Fiction by J.C.Dickey-Chasins

Myra L. Peak

Valerie Pexton

Chris Propst

Michael Shay

Ken Steinken

Stephanie Waxman

Brenda Williams

Robert Clark Young

Poetry by Margaret H. Brooks

Sharon Doyle

Taylor Graham

A. Rose Hill

Chavawn Kelley

Robert D. Kelly

W. Dale Nelson

B.Z. Niditch

Ryan Perry

Joseph Powell

Elouise Rossler

Carla Solberg

Dorothy Stroud

Linda Swanberg

Ron Thomas

Christine Valentine

Jeniel Vereline

Essays by Clay Barkdull

Cathy Capozzoli

Gaydell Collier

Garry Wallace

Art by Beth Buskirk

Trevor Cunningham

Ginnie Madsen

Jon Madsen

OWR/Spring 2006 1

EditorJoan Bolander

Assistant EditorsLauren Beard

Ryan CoatesJessica Townsend

Dorothy Ann Zanoni

Design & LayoutVincent Thompson

GAPJim Fuerholzer

Student Publications AdviserCary Berry-Smith

AdvertisingBarbara Thorpe

Student Publications at the University of Wyoming publishes the Owen Wister Review annually. The single-copy price is $8.95. Annual subscriptions are available: add $1.50 for postage and handling. Back issues are available: 2 for $5, plus postage.

Correspondence: University of Wyoming—Student Publications, Department 3625, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, Wyoming 82071.

© 2006 by Owen Wister Review. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1069-2215

2 OWR/Spring 2006

From the Editor

This year, Wyoming has gotten focused attention for its coal and gas reserves as well as a little movie about two sheepherders and their love for one another. Much of this attention is from sources outside of the state, many of whom may write about this place but wouldn’t want to live here. Wyoming, formerly a flyover state and easy to write off, appears to finally be worth exploring.

Those of us who live here already knew of this vast potential, of course. That’s why in 2006 the Owen Wister Review is focused on the Wyoming experience. Those who have contributed to this year’s OWR have given their view of what Wyoming is, whether it be the refuge of a piece of land to call your own, a class struggle in a rural diner, the pain of an uninvited and complicated love, or the peace of a sunset.

What emerges is a unique sense of community: Wyomingites don’t mind living out of the way, and find a certain freedom in being out of the visual field of the rest of the world. At the same time, we share a culture that is rapidly disappearing as the rest of the world discovers us. What shines through the visions of the fine artists in this collection is a steely inner strength built on a strong sense of the past while they attempt to find a foothold in an uncertain future.

The works that follow are a meditation on this unique mindset and philosophy. There may be no concrete answers, but the journey certainly makes for an interesting ride.

I’d like to thank Cary Berry-Smith, Jim Fuerholzer, Lynne Ruggles, Barbara Thorpe, and Malerie Stroppel in Student Publications; Professor Lewis Dabney and Associate Professors Jeanne Holland and Vicki Lindner in the English Department; Assitant Editors Lauren Beard, Ryan Coates, Jessica Townsend, and Dorothy Ann Zanoni; and Vincent Thompson for his help with design and layout. Without each of you this volume wouldn’t have evolved so beautifully, and I am eternally grateful.

Joan BolanderEditor

OWR/Spring 2006 3

Valerie Pexton 5 Action/Reaction fiction

Elouise Rossler 16 Moonrise poem

Chavawn Kelley 16 (untitled) poem

Brenda Williams 17 Ghost Elk fiction

Margaret H. Brooks 22 Embers poem

Christine Valentine 23 Preparing the Garden for Winter poem

Linda Swanberg 24 Bison in Winter poem

Robert Clark Young 26 Elk Hunt, Wyoming, 1917 fiction

J.C. Dickey-Chasins 35 The Mentor fiction

Dorothy Stroud 49 Surmise poem

Cathy Capozzoli 50 Down One Road essay

A. Rose Hill 51 Wyoming Midday poem

Ron Thomas 52 Cross-Country Skiing poem

Garry Wallace 53 The Big Table Club essay

Ryan Perry 64 Tearing Photographs poem

Jon Madsen 66 Summer evening oil painting

67 Ground Transport oil painting

68 Elusive oil painting

69 Winter View oil painting

Trevor Cunningham 70 bury me not on the lone prarie photograph

71 big sky prarie photograph

Beth Buskirk 72 International Order of Odd Fellows photograph

73 Pink Window photograph

74 Machinery, Lindzey Ranch photograph

75 (untitled) MacFadden Ranch photograph

Owen Wister Review 2006Literary and Arts Magazine of the University of Wyoming

Cover Art by Vincent Thompson

Ginnie Madsen 76 Clear Skies watercolor painting

77 Thunderheads watercolor painting

78 Into the Woods lino cut

79 Winter View oil painting

Ed Marron 80 ¿RAIN? woodblock print

Chris Propst 81 Cows and Hummingbirds fiction

W. Dale Nelson 89 Wyoming Sunset poem

Ryan Perry 90 Guilt of a Soldier poem

Myra L. Peak 91 The Terminal fiction

Carla Solberg 96 Flying Away to be Healed poem

Ken Steinken 98 Mile Markers fiction

Taylor Graham 100 Coyote Doesn’t Belong to You poem

Robert D. Kelly 101 Bike Wreck poem

Michael Shay 102 Call Me Robert fiction

Sharon Doyle 111 Man with a Horse poem

Gaydell Collier 112 Bringing Nellie Home essay

Joseph Powell 116 The Steer poem

Stephanie Waxman 118 My Life with Sam fiction

Jeniel Vereline 121 Connor Battlefield (Wyoming Place No. 45) poem

B.Z. Niditch 123 The Muse poem

Clay Barkdull 124 Breaking up with Wyoming essay

Order this complete issue of the

Owen Wister Review

by calling (307) 766-6336or using our online order form at

www.owenwisterreview.info/order

Current issue: $8.95Past issues: $2.50

(S+H and sales tax not included.)

Become a friend of the Owen Wister Review

on Facebook.