A novel of the Black Mountains · Burnsville, N.C.
Upstream
Trout always return upstream to where they were born. Some part of each of us flees downstream from home, or the memory of it.
Releasing Tuesday, February 23, 2027
Available for preorder · Tuesday, February 23, 2027
Reserve your copy of Upstream
A hard, dark secret buried in the headwaters. A town shaped by what was hidden. A fisherman who escaped upstream from his old life. A mystery unraveled that would change everyone downstream.
Truth and Otherwise
Southern Short Stories
Rural neighbors take each other in, foster children of geography, a history from harsher times, when you clung to your neighbor in hostile land.
Plates from the novel
Paintings by Bevo
Four paintings open chapters of Upstream: the Angel, the Waterfall, Aksel, and the Bog.
Field notes
From Bishop’s Blog
October 2, 2026
Make Today Your Why Day
The two most important days in life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. For me, the “why day” came in 2009.
All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.Toni Morrison, “The Site of Memory”
In 2009, at sixty, I published my first short story in Gray’s Sporting Journal. It was called “Quail Whisperer,” and it changed my life. I became a full-time author, nose down like a hunting dog, scouting for people with hidden, marvelous stories. I hope the words here are a gentle nudge toward your own “why day.” Why not?
— Bishop Bryant