Still time: Include Fishtrap in your end-of-year giving

Dear Fishtrap Friends,
A few weeks ago, we sent out a mailing asking Fishtrap's community of writers, readers and other supporters to consider an end-of-year gift to Fishtrap. Many of you have responded already, and generously. Thank you! But we still have a ways to go to meet our goal.

If you have not yet made your 2010 year-end tax-deductible donation, please consider doing so now. With your help, we can continue Fishtrap's proud 23-year legacy of rich programs, workshops, gatherings and publications (and, yes, that "rich" pun was intended!). Remember, no gift is too small, but if you can, please give generously.

There are two easy ways to donate so that your donation counts for 2010:
1) Donate online at www.fishtrap.org anytime up until midnight on December 31.
2) Date your check prior to midnight on December 31 and mail it to: Fishtrap, PO Box 38, Enterprise, OR 97828. Postmarked December 31 or earlier is best, but who saves envelopes? Checks received within the first week of January and dated in 2010 will be counted.

If you live in Oregon, be sure to match your donation to Fishtrap (and other participating arts and cultural organizations) with a donation to the Oregon Cultural Trust. Double the impact of your gift and receive a dollar for dollar credit on your Oregon income tax for 2010 at the same time. How can you beat that?

On behalf of the entire Fishtrap Board and Staff, here's to a wonderful, writing-filled New Year!

With gratitude,

Barbara Dills
Interim Executive Director

Winter in the Wallowas

Dear Fishtrap Friends,

Season's Greetings from Wallowa County and all of us at Fishtrap. I took my morning walk today, sunny, gorgeous, and a crisp 15 degrees out. I thought I'd share the view that greeted me as I headed up into Iwetemlaykin, the Oregon State Parks Heritage Site just outside the town of Joseph. I was about ten steps further down the trail from this scene and a fox bounded into sight fifty yards ahead, paused, sat down, and considered me before heading on. I walked slowly along as she or he played hide and seek with me for another five minutes or so before rounding a bend out of sight.

I then headed off in a different direction, only to see this lady to your left poised at the top of the ridge, (look to the right of the trees). Turned out she was with four sister does. The others were resting on the ground but jumped up and took off when two humans and a dog approached from a trail on the other side. The does' day had begun. And so, magically, had mine.

Scenes like this are so frequent they become almost commonplace when you live here. Which brings me to say, if you haven't visited Wallowa County in winter, you are definitely missing out on something special. So, why not join us for Winter Fishtrap, February 25-27? Iwetemlaykin in the lovely Nimipuu (Nez Perce) language means "at the edge of the lake." Come sit with us at the other edge of Wallowa Lake and join the conversation about what "Getting Small" can mean to a life and a planet.

There is still room at the Inn (in this case, Wallowa Lake Lodge!), which is closed for the rest of the winter and only opens that one stretch in February for Fishtrap. We're adding new elements to the program all the time. In addition to the core presentations by Winona LaDuke, Charles Goodrich and Tammy Strobel, we'll have music and other fun with Kate Power and Steve Einhorn, writing time with Amy Minato, and most likely a local "slow food" guest chef on Saturday night. Great fun on the bus ride out Interstate 84 from Portland for those of you who live in that corridor or want to depart from Portland. It's stacking up to be an amazing weekend. If you register and pay your balance in full by December 21, you'll receive a discount on your registration. You can sign up and make secure payment online with a credit card or PayPal account, or by calling Fishtrap at 541-426-3623.

We just learned yesterday that the Lodge's cabins will be available for Winter Fishtrap participants again this year for a few days before and after our event. There are only a few cabins available, so if you are interested, give us a call or write to jon@fishtrap.org.

Help Fishtrap Wrap Up 2010 In Strength

The other deadline coming up is the December 31st deadline to make a donation to Fishtrap and receive a tax deduction for 2010. Oregon residents are reminded to support the Oregon Cultural Trust at the same time and you'll get a tax credit that offsets your donation (up to $500 for individuals and $1000 for couples). Fishtrap relies on the support of our extended community to support all our programs, including Summer and Winter Fishtrap. Our costs to produce these events are not covered by registration fees. Your donations also enable us to provide writing instruction and inspiration to youth all across Eastern Oregon and to produce Wallowa County's Big Read program, which last year reached 2300 people in a county of only 7000. The book everyone will be reading over the holidays this year to get ready for the Big Read kick-off on January 9 is Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. No matter where you are, read along and join the fun!

You can donate online at www.fishtrap.org right up until midnight on December 31. Checks written and postmarked on or before December 31 will also be credited for 2010.

No donation is too small... and we ask those of you who can to give generously. Your support in any amount is deeply appreciated.

Fishtrap Fellowships
Each year, we award up to five full fellowships to emerging writers to attend Summer Fishtrap free of charge. The Fellows are selected based on submission of work and a statement of interest. The purpose and spirit of the Fishtrap Fellowship program has always been to give a leg-up to writers who may not yet be publicly recognized through other channels, such as MFA programs, publications or other fellowships and awards. This year, to ensure that we are serving our particular audience, we will also be asking for a complete resume. The screeners and final judge will have the benefit of this personal information as they evaluate the candidates. We hope this process will encourage those of you just starting out to consider applying, as well as writers who may have been at it for a while but be ready to make a new leap. If you are interested, please send an email to me at barbara@fishtrap.org with "Fishtrap Fellowship 2011" in the subject line and we'll send you the formal application guidelines, which will be available in early January. More information on the Fishtrap Fellowship program, including a list of past recipients, is available at www.fishtrap.org.

Summer Fishtrap 2011: Migrations & Passages
Workshop leaders confirmed so far include: Joanne Mulcahy, Elizabeth (Beth) Taylor, Robert (Bob) Pyle, Rosanne Parry, Gary Ferguson and Myrlin Hepworth, with others you'll love in conversation with us now. The Gathering will also be amazing, with confirmations so far from Pramila Jayapal, Eva Castellanoz, David Laskin, and Ellen Waterston, who will be joined in conversation by our workshop faculty. The Saturday night featured speaker is 90% confirmed, so we hope to have an announcement soon. We think you'll be thrilled. Block these dates: July 10-17. And, if you were closed out last year due to how quickly things filled, be assured that we are taking steps to open up more workshop spots this year. Watch for more details on all of this coming in January.

