Our Team
Founder/Editor-in-Chief

Due South Media was founded by author, Esme Addison. Born in North Carolina, it took her traveling the world as a military spouse to truly appreciate the culture that shaped her. Due South was created to celebrate, explore and share all that is good and cozy about Southern culture, heritage
Esme likes to think of herself as a foodie, history buff
Writers & Contributors











Writers & Contributors
Angela Garrison Zontek
Angela’s work has been published in textbooks and on various academic platforms. A native of Atlanta, Angela lives in the North Georgia mountains with her husband, two wild boys, and an eighty-pound Doberman—so she can’t have nice things. Follow Angela on Twitter @AngelaZontek .
Anika Williams
Anika Williams is the mother of one son with another on the way. You can usually find her immersed in the latest novel, painting in her studio or spending time with her family in Raleigh.
Chika Gujarathi
In addition to writing for national and regional publications, Chika authors children’s books exploring her Indian heritage. Based in Raleigh, NC, she blogs about her adventures on The Antibland Chronicles as she travels the globe with her husband and three children.
Debbie Burdick
Debbie holds a master’s degree in English from UNC Wilmington, has taught writing at colleges in the Triangle since 1998, worked at a small weekly newspaper and occasional published academic articles. Debbie lives in Durham, where she can indulge her varied interests in the outdoors, traditional music and dance, and great food.
Dianna Dames
Dianna Dames graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 2016. She received her BA in English with a professional writing concentration. Over the past few years, she has written for Wilmington-based publications Port City Daily and WILMA Magazine. Some of her hobbies include going to music shows to support local talent in her community and karaoke.
Julia Jordan
A native of South Carolina, Julia is the creator of the popular southern food blog Julia’s Simply Southern.
Laura Peters
Co-host and co-producer of Steel Magnolias Podcast, Laura discusses (along with her sister, Lainey) southern culture, heritage, and traditions for their listeners and our readers.
Megan Cummins
A resident of Kentucky, Megan Cummins graduated from Georgetown College with a B.A. in Communication and Media Studies and has spent the past several years working in the field of higher education. Before her arrival at Due South, Megan fulfilled her passion for books by cultivating a strong presence on Bookstagram (the corner of Instagram dedicated to books) as the influencer @whatmeganreads.
Stephanie Edwards
Based in Tennesse, Stephanie is a former journalist working as an author and corporate communications professional. She has a B.S. in Communications with a major in Journalism from the University of Tennessee. Follow Stephanie on Twitter @Steph_A_Edwards_Writes and on Facebook @stephedwardsknox.
Tracey Holloway
Tracey is a writer, editor and photographer who has chronicled her food adventures across Egypt, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco, Paris and Dubai. Ever the southern girl, this former Political Affairs Officer for the United Nations Volunteer program has returned to live in her home state of North Carolina. For now, of course.
Tracey received Fine Art Photography training in Washington, DC at the Corcoran College of Art and Design and at Renee Comet Food Photography Studio.
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