Seven Islands of the Ocmulgee: River Stories

by Gordon Johnston

These seven river stories, written after the author canoed the Ocmulgee and its tributaries, draw on European American, Native, and African American traditions and relationships with the upper river between the confluence of the Yellow, Alcovy, and South Rivers under Jackson Lake and Macon, Georgia. Set from the 1810s to the present, the stories follow characters as their inherited or adopted perspectives on the river--and their ignorance of it--are altered by their personal experience of the watershed's danger, power, and life. Each story engages a specific place, among them Pittman's Ferry, the Seven Islands, Smith Shoals, the levee in Macon, and the Ocmulgee Mounds of the Mississippian people. Canoe-camping on the Ocmulgee, subject to its weather and flow, and seeing how its force shaped the landscape, Gordon Johnston recovered a sense of time grounded in geology. "Humanity is small and new in the long life of the watershed," he says.

155 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 7, 2023

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven Islands of the Ocmulgee: River Stories. Gordon Johnston. Mercer University Press, 2023. 172 pages.

The Ocmulgee River flows for about 255 miles through the heart of Georgia, becoming a major tributary of the Altamaha before flowing into the Atlantic. A thousand years ago, a Moundbuilder-culture city thrived on its banks at modern-day Macon. For a hundred years, white settlers and enslaved Africans labored on its banks building farms and plantations. The rivers became a major thoroughfare, moving people and goods from central Georgia to the Coast well into the 1930s. As a boy, I spent a bit of time fishing on the Ocmulgee and Altamaha, and I visited the Ocmulgee Mounds. The rivers are still cherished by fishermen, canoeists, and kayakers today.

I was intrigued to see Seven Islands appear on a couple of lists of great southern reads published this year. However, I was leery because I’ve tried a couple of critically-acclaimed short story collections in the past couple of years and hated every second of them. Still, I decided to give it a chance, and I am glad I did. It was a page-turner, and I read the entire book in one poolside sitting. The seven stories deftly blend the past and present, and they are all definitely tied to the place, to the river. Johnston’s writing reminds me of that of novelists Taylor Brown and Flannery O’Connor. They are southern, southern gothic even. They could be studied in creative writing classes as examples of the importance of setting and atmosphere. Each story evokes the wildness, mystery, and antiquity of the Ocmulgee. If you’re southern and love being immersed in a story, I would suggest reading these stories.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gordon’s prose is as powerful as his poetry. Some of these stores went to the very edge of my comfort zone with regard to putting characters in dangerous situations—but in a book with nature at its center, I appreciate its full regard the river as a powerful place, which includes plenty of potential for danger.

[Patrick Helmke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enchanting.

As a Georgian, these tales fascinated me. I have to see this beautiful river! I want to drink it all in.

Absolutely wonderful storytelling — I wish I could thank Gordon personally.