Yearlong Writing Workshop with Karen Fisher
Details on the application process for the upcoming Yearlong Writing Workshop in Historical Fiction with Karen Fisher will be out on the website the first week of January. We'll remind you in the next newsletter. Meanwhile, if you haven't read Karen's extraordinary novel, A Sudden Country, we recommend it. You'll discover why we are so excited to have her return this year to teach and lead our next Yearlong Workshop.

Those interested in applying should start putting together up to 20-pages of written work to submit and a 5-page letter describing the project they hope to dive into with Karen's help. February submission deadlines and more info coming soon, as promised!

Fishtrap Executive Director Search Is Open
The Fishtrap Board is actively seeking the next Executive Director. Please spread the word far and wide. We are looking for someone with a strong administrative and management background, a passion for literature and a devotion to Fishtrap's mission in particular. Must also long to see fox and deer along the trail... or at least enjoy small town life. Details here.

And now, a few notes to catch up on doings here the past month or so...

Molly Gloss at Fishtrap
A huge thanks to author Molly Gloss for the rich presentation she gave at the Fishtrap Coffin House in early November. Her talk, entitled "Alone in Her Room," was generously sponsored by the local chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). In advance of her visit, Molly sent the following thought: "As readers, we all know the feeling of falling wholly inside a novel, losing ourselves in a world that was imagined and made real by some writer sitting alone in her room. I want to speak about that intersection where writers and readers meet on the page—the synergy that happens every time a reader opens a book and falls in. And of course every writer begins to be a writer by first being a reader, so I also want to share how my own writing life and my work have been shaped by the books I have fallen into--especially books by women." It was a great talk, and we are hopeful it might become an essay at some point, so it can be shared more widely. But on November 6, it was standing room only here at Fishtrap.

Welcome Jon Rombach
Many of you may have had the pleasure of sharing a workshop or writing group, time at the Summer Fishtrap Outpost or the Imnaha Writers' Retreat, a float on the river with Winding Waters (where he formerly was a river guide), or a beer at TG with Jon in the past. Please join us in welcoming him as the newest member of the Fishtrap staff. Jon is serving as Fishtrap Program Coordinator and will be helping out with the full array of our programs. Among other things, he'll be taking the reins from Janis Carper for many of the event registration logistics for Summer and Winter Fishtrap so she can concentrate more time and attention on the Fishtrap website, the Anthology, and a variety of other publication and graphic design projects. Jon also writes a regular column for the Wallowa County Chieftain and is a former radio personality on local station KWVR. We feel very lucky to have Jon as an official member of the Fishtrap team.

Recent Travel Series at Fishtrap
Kathy Hunter, Jean Falbo and the dynamic duo of Liza Jane Nichols and Adele Nash recently presented slides and reflections of their international travels in three separate events here at the Fishtrap Coffin House. Kathy journeyed to China with a group of storytellers, gathered stories, and learned what it means to be a fair skinned redhead in a culture that reveres both. Jean and Clem Falbo made a trek to Europe to visit the great opera houses and shared humorous and inspiring highlights and history with us. And this week, "slow food" activists and mother-daughter team Liza Jane Nichols and Adele Nash regaled us with tales of their recent trip to Turino, Italy, as U.S. representatives of the slow food movement. Each of these events packed the Fishtrap house, even on dark, slippery nights. A huge Santa bundle of thanks to all four presenters.

Those of you attending Winter Fishtrap might just get a chance to hear a mini version of Liza Jane and Adele's presentation, and even taste some of the food they and other slow foodies produce here in Wallowa County. Just one more reason to sign up...

On behalf of the entire Fishtrap staff and board, here's wishing you a peaceful and kind holiday season.

Barbara Dills
Interim Executive Director

PS: Write to us to let us know how Fishtrap has changed your writing or reading life. We love to include those personal stories in reports to the foundations that support us so generously. With thanks!

Reminder: WED., DEC. 1 and WED., DEC. 15: Two great travel adventures at Fishtrap

Dear Local Fishtrap Friends,

Just a quick newsletter reminder about several upcoming local events at Fishtrap.

JEAN FALBO PRESENTS A GRAND OPERA TOUR... AND MORE
Wednesday, December 1 at 7 pm
Fishtrap Coffin House, 400 E. Grant Street, Enterprise

This Wednesday, Joseph residents Clem and Jean Falbo will share their two-month journey to visit the great opera houses of Europe with an evening of highlights, history and photos.Travel along to Milan, Venice, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Vienna and Paris as Jean reveals details they learned beyond the impressive architecture they enjoyed… such as the accidental death in Box 13 at the Paris Opera House which inspired “The Phantom of the Opera.” As Jean says, "Opera houses have stories to tell and history to reveal."

This photo-illustrated lecture is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served and donations are appreciated. Proceeds benefit Fishtrap and the Wallowa Valley Music Alliance.

A VISIT TO TERRA MADRE WITH LIZA JANE NICHOLS and ADELE NASH
Wednesday, December 15, 5:30 pm (note the earlier than usual start time)
Fishtrap Coffin House, 400 E. Grant Street, Enterprise

And while we're traveling... how about Italy?

Mark your calendars! Adele and Liza will be presenting a slide show and tell the stories of Terra Madre in Torino, Italy, where they were hosted recently as delegates from the U.S at an international gathering of "slow food" enthusiasts.

Terra Madre is a network of food producers, cooks, educators and students from 150 countries who are united by a common goal of global sustainability in food. The "food communities" of Terra Madre come together biennially to share innovative solutions and time-honored traditions for keeping small-scale agriculture and sustainable food production alive and well. This is a rare opportunity to learn about this wonderful event from the inside. Liza Jane and Adele were chosen based upon the traditions they uphold in ranching and the values they maintain in raising food. Adele also mentioned her aspirations to become a restaurant owner and chef.

There will be snacks and, of course, wine -- come early to have time to sample. Donations will be gratefully accepted to cover food and beverage costs, with any additional proceeds going to Fishtrap.

Please note that the presentation will start promptly at 5:30 and will end in time so that folks can make it to the Wallowa Resources sponsored event on hydropower opportunities at 7 pm down the street at Tomas Conference Room.

All the best from Fishtrap,

Barbara, Jon, Janis, Kathy, Heather and Rich!

