When an E-5 tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011, part of the major devastation to the community was to school buildings in the Joplin R-VIII School District. Among these were libraries of four schools, along with the district’s Teacher Resource Center.

In a collaborative effort, the Missouri Writers’ Guild and its Joplin Writers’ Guild chapter, the Missouri Humanities Council, and Mozark Press present a collection of the region’s writers and poets who contributed their work as a fundraising effort to restore library resources for the Joplin School District. Inside are contributions ranging from Missouri and Kansas poets laureate, to a Joplin High School sophomore, to a 2011 Pushcart nominee, to sixth-grade students from Fair Grove Middle School. Most importantly, inside you’ll find the creative voices of the caring community existing within the region we call “Storm Country.”

All proceeds from the sale of Storm Country: The Anthology will go toward books and learning materials for the Joplin school libraries and Teacher Resource Center.