Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies

Dirty Old Man (Short Fiction)

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By John Mort It was late March and warm. Jim watched the road. Sixty years before, give or take, he walked down that road to school. It was paved now, or rather pot-holed; the county would be wise to scrape off the asphalt and run a grader like they used to. Maybe the road wasn’t worth maintaining. It came to a dead end in less than a mile because of the Interstate, … [Read more...] about Dirty Old Man (Short Fiction)

Who is Loyal?

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Who is Loyal? by Lynn Morrow Clarity about who was loyal or not during the Civil War in the Ozarks is a dominant theme in military records.  Officers held formal interviews in the local office of the provost marshal.  Of course, non-combatants in civilian clothes took great interest in what evidence was presented by either side of the allegations.  Some residents took a … [Read more...] about Who is Loyal?

Nativity (An excerpt from The Bystanders)

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Nativity (An excerpt from The Bystanders) By Dawn Major   Synopsis THE BYSTANDERS weaves together small-town eccentricities and characters, beginning with the invasion of the Samples family to Lawrenceton, Missouri. Townie, Eddy Bauman, and newcomer, Shannon Lamb, come of age in the 1980s when big hair is big and Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” blasts over the … [Read more...] about Nativity (An excerpt from The Bystanders)

Three Poems by Jenny Crews

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The Crossing Lois had cancer in one of her legs. She tilted when she walked. She said the pain wasn’t too much to gripe about. On white winter days it slowed her up a bit. Lois didn’t like the snow. She liked Africa. She craved hot, windy jeep rides in the jungle, her leg propped up with a brown leather strap to hold it steady, to make her look like a tough old … [Read more...] about Three Poems by Jenny Crews