Travel to China with Kathy Hunter, the Fishtrap Benefit Sale at Fire Works Pottery... and more local news

Dear Fishtrap Friends here in the windy valley,

Blow yourselves on over to the Fishtrap House this Wednesday evening to hear stories and see selected slides from Kathy Hunter's recent remarkable trip to China. And join us Saturday at Fire Works Pottery for their third annual Fishtrap benefit holiday sale. Details on these and other upcoming local events below.

Travel to China with a red-haired celebrity!
Kathy Hunter will share her tour of China's historic sites with the Nu-Wa Delegation, and their visit to tiny Gengcun, "The Village of Stories," where six hundred years of tales have accumulated in oral tradition. Wednesday, November 17 at 7:00 pm at the Fishtrap Coffin House. Free and open to the public.

Hear the story of the Dragon Lady, China's fabled Empress. Get mobbed in crowds of adoring Chinese. Learn the wrong way to say "thank you" to a shopkeeper. Meet Chinese food -- fancy and freaky. Find out about split pants on toddlers and the dreaded squat toilet. Here is China at its most memorable, through the eyes of Fishtrap's gifted (and funny!) storyteller.

***

Third Annual Fishtrap Benefit and Holiday Sale at Fire Works Pottery
Anne and Jim Shelly welcome one and all to their beautiful studio on Hurricane Creek Road. Enjoy this festive shopping opportunity. They are joined this year by Arrowhead Chocolates and the Reininger family, who will have delicious and delicate treats for sale as well. A percentage of all proceeds goes to Fishtrap.
When: Saturday, November 20, starting at 1 pm
Where: 62378 Hurricane Creek Road, 1-1/3 mile beyond the Hurricane Creek Grange
Why: Great gifts... and a chance to support Fishtrap's local community programs, which bring writing and writers to students in Wallowa County schools
What: They'll have a kiln load of new work. Crack pots and odd bowls (aka 2nds). Delicious Arrowhead chocolates, too.
What else: Stay and enjoy a fabulous Wallowa County potluck at 5:30. Then you can roll right down the hill to the Old Time Dance at Hurricane Creek Grange Hall. Or stay and visit with old and new friends.

Visit www.fireworksclayart.com for directions and to preview pottery. More info by calling Anne and Jim at 541-432-0445. Heartfelt thanks to the Shellys and Reiningers for this generous support of Fishtrap.

***

More news...

Winter Fishtrap 2011 registration is now open. Theme: "Getting Small." Information and registration forms are available at www.fishtrap.org, by calling Fishtrap at 541-426-3623 or writing to jon@fishtrap.org. (That's Wallowa County's very own Jon Rombach, who joined the Fishtrap staff this week as our new Program Coordinator. More to come in an upcoming newsletter on that good Fishtrap fortune!)

Tour the Opera Houses of Europe with Jean Falbo. Slide show and presentation Wednesday, December 1 at 7:00 pm at the Fishtrap Coffin House.

Fishtrap's Annual Good Book Sale: Saturday, December 4, starting at 8 am until the books are gone, at the Fishtrap Coffin House.

Fishtrap is located at 400 E. Grant Street, Enterprise, 541-426-3623
www.fishtrap.org for more info or to make an online donation. Your support keeps us strong!

Winter Fishtrap registration, Molly Gloss to visit, and Yearlong Workshop with Karen Fisher

Dear Fishtrap Friends,

The news and announcements are piling up here at Fishtrap like too much wood for the shed or all those apples forced off the trees by Sunday night’s heavy rain. There were plenty of apples at the local cider pressing party last weekend, and when you get to the end of this newsletter, you'll see a few photos from that event. But for now it looks like our beautiful, warm October weather (see photo at right from my morning walk last week) is finally giving way to the season that our bones and the birds-in-flight over the Wallowas know is on its way. We had a dusting of snow in Joseph last night! Time to start thinking seriously about Winter Fishtrap, applying for our 2011-2012 Yearlong Workshop in Historical Fiction, or making your way to the Fishtrap house to hear Molly Gloss on November 6.

Without further ado, here are all those details, plus a whole lot more. We’ll do some looking ahead… and some grateful looking back. Upcoming local events are featured toward the bottom of the email—so, Wallowa and Union County friends especially, be sure to read all the way to the bottom so you don’t miss out.

Winter Fishtrap – Dates and Deadlines
Our Winter Fishtrap 2011 “Getting Small” program featuring Winona LaDuke, Charles Goodrich, Tammy Stobel, Amy Minato, and the duo of Kate Power and Steve Einhorn (with ukuleles) is set. The full brochure is out on the website and hitting the mail later this week. NOTE: Scholarship deadline is November 10; check out the application guidelines. Registration for this February 25-27, 2011 event opens November 15. We will once again run a bus from Portland, and writer Amy Minato is cooking up some special fun for the drive out. Plan to reduce your carbon footprint by riding—and writing—along!

2011-2012 Yearlong Writing Workshop with Karen Fisher
Karen Fisher, author of the gorgeous book A Sudden Country, who also taught a weeklong fiction workshop for us this past summer, will be leading a group of seven or eight writers for a year of focused work in our next Yearlong Workshop. The goal? To get a substantial start on a draft manuscript or to put the polish on one that’s been gathering dust in your drawer. Have you always wanted to research a topic or figure in history and then weave a novel from that particular warp? This could be your chance to do it with Fishtrap-style guidance and support. As one who benefited greatly from this approach as a student in John Daniel's Yearlong on Memoir, I strongly recommend it.

Full details and application guidelines will be available online by mid-November. The format will be similar to how we've structured the Yearlong Workshops for the past three years. You can read about Jane Vandenburgh's current workshop to get an idea.

Writers-in-Residence Sought for Grant and Harney Counties
We're still working with the local committees in beautiful, remote Grant and Harney Counties to select their writers-in-residence for early 2011. It’s not too late to apply. If you have some experience teaching, are a serious (and preferably published) writer with some flexibility in your schedule, please consider this rare opportunity to explore beautiful country, meet new friends, and support young writers in rural communities. Write to me at barbara@fishtrap.org.

2010 Fishtrap Anthology: $500 still needed in order to publish
The 2010 Fishtrap Anthology is coming together, thanks to all the great submissions from last Summer’s Fishtrap participants and faculty. But we can’t send it off to the printer until we raise the full $1000 in support needed each year to make it a reality. If you sent work in or have enjoyed being published in past Fishtrap Anthologies, please consider being an 2010 Anthology sponsor—Janis can help create a small display ad for your service or business, or as a way of honoring someone you admire. For $50, you get a quarter-page ad, a half-page is $100. Please do what you can to help us publish “Matter and Spirit.” Smaller donations are also welcome.

