Seven Islands of the Ocmulgee: River Stories by Gordon Johnston

Credit: Mercer University Press

In this episode of Narrative Edge, Peter Biello and Orlando Montoya explore Seven Islands of the Ocmulgee: River Stories by Gordon Johnston, a collection of short stories set along Georgia’s Ocmulgee River. With each tale deeply rooted in place, Johnston turns the river itself into a character: dangerous, ancient, and transformative. The stories introduce us to complex, often mysterious characters navigating quiet struggles and moral uncertainty, from a woman who discovers a silent boy stranded midstream to a grocery store manager chasing a lost cart and stumbling into something much deeper.

Johnston’s inspiration comes from paddling the river’s entire length, a journey that shaped his storytelling with a strong sense of class, spirituality, and mystery. In conversations marked by terse dialogue and unspoken histories, the book leaves readers asking, “What just happened? And what happens next?” 

In this episode, Peter Biello and Orlando Montoya dive into Seven Islands of the Ocmulgee: River Stories by Gordon Johnston, a haunting collection of short stories set along Georgia’s Ocmulgee River. With themes of mystery, class, and transformation, the river becomes both setting and character in tales that linger long after they end.