Yonder Mountain: An Ozarks Anthology

by Anthony Priest (Editor)

Overview

Yonder Mountain, inspired by poet Miller Williams's Ozark, Ozark: A Hillside Reader, is rooted in the literary legacy of the Ozarks while reflecting the diversity and change of the region. Readers will find fresh, creative, honest voices profoundly influenced by the landscape and culture of the Ozark Mountains. Poets, novelists, columnists, and historians are represented—Donald Harington, Sara Burge, Marcus Cafagna, Art Homer, Pattiann Rogers, Miller Williams, Roy Reed, Dan Woodrell, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781557286314
Publisher:	University of Arkansas Press
Publication date:	05/01/2013
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Anthony Priest is associate professor of English at Missouri State University–West Plains.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

C. D. Albin

"Four Fine Horses" 1

Walter Bargen

"Photogenic" 15

"Wounded God" 16

Brooks Blevins

"Jethro and Abner: An Arkansaw Counterculture" 19

James Bogan

"River Poetics IV" 30

"Mrs. Clara Franz: Mother Earth's Daughter" 34

Sara Burge

"Sacraments" 39

"Each Black Shell" 40

Michael Burns

"Farm Road 93" 42

"On the Fifth Day of the Search" 43

"After October Rain" 44

"Sweet Potatoes" 45

"Going to See the 15th-Century Indian Head Pots at the Hampson Museum, Wilson, Arkansas" 46

Marcus Cafagña

"Mowing" 48

"The Old House" 49

Katie Estill

"The Three Beauties" 51

Charles J. Farmer

from Unspoiled Beauty 64

Gary Guinn

"Being a Doaks and All" 67

Jim Hamilton

"Father's Day" 71

"Crossing the Old Farm" 73

Donald Harington

"Telling Time" 76

William Harrison

"Tickets to Nowhere" 88

Andrea Hollander

"Finches or Sparrows" 99

"Large Boulder Above Honey River" 100

"November" 102

"Ice Storm" 103

Art Homer

"A Discussion in the Woods" 105

Jane Hoogestraat

"Listening to Fauré" 119

"Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Play the Ozarks" 120

Phillip Howerton

"The Family, Circa 1919" 121

"Old Homestead on Federal Land" 123

Dave Malone

"Hawksbill Crag" 125

"Blackberry Cobbler" 126

Anthony Priest

"Aux Arcs" 127

"Settling Velocity" 128

Roy Reed

from Faubus 129

Jan Peterson Roddy

"Geography I" 138

"Called Down" 139

Caves 139

"Border State" 140

"Silas" 141

"Collie Holler" 142

Pattiann Rogers

"Fury and Grace" 143

"The Background Beyond the Background" 145

Marideth Sisco

"Butterfield: An Introduction" 147

Bonnie Stepenoff

from Big Spring Autumn 151

Ryan Stone

"The Hunters" 163

Jo Van Arkel

"Swimming at Flat Bridge, 1963" 173

James Whitehead

"The Opinion of an Interesting Old Man" 183

"Just North of Sikeston" 184

Miller Williams

"An Unrhymed Sonnet" 187

"Separatio in Loco" 187

Daniel Woodrell

"Black Step" 188

Steve Yates

"The Battle of Springfield" 202

Acknowledgments 211

Editorial Reviews

"Yonder Mountain is a must-read for anyone interested in the Ozarks. It also stands as a model for how regional literature can tell local stories that appeal to and say more to us about the broader human condition—beyond place and regionalism." —J. Blake Perkins in Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies, December 2013


"Beloved, feared, stereotyped, mythologized, shamed, and revered: the Ozarks region is and has been all of these. Garnering work from folk who know the region best, Priest serves up a trove of fine writing and an unflinching look at a region that continues to both bewitch and confound." —Jo McDougall, author of Daddy's Money


"Here's a new collection for a new world. No Sadies, no Abners, no corn cob pipes—a roustabout scamming vouchers at DFW, a neo-Nazi killer on the lam, a woman from the Philippines washing dishes in Missouri. 'I am Ozarker,' she says. We believe her and read on." —Robert Cochran, author of Vance Randolph: An Ozark Life


"Written by some of the best writers of the area, the poetry, fiction, and nonfiction essays in this anthology give us a modern as well as historical view of the Ozarks and provide a vivid portrayal of the land and people of this unique area." —Ellen Gray Massey, author of Footprints in the Ozarks: A Memoir


"Some would say being from the Ozarks is a blessing. Others would say it's a burden. The truth, of course, is somewhere in between. Within the pages of Yonder Mountain, you'll find steadfast Ozark voices that mirror all three perspectives: those who are grateful, those who are conflicted, those who persevere." —Susan Young, Shiloh Museum of Ozark History

From the Publisher