House Party Thanks… and Thinking About Some “Fishraps”
In the flurry of last spring and summer's transitions here at Fishtrap, we didn't do a very good job of thanking our hosts for the two Fishtrap house parties we organized, one in Olympia at the home of Melissa and Al Josephy, and one in Pasco at the home of Jenepher and Louis Field. These events helped us introduce newcomers to Fishtrap—invaluable outreach for us in places where we haven't had much visibility in the past. Hearty and belated "thanks" to Al, Melissa, Jenepher and Louis for opening your homes to us in support of good writing. Your warmth and generosity was much appreciated!

Having learned what people most enjoyed at those events, we are starting to envision a version of a house party we might call a "Fishrap"—not the stinky kind, but rather a gathering of friends with a live reading component in the spirit of the Fishtrap open mics that are so popular at our Summer and Winter Fishtrap events. Thanks to Kevin and Victoria Wheeler for cranking up the enthusiasm for this idea and for offering to host a trial Fishrap at their home in Milwaukie, Oregon. Still in the planning stages... watch upcoming newsletters for more.

And While We're Offering Thanks... Wordstock Thanks
A special shout out to Barbara Fankhauser, Gayle Seely, Ed Stover, Sue Knight, Michael Tevlin, Eve Slinker, Robin Schauffler, Christine Colasurdo, Judy Davis, and Elizabeth Oliver for helping staff our table at Wordstock a few weeks ago. We had fifty new people sign up for our mailing list and many more stop to visit with us. It was great fun, and we couldn't have done it without each one of these generous volunteers... Congratulations to Gordon Oliver and Richard Brown, winners of our Worstock drawing. Your Fishtrap hat (Gordon) and Fishtrap mug (Richard) are on their way in the mail. Thanks again for stopping by.

"Oregon Is Indian Country" Wrap-up
What a rewarding impact the Oregon Historical Society's traveling exhibit Oregon Is Indian Country had on the local community here. Fishtrap was honored to be its host in Enterprise. Thanks to speakers Tom and Woesha Hampson, David Lewis, Eric Quaempts and Joe McCormack, the Josephy Library at Fishtrap also hosted three informative and inspiring evening lectures in connection with the exhibit. We had fifty people at each one! Beyond that, Rich Wandschneider (pictured at right at the exhibit) got each of the speakers into local schools and worked with local teachers to bring school kids out to the exhibit and to Fishtrap to learn the real story of their Indian neighbors here in Oregon. Our finale was 90 Enterprise 4th, 5th and 6th graders packed into the Fishtrap house last Thursday to hear Eric Quaempts speak to them about "First Foods in Indian Country." We're sure Alvin and Betty Josephy would have loved to see that. Thanks to Rich and to all the local teachers who responded so warmly to this opportunity.

Upcoming Local Fishtrap Events
Tuesday, November 2, 7 pm: All-genre writing group reconvenes at the Fishtrap House after a summer's hiatus. Everyone welcome! Call Mary Emerick at 541-263-1156 for more information (but not this week—she's down at the Fishtrap Imnaha Writer's Retreat through Saturday, Oct. 30).

Saturday, November 6, 7 pm: Author Molly Gloss (The Hearts of Horses, The Jump-Off Creek) will be here as our guest speaker at the AAUW-sponsored lecture entitled "Alone in Her Room." As readers, we all know the feeling of falling wholly inside a novel, losing ourselves in a world that was imagined and made real by some writer sitting alone in her room. Molly will speak about that intersection where writers and readers meet on the page—the synergy that happens every time a reader opens a book and falls in. And of course every writer begins to be a writer by first being a reader, so she will also talk about the ways her own writing life and her work have been shaped by the books she has fallen into—especially books by women. At the Fishtrap Coffin House, free and open to the public (male public included!).

Sunday, November 7, 5-7 pm: Annual Fishtrap Spaghetti Feed at Lear's in Enterprise. Come out and enjoy a festive and delicious evening in support of the Fishtrap College program, offering college-level English classes to local high school and community college students. Wait staff will be made up of Fishtrap College students, and Fishtrap staff and board members dressed like Italian waiters. You've got to see this!

Saturday, November 20, 1:00 pm on: Clay artists Anne and Jim Shelly host a benefit sale for Fishtrap at their studio on Hurricane Creek. Get an early start on your holiday shopping, stay for a festive potluck and dance, and help Fishtrap at the same time. The Fishtrap mugs so popular at this past Summer Fishtrap will be available. More details in the next newsletter, or write to Kathy@fishtrap.org.

That's the news for now.

Stay dry and warm... and keep writing!

Barbara
Barbara Dills, Interim Executive Director

PS: And now the photos from the apple pressing party, a welcoming Wallowa County tradition, generously hosted by the Chris and Chuck Fraser family.That's a flatbed truck holding all the potluck goodies!

Winter Fishtrap News; Janie Tippett's book; and David Lewis

Dear Fishtrap Friends,
It's October, which means we've just welcomed our first group of writers to the Imnaha Writer's Retreat. We kick the month off with a poet, a cowboy western novelist, two writers working on memoirs, and one jack-of-several-genres who's known for weaving in humor no matter what flows from his pen. I'd love to be a fly on the wall during their evening sessions around the fireplace, wouldn't you? (Get on the list for April now.)

On September 24, I spent the day at the Driver's beautiful place with Janie Tippett and Pam Royes. We did some cleaning and supply inventory for the upcoming retreats and had a sunny picnic on the porch overlooking the river. On the drive down, Janie pointed out landmarks from her new book, Four Lines a Day (more on the book below), and we stopped at the Royes' place on the Imnaha to take in Pam's amazing garden. When Janie saw the tree in the photo, she couldn't resist... and with a little coaxing, neither could Pam.

There's lots happening here, always, and Wallowa County friends should take special note of the lecture Wednesday evening, Oct. 6, at 7:30 at Stage One with David Lewis, PhD (details below).

If you're active on Facebook, be sure to "Like" the Fishtrap page -- click the Wall tab to read and comment on recently posted poems. (Thanks to all who submitted... keep them coming.)

Now for our breaking news about Winter Fishtrap. We're beyond excited and hope you will be, too.

