucarnochee — from Sockamatchie to Sucarnatchie to Sukarnochee—but Sucarnochee is preferred.
Interested in learning more about the Sucarnochee Review? Check out their website here.