Black Bear Creek

by Joshua Cross

The fictional town of Black Bear Creek lies tucked in a remote hollow of the Coal River Valley in West Virginia, a region reliant on and devastated by the mining industry. The people in these stories struggle to survive against rampant poverty while their drinking water is poisoned and the mountains around them are stripped away. But amongst this bleak backdrop, they find ways to love and hope and fight. Cross's raw, spare prose reflects the barren landscape his characters inhabit as they put their bodies and lives at risk just to feed their families.

132 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2021

Reviews

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would give Black Bear Creek five stars. Having grown up myself in the coal fields of southern West Virginia, this book is a must! The writer’s descriptive imagery takes me back to similar life situations as well as the hills and hollers of my mountain State. Also, the historical facts of the United Mine Workers union, as well as how life must have been in a coal camp in the early 1900’s was one of my favorite in this debut book. My hope is that the author has more to share in future publications.

[Emily D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joshua Cross has been able to achieve something that few writers coming out of Appalachia have been able to achieve in many years, the quiet and honest dignity of it's people. The stories contained within Black Bear Creek reveal a population not of caricatures, but people with depth and intelligence, a clarity of mind. The problem of institutional poverty is handled with a honest eye without preachiness or a lack of true empathy on the part of the author. I look forward to reading more from this new voice of a very complicated region of the US.

[Kyleen Wooldridge Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being from a West Virginia coal mining family, I can relate to so many things in this book. Reading it brings back so many memories from stories my dad would tell me. Love the way Josh tells the stories!

[Elizabeth Grubgeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific writing and unforgettable characters

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories in this collection are great examples of contemporary Appalachian fiction--what Andi Stout calls Appalachian Modernism. Josh provides stories from a lot of different perspectives, different narrators, and different positions in society, but they share several common themes. One of the most important themes is alienation, which is pretty ironic considering Appalachia's reputation for close-knit families and communities. But in these stories, family and community often figure more as a threat or a burden. Many of the narrators feel trapped by their responsibilities to family, often having to work hated jobs to support wives and children, or family represents some kind of threat with strict/abusive fathers or tenuous romantic relationships. And rather than being a source of support--as it is in much Appalachian lit--community often figures as callous or uncaring, if not an outright threat through hazing or fights.

Another recurring theme is the danger of mining communities, either for those directly working in the mines (often reluctantly in these stories) or those who live around the mines. Characters frequently lose children or spouses, and while the causes of these deaths aren't clearly attributed to the mines, there's always an implicit connection to the way mining communities are organized and the sacrifices they demand of health and safety. While this kind of criticism of mining culture and the exploitation of miners/mining communities is not uncommon in Appalachian lit, it is still in stark contrast to WV politics and economics, which puts a disproportionate emphasis on keeping mining alive (despite the death of the industry from over-mining, and that several other industries employ many more West Virginians than mining does).