Winter Fishtrap 2011: "Getting Small"
We're delighted to announce that Winona LaDuke, Charles Goodrich, and Tammy Strobel have accepted our invitations to be presenters at Winter Fishtrap 2011. With their help, 80 or so of us will consider what it means to live smaller and more sustainably in a world mostly hell bent on bigger, faster, better. Dates: February 25-27 at the historic Wallowa Lake Lodge. All the details will be arriving in your mail and posted on the website soon. Registration opens November 15.

Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabe) is an internationally renowned activist working on issues of sustainable development, renewable energy and food systems. She lives and works on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota, and is a two time vice presidential candidate with Ralph Nader for the Green Party. Winona is the author of All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life, Recovering the Sacred: The Power of Naming and Claiming, and Food is Medicine: Recovering Traditional Foods to Heal the People.

Charles Goodrich, a beloved past Fishtrap faculty member, former Fishtrap Fellow, and the 2009 Werner Writer-in-Residence at Billy Meadows, is Director of the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature and the Written Word at OSU in Corvallis, Oregon. The author of The Practice of Home, Insects of South Corvallis, a Fishtrap-published chapbook In the Chesnim Country, and his latest collection of poems, Going to Seed, Charles frequently writes about small but significant things.

Tammy Strobel blogs regularly at www.rowdykittens.com about "social change through simple living" from her small home in Portland. She was profiled in the NY Times article "But Will It Make You Happy?" in August of this year. Tammy is also the author of two e-books: Smalltopia: A Practical Guide to Working for Yourself and Simply Car-free: How to Pedal Toward Financial Freedom and a Healthier Life.

As a special added treat, musicians Kate Power and Steve Einhorn will join us again with their big spirits, bright songs -- and, if we're really lucky, ukuleles (talk about getting small!). Kate and Steve have recently downsized and simplified in their own lives. The ukes are just one part of that story...

Again, registration for Winter Fishtrap opens November 15 and we expect to fill quickly, so mark your calendars. We will once again charter a bus from Portland if there is enough interest (let's lower our collective carbon footprint). A limited number of scholarships are available. Scholarship information is on the website. NOTE: Scholarship application deadline is November 10.

Four Lines a Day by Janie Tippett
Okay, we held off as long as we could to let Janie recover from all the local autographs she's signed and the orders she's received from the readers of her column in the Agri-Times Northwest ... but we're not waiting any longer! Here's the scoop on the book.

Forever Fishtrapper, Janie Tippett, chronicles the life of her longtime friend, Imnaha rancher Mary Marks, in this delightful memoir/biography, Four Lines a Day, published by Wallowa County's own Rich Wandschneider-led Pika Press. If you've ever spent a week at the Imnaha Writer's Retreat (or even if you haven't!), this is a must-read. Mary's life -- and Janie's, too -- will inspire you to do the most with your own, wherever and however you live.

Order your copy online from Pika Press or by sending shipping information and a check for $18 ($15 for the book plus $3 to cover shipping) to Pika Press at PO Box 38, Enterprise, Oregon, 97828.

Janie signs all her emails to me "Fishtrap love." That pretty much says it all. Back at you, Janie!

Tuesday Evening All-Genre Writing Group Starts November 2
Beginning November 2, on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm, an all-genres writing group (poets, playwrights, prose writers at any stage of their writing) will meet informally at the Fishtrap house. They typically work with some writing prompts if the group wishes, then those participants who want to can read from something they are working on and receive thoughtful advice. It's a cheerful group that usually shares some wine and laughter along with good writing and inspiration! Call Mary Emerick at 541-263-1156 for more information.

Other Upcoming Events Here at Fishtrap

This Wednesday, October 6: David Lewis, PhD, Cultural Resources Director of the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde Community, speaks on "Treaties and Sovereignty in Indian Country" in connection with the Oregon Is Indian Country exhibit. 7:30 pm at Stage One, 117-1/2 Main Street in Enterprise. This is the closing day for the exhibit, which will be open starting at 6:30 pm. If you haven't yet visited the exhibit, please come early to enjoy it before the talk.

October 14 at noon: Tom "Hutch" Hutchison will lead the first Josephy Library Brown Bag Reading Group. Copies of "Naming the Nez Perce" are at the Joseph and Enterprise city libraries, at the Bookloft, and here at Fishtrap. It's only about 18 pages long. And it was the first piece Alvin Josephy published on the Nez Perce, back in 1955.

October 20: Eric Quaempts, the Natural Resources Director of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, and Joe McCormack of the Nez Perce Tribe's Fisheries will speak on “First Foods in Indian Country” and other topics related to indigenous relationships to land and natural resources. 7:30 pm at the Fishtrap Coffin House, 400 E. Grant Street, Enterprise.

Be well, and keep writing,

Barbara Dills, Interim Executive Director

Indian Summer

September 18, 2010

Dear Fishtrap Friends:

Indian Summer is here at last, and with it warmer days and nights. The home canners are fired up and so are their kettles, rolling and tumbling to seal beets, pickled cucumbers and green beans, tomatoes, peaches, jam and more in jars for the winter. I pulled my black enamel pot out of retirement when I was in Portland last weekend, and it’s here with me in the County now, ready to join the fun. According to a recent piece I heard on NPR, canning has become trendy like knitting did a few years back, the latest do-it-yourself revival story. (Imagine, they're having canning parties in Boston and Manhattan.) So, get out your Ball jars, and while the kettle is boiling, pen a verse or two inspired by the sound, the scent, the stickiness. Send them to us at info@fishtrap.org, and we’ll share them on the Fishtrap website and Facebook page (which, as some of you have noted, needs a lift like this).

The Imnaha Writer's Retreat still has just a few openings for October. Call us at 541-426-3623 or write to me at barbara@fishtrap.org if you are interested. $150 for a week of writing in a beautiful spot among friends. Can't beat that.

