Alison Mechelle Caddell
Poet. Storyteller. Artist.
An author, educator, and interdisciplinary artist
exploring the intersections of story, identity, healing,
desire, faith, and the Black Southern experience.
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Rinda is now available as a Large Print Paperback!
Alison Caddell is an author, poet, educator, and fine arts lover based in North Alabama. She writes poetry, short stories, and writing prompts that explore themes of healing and desire, faith and superstition, family, and the Black Southern Gothic. Having grown up in the historic college town of Tuskegee, Alabama, her life and writing has been heavily influenced by local legends, nationally and internationally known heroes, and the haunting tales that proliferate the Black Belt of Alabama. While attending school at the University of Montevallo, she was further impacted by the ghost stories and theatre community Montevallo is known for, as well as the dichotomy of a liberal-minded college being situated in a conservative Alabama town. These influences show up in Rinda, a collection of southern gothic stories based in the fictional town of Creek City, Alabama. Other works include Writing for Healing (a collection of writing prompts inspired by the 12 steps to recovery) and The Courtship and the Hunt: Poems on Desire, Discernment & Devotion. Her connection to the south remains an intrinsic part of her identity as both a resident of North Alabama and participant in its fervent arts community. She engages with the arts and theater community by attending and performing in open mic poetry events and theater productions.
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My Story as a Black Southern Artist
My Story as a Black Southern Artist
I've always loved the arts! Growing up in Tuskegee, Alabama, I was able to revel in that love because I was surrounded by famous and unknown legends.
As a child, I took art classes from our local art advocate, Barbara Jean Danner, while also attending presentations by sculptor and painter Dr. Ronald McDowell, who is now the artist-in-residence at Tuskegee University. I enjoyed theatre classes at Booker T. Washington High School under an amazing actress and teacher, Michelle Summers. And I learned about the science and art of writing from Janet T. Sullen, my high school English teacher during my senior year. Plus, one of the highlights of growing up near Tuskegee University was the fact that I could frequently see the artistic works of George Washington Carver at the musuem honoring his legacy as a scientist and inventor (Did you know he was also a painter?).
Though I was raised in a religious environment that eschewed ghost stories and spooky tales, I was still influenced by the superstitions of the south in various ways. In Tuskegee, I had more than one teacher tell us (as a class) about ghost stories associated with Ashdale Cemetery or various monumental locations on the campus of Tuskegee University. Additionally, during my undergrad studies at the University of Montevallo, I witnessed mutliple occasions of students trying to awaken the legendary ghosts associated with Main Dorm and Reynolds Hall. These "spooky" influences, alongside my Pentecostal upbringing, influenced me as a writer of Black Southern Gothic literature, as seen in my collection titled Rinda.
Because of the early arts influence I received in Tuskegee, relocating to the North Alabama area as an adult has been a fluid transition. North Alabama contains multuple historic communities that value the arts, such as Decatur, Huntsville, Tuscumbia, and Florence. These cities and towns are bubbling with an abundance of musicians, actors, poets, storytellers, and artists. Living here has granted me the opportunity to continue expressing myself through contributions of my own, while supporting the work of amazing people and groups.
Signage documenting the history of Tuskegee, Alabama (my hometown)
Front gates to the University of Montevallo (my alma mater)
O'Neal Bridge connecting Muscle Shoals to Florence in Alabama
June 2026 Open Mic Poetry Night
June 2026 Open Mic Poetry Night
June 30, 2026 ~ Sponsored by the Florence Arts & Museums of Florence, Alabama
On the last Tuesday of each month, the Florence Arts & Museums host and sponsor an open mic night,highlighting a featured poet, while inviting local poets to present their work as well, based on the monthly theme. I enjoy attending these monthly events, to share poems I've written in response to the monthly theme/prompt. Therefore, I was quite honored and pleased when I was invited to be the feature poet for the month of June 2026.
Like previous featured poets, I had the option of presenting previously published work. Ultimately, I decided to write brand new poems based on June's theme of "Animals and Pets," inspired by the dismay of human beings subjected to domestication or, essentially, being treated like pets and animals. After my presentation was done, other local poets were given the chance to share their works as well.
Since the audience included fellow writers, I decided - instead of bringing poetry books I've published - to feature signed copies of a poetry prompt book I published titled "Writing for Healing."
I hope you enjoyed the abovephoto gallery documenting the event, featuring images provided by Kaitlyn Mac Grady, an amazing photographer based in Florence, Alabama. You can see more of her photos from the event on this page and other examples of her work on her website.
"Determined" - Play About the Life of W.C. Handy
"Determined" - Play About the Life of W.C. Handy
One of my favorite times of year in North Alabama is the summer, due in large part to the annual W.C. Handy Festival. The highlight of this exciting week is the local production of "Determined," a play about the life of the legendary man known as The Father of the Blues. This stage play was written by Dolores Swoopes Nash and features several local celebrities as actors and production crew. I haven't been a North Alabama local for very long, so I appreciate the fact that I get to participate in this amazing play in any way that I can. Please enjoy these clips and images of me in the play. In 2026, I played Armstead and in 2019 I played Mother Handy. --Alison Mechelle Caddell
Video clip from the 2019 production of "Determined" (credit: R. Winston)
Photos from the 2019 production of "Determined" (credit: R. Winston)
"Up to Her Chin" Original Painting
"Up to Her Chin" Original Painting
My mother passed in April of 2022. One of the things I processed during that time of grief, was realizing how much she had been holding in as a mother responsible for raising eight kids (alongside my father), but also as a black woman born in South Alabama during the Jim Crow era. What I envisioned, as a result, was a woman standing in a body of water that comes up to her chin, surrounded by water that feels as if it could overwhelm you at any moment; but also surrounded by the ecosystem you've built for the benefit and well-being of others (like your husband and children, and your community). The painting featured in this section is what I created in the midst of this process, on a small canvas using acrylic as my medium; the poem below is what I wrote to further express these thoughts and imaginings.
Up to Her Chin
The ocean floats around her,
carrying secrets and burdens she may
or may not discuss,
carrying the plans she constantly makes,
details she must steward
and manage.
Mountains rise beside her -
monuments of all that she does and achieves
without carving her name in the sky.
She stands in the floating water that rises
up to her chin,
and sometimes she wonders...
Will the waves take me under?
Sometimes, they do.
But another power can guide her, save her,
the power of hands that pull her back to the
surface, so that the water is
only up to her chin.
Will she let it?
Will she remember herself enough
to embrace - seek - the help she needs?
The waves could be destruction,
of her sanity and her feeble grasp on reality;
or peace. The peace of it all being
done, because she said so,
and embraces the silence of retreat.
And the ones who truly saw her,
will look at the mountains.
They are the ones who call her name,
the name not carved in the sky.
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