Fun With Friends of William Stafford… and Introducing Vox
While in Portland, I stopped in at the annual Friends of William Stafford picnic in Lake Oswego last Sunday. What a feast of poetry and potluck converged there! Fishtrap’s very own Rich Wandschneider was the Master of Ceremonies, Oregon’s new Poet Laureate Paulann Petersen offered poems and stories about Bill, and many other Stafford fans got up to speak and read. A further highlight was the delightful spoken word chorus, Vox, whose group treatments of Stafford poems added another dimension to the day. We are hoping to be able to bring Vox out to Fishtrap sometime. "We take poetry from the page and speak it in interpretive chorus," says Eric Hull, Director of Vox. "It's an experiment in form and expression. Some of the words are spoken in unison, some are solo, and some are spoken in combinations or counterpoint.” I encourage those of you in the Portland area to catch Vox October 15-17 and 22-24 at Waterbrook Studio, 2127 N. Albina. Details at voxpdx.com.

Oregon Is Indian Country: An Evening Program with Tom and Woesha Hampson
Please join us September 23 at 7:30 at Stage One on Main Street in Enterprise to welcome longtime Fishtrap friends Tom and Woesha Hampson. They will be sharing thoughts related to the Oregon Is Indian Country exhibit panel “Traditions That Bind” in a talk entitled “Culture and Continuity in Indian Country.” The exhibit will be open starting at 6:30 pm that evening, so if you haven’t had a chance to visit it yet, this will be a great opportunity.

Tom Hampson is Executive Director of the Oregon Native American Business and Entrepreneurial Network (ONABEN) and was part of the creative team that produced the acclaimed play, The Ghosts of Celilo. He has been involved in business and cultural arts development for Northwest tribes for more than 20 years. Woesha Hampson is the granddaughter of Henry Roe Cloud, who was the first Indian admitted to Yale University, a noted educator, and eventually the Superintendent of the Umatilla Indian Agency. Tom and Woesha lived and worked on the Umatilla Reservation in the 1970s.

Next up:
October 6: David Lewis, Grand Ronde, will speak on "Treaties and Sovereignty in Indian Country"

October 20: Eric Queaempts, Umatilla, and Joe McCormack, Nez Perce, will speak on "First Foods in Indian Country"

Regular open hours for the exhibit are Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm through October 6, but special arrangements can be made for school and community groups at other times. We hosted the Wallowa 4th and 5th graders last week and will enjoy sharing the exhibit with the Enterprise 5th graders and the Girls Scouts this week. Come one, come all!

Fishtrap Anthology: Honor your friends, your fellow writers, your pets, or your favorite Fishtrap instructors
The 2010 Fishtrap Anthology is on its way to becoming a book, but it’s not there yet. Thanks to the 2010 Summer Fishtrap participants and faculty members who submitted, we have collected a very rich assortment of poetry and prose inspired by our 2010 theme “Spirit and Matter.”

As always, our ability to bring the Anthology all the way to print while keeping the purchase price affordable for everyone depends on raising additional funds through sponsorships and display ads. This year, we’re thinking about those display “ads” in a broader, more creative way. Here’s the deal: If you attended Summer Fishtrap this year or want to honor someone who did, or if you just want to tip your hat to your Fishtrap friends near and far, your beloved faculty presenters, your parents, your spouse, your kids, your pets, or your pet peeves… why not purchase a little corner of the book? We need a minimum of $1000 in sponsorships of some kind. That’s 10 of you at $100 or 20 at $50, or some combo of the two. Janis will work with you on the content and design of your display ad or listing. (And Heather will be happy to take your payments.) As long as your ad's not X-rated, we’ll run it. A photo of your corgi, bishon frise or basset hound? Sure. A tribute to your moth-er? Why not. In honor of _________. Celebrating _________. Stretch your thinking on this one. And if you have a service or business you’d like to promote to the Fishtrap audience, we’ll take those more conventional ads too, of course.

For more info or to float your craziest idea, write to janisc@fishtrap.org. This offer closes as soon as we reach our fundraising goal for the Anthology, so don’t delay. The sooner we reach that goal, the sooner the 2010 Anthology will become a book you can hold in your hands.

Wallowa County Writers’ Group
A writers’ group is now meeting weekly Tuesdays, 10 am -12 pm at the Fishtrap Coffin House, 400 E. Grant Street in Enterprise. Bring something of your own to read. Short writing exercises will sometimes be done at meetings. Prose, poetry, and other forms welcome. One week they wrote captions for New Yorker magazine cartoons. New members are welcome. Bring a lunch of you wish. For more information, call Dick Clover at 541-432-2205, or just show up on a Tuesday.

Fishtrap College Is in Full Gear
Nineteen students, including sixteen from the three local high schools, one home-schooled student, and two adult students, are attending Fishtrap College this fall. Under the generous guidance of instructor Zanni Schauffler, they meet every Friday at the Fishtrap House for Writing 121. Those who complete the course will receive 4 college credits from Blue Mountain Community College. This is one of the many programs Fishtrap offers to support and encourage good writing in Wallowa County, especially among young people. We are grateful to the Autzen Foundation, the Collins Foundation, and to all of you who make personal donations to Fishtrap throughout the year, for keeping this vital program strong.

Wordstock: Visit us October 9 and 10 at the Oregon Convention Center
Come visit us at Wordstock, Saturday and Sunday, October 9-10, from 10 am to 6 pm. You'll find us at booth 404, which we share this year with our friends from Write Around Portland. There's lots more to do and hear at Wordstock, too, so check it out. Thanks to all the volunteers who signed up to help us staff the Fishtrap table – it will be great fun to see you there.

2011 Fishtrap Dates to Remember
January 9 -- February 13: The Big Read in Wallowa County. The book for this year is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
February 25-27: Winter Fishtrap at Wallowa Lake Lodge. Theme: "Getting Small"
July 10-17: Summer Fishtrap at Wallowa Lake Camp. Theme: "Migrations & Passages"

More details coming soon for all three of those programs.

Happy autumn!
Barbara

Barbara Dills
Interim Executive Director

Summer Fishtrap News, Writing on the River, and a special traveling exhibit "Oregon Is Indian Country"

Dear Fishtrap Friends,

At last, the newsletter resumes. We took a hiatus in the weeks leading up to Summer Fishtrap, but I'll be writing at least twice-monthly now as we head into fall and the calendar fills and ripens. Thanks for your patience as I settled into my new role here as Fishtrap's Interim Executive Director...

Summer Fishtrap 2010
We’re coming back to earth at the Fishtrap house after a glorious, spirited ride through the week of Summer Fishtrap, July 11-18. Those of you who had the chance to spend all or part of the week of readings, workshops and Gathering with us know how this year’s theme—"Matter and Spirit"—took us in some amazing directions, at times cracking us open… or cracking us up. The weather was perfect, the faculty inspired, the discussions deep, the readings lovely and provocative, and Gary Snyder all that we had hoped for and more. On Saturday night, he offered up a sampling of poetry from his earliest published work to recent poems in manuscript form. And he reminded us during his visit, through words and actions both, what clear thinking and good writing really mean. Gasho, Gary!

There is so much more to say about the experiences shared at the Wallowa Lake Camp and Billy Meadows Ranger Station this summer… look for our recap page on the Fishtrap website, which will be up soon and evolving over the next few weeks, with photos, participant and faculty comments, and other highlights. Thanks to all who supported the event with your participation, instruction, financial assistance, volunteer efforts, words of encouragement, and kind thoughts sent to us from afar. We could never pull Summer Fishtrap off without all of you and all of that.

A wonderful summary of the week through an outsider's lens was published in The Observer last Thursday. Thanks to Joyce Osterloh and her husband Ron for the thoughtful coverage.

Reminder to Summer Fishtrap instructors, special guests and participants: Please help us make the 2010 Fishtrap Anthology a rich reflection of the inspiration we all received at this Summer Fishtrap by sending your submissions to us, postmarked or email stamped by August 10. Anything written at or stimulated by Summer Fishtrap Workshops or the Gathering is appropriate. Please refer to the full submission guidelines for further details.

Save These Dates
Winter Fishtrap 2011: February 25-27, 2011 at the historic Wallowa Lake Lodge. Theme: “Getting Small.”
Summer Fishtrap 2011: July 10-17 at Wallowa Lake Camp & Resort. Theme to be announced this fall.

Film showing: The Practice of the Wild: A Conversation with Gary Snyder and Jim Harrison This film was a big hit at Summer Fishtrap recently. An Official Selection of this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival but not yet available to the general public, The Practice of the Wild came to Fishtrap courtesy of Summer Fishtrap faculty member Jack Shoemaker, one of several long-time friends and associates of Snyder interviewed in the film.

The film follows Snyder and novelist Jim Harrison (Dalva, Legends of the Fall) as the two old friends wander along the trails of the central California coast. They debate the pros and cons of everything from Google to Zen koans. The discussions are punctuated by archival materials and commentaries from Snyder's literary contemporaries, friends and intimates. The film runs just under an hour. A half hour of additional interviews not shown at Summer Fishtrap but available on the DVD will be included in this showing.

Please join us for this special screening of The Practice of the Wild on August 2, 7:30 pm, at the Fishtrap Coffin House, 400 E. Grant Street in Enterprise. This event is free, but donations are always appreciated. Popcorn and other light refreshments will be served.

For more background on the film, check out the San Francisco Film Festival blurb and the YouTube trailer.

Writing on the River with Annik Smith
August 26-31: For the second year, Fishtrap brings you Writing on the River. Spend five glorious days on the Snake River in the company of writer and film producer, Annick Smith, writing in the mornings and evenings and rafting down the river in between. As a participant in this river adventure, you'll be in the good hands of our friends Paul and Penny at Winding Waters River Expeditions. This event is a fundraiser for Fishtrap, so you can do what you love best and help Fishtrap stay afloat at the same time! Call Fishtrap at 541-426-3623 for more info or to register. (Space is filling fast and limited to 12, so don't delay.)

OHS Traveling Exhibit -- Oregon Is Indian Country: The Nine Federally Recognized Tribes of Oregon
Starting in September, Fishtrap and the Josephy Library at Fishtrap will co-host the Oregon Historical Society's free traveling exhibit entitled Oregon Is Indian Country, which provides text and historical and contemporary photographs about the nine Federally Recognized Tribes of Oregon. Themes include: The Land, Federal Indian Policies, and Traditions that Bind.

The exhibit will be installed on September 8 and 9 with special events to follow, and it will remain up for approximately one month. Dates, times and other details regarding the exhibit and related events will be included in our next newsletter and on the Fishtrap website.

Fishtrap writers and friends Pamela Steele and Bette Husted featured on OPB's "Think Out Loud"
Last Wednesday, July 21, Fishtrap hosted a session of Oregon Public Broadcasting's live call-in show "Think Out Loud" here at the Coffin House. It looked like a regular recording studio around here, with fancy microphones hooked to the big table in the main room and wires strung here and there. The featured guests were authors and Fishtrap friends Pamela Steele and Bette Husted. Their conversation with hosts Emily Harris and David Miller touched on each writer's relationship to place and people, and the role Fishtrap has played in their writing careers. If you missed the show or want to hear it again, you can listen to the archive and add your comments online. Please pass the link on to others who may or may not know about Fishtrap -- it's about as fine an introduction as you'll find.

We are grateful to Emily, David, Cassie, Julie, and the rest of the Think Out Loud team for taking the time to visit Eastern Oregon and for including Fishtrap in their swing through Wallowa County. And a huge congratulations and thank you to Pam and Bette for being here, for being so passionately real, and for all the good and beautiful words you have written about this special part of the world.

The Nez Perce Tribe's Precious Land Project in Joseph Creek was selected by National Geographic for inclusion in their "Tribal Lands" article in the August issue. It is a two-page spread with the picture and caption. Please let your friends know a picture from a portion of Wallowa County is featured in National Geographic in the August issue. Thanks to our friend Keith Lawrence for this news.

Farewell to Naomi
Finally, we bid farewell this week to our fabulous summer intern, Naomi Gibbs, who has been a delight to work with and without whom we might not have made it through Summer Fishtrap whole. She leaves us for her senior year at Whitman College, where she is majoring in Environmental Humanities under faculty advisor and Fishtrap friend, Don Snow. Naomi brought humor, honesty and energy to her role on our team. In addition to helping us at Summer Fishtrap, she created a guide to the businesses in Joseph and Enterprise and developed an extensive index of the many accomplishments of over 20 years of Fishtrap Fellows, which will be a valuable resource for years to come. Thank you for all that and more, Naomi! We will miss you.

Be well, keep writing, and stay in touch. The thunder is rolling here now...

Barbara Dills
Interim Executive Director

TONIGHT: William Johnson, A River Without Banks ... also, new scholarships available for Summer Fishtrap

Hello Fishtrap Friends,

This is just a quick note to our subscribers in and around Wallowa County to keep you posted on a few local happenings that might be of immediate interest. First of all, TONIGHT:

William Johnson, author of A River Without Banks: Place and Belonging in the Inland Northwest
Book signing and reading
Wednesday, June 9, 7:30 pm
Fishtrap’s Coffin House
400 East Grant Street, Enterprise

Please come in from the garden this evening and join Fishtrap and the Bookloft in welcoming William Johnson, professor Emeritus at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, ID, as he reads from and discusses his new book, A River Without Banks: Place and Belonging in the Inland Northwest.

The book explores one family's encounters with a place still partly wild, whose communities and landscapes teach them how to respect the earth and each other. Moving from a family vacation spent observing moose, to a comparison of the creation myths from Genesis and the Nez Perce, to watching a raptor seeking prey, Johnson meditates on how places, animals, and people teach us “how to see, and how we do, and don’t, belong.”

A River Without Banks will appeal to readers interested in the literature of place, ecology, natural history, indigenous culture, and conservation. Scott Russell Sanders, author of A Conservationist Manifesto, says of the book, "In these resonant essays, William Johnson seeks to reconcile the inner landscape of memory and emotion with the outer landscape of rivers and mountains ... Here is a book to savor and celebrate.”

William Johnson is also the author of three volumes of poetry: Dogwood; Out of the Ruins, which received the Idaho Book of the Year Award; and At the Wilderness Boundary. His poems are widely published in journals, among them Poetry, Mother Earth News, Poetry Northwest, and Texas Review. His long interest in Thoreau resulted in a critical study, "What Thoreau Said: ‘Walden’ and the Unsavable.”

The reading begins at 7:30 pm, and is free to the public. Books will be available for purchase, and William will be signing after the reading. For more information, call Fishtrap at 541-426-3623.

*****

Summer Fishtrap: CALLING ALL KIDS, MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, and SONGWRITERS!

There are still openings in the Summer Fisthrap writing workshops for kids (age 8-12), teenagers (age 13-17) and songwriters (ageless). Some full scholarships have recently become available for these three workshops. Please help us fill these spaces!! Call 541-426-3623 (or visit www.fishtrap.org) to learn more, to inquire about scholarships, or to register.

*****

Gail Swart & Peter Donovan
Piano concert featuring solos and duets
Sunday, June 20, 3:00 pm
At the Dobbin House
Home of Catherine Matthias and Stewart Jones
65605 Dobbin Rd., Joseph

Limited seating, admission by donation
A joint fundraiser for Fishtrap and the Wallowa Valley Music Alliance
Call to reserve your seat: 541-426-0263

Reiko Hillyer, Rick hits the road, introducing Barbara

Hello Fishtrap Friends,

May 24, less than four weeks before the Summer Solstice, and I’m still burning my wood stove. People are starting to grumble. What better excuse to come to an (indoor) discussion this Wednesday evening, May 26, at 7 pm, led by Reiko Hillyer, an Oregon Humanities Conversation Project scholar, on the topic "Marking Our Territory." Here’s the intriguing blurb from the Oregon Humanities catalog:

"The big house and the quarters; the front door and the back door; lunch counters, water fountains, the back of the bus. One of the most persistent ways people exert power over others is to control their access to space. Drawing upon the fields of architecture, environmental studies, urban design, and public policy, this discussion will pose the following questions: How do we mark our territory? How do the built environments we create reflect our values and aspirations? Whom do we include and whom de we exclude in the process?"

Touching on gentrification, the decline of public space, historic preservation, residential segregation, and suburban sprawl, Hillyer (who recently won a Teacher of the Year award as a history professor at Lewis & Clark College) will lead a conversation about how to read the history of our communities through the landscapes we build, and consider how we can be more aware of and more engaged in the creation of our surroundings. Please join us for what promises to be an engaging evening with Reiko Hillyer.

Well, the time has come.

This is the last email you’ll receive from me as the Executive Director of Fishtrap. This week marks the transition from me to Barbara Dills, who is stepping in as the Interim Executive Director here while the search continues for a long-term replacement for me.

Barbara’s got a great combination of qualities that suit her admirably to the task at hand. A skilled writer, a management professional with lots of experience working with non-profits, and a long-time Fishtrap participant and former Fishtrap Fellow, Barbara has already brought her great skills and attitude to bear here. Fishtrap is in good hands. Let’s all join in giving Barbara our thanks and support during her tenure.

Your emails to director@fishtrap.org will now be answered by Barbara, or you can email her directly at barbara@fishtrap.org. If you would like to correspond with me personally, you can reach me at rick@mossyoldtroll.com. I’ll be spending much of this summer in the Wallowa Mountains as a wilderness ranger with the US Forest Service, so I may not always be quick to respond. But I will respond.

Thanks to all of you for everything you have shared – your stories, your writing, your support, your engagement – with Fishtrap. Keep on!

Best wishes,

Rick Bombaci

HELLO FROM BARBARA:

Greetings Fishtrap Fans, Supporters, and Family, near and far,

First, let me say what an honor it is for me to have been asked to step into the Interim Executive Director role here, to provide a bridge until the next right person for the permanent position is identified and hired. I cannot begin to fill either Rick or Rich’s shoes (sizeable in both cases!), but hopefully I can at least protect their separate, amazing legacies here and keep the river flowing somewhat smoothly while the Governing Board’s search and selection process continues.

My discovery—and deep love—of Fishtrap goes back more than 20 years to a 1989 Jonathan Nicholas column in the Oregonian announcing that year’s Gathering. I headed east to Wallowa County for what turned out to be a wonderful weekend, and three years later found myself blessed with a fellowship for the entire week of Summer Fishtrap events. The work I did that week remains the basis for a memoir I am now working on—with John Daniel’s generous help—in this year’s yearlong workshop. And so the circle goes ‘round.

In between 1989 and now, I’ve attended Summer Fishtrap at least ten times and Winter Fishtrap once. The memories so plentiful and rich, I’ve lost count.

Since 1980, when I first moved to Oregon, I’ve gone from a tipi-maker in the hills outside Hood River to a corporate executive. Hopefully, the moss I gathered through all of that will serve Fishtrap’s needs—and yours—adequately over the next few months.

I look forward to seeing many of you at this year’s Summer Fishtrap, at local events here in Wallowa County, for tea or a meal on my jaunts to Portland to check in on my home there. Some of you I will meet first by phone or in email. I look forward to linking arms with all of you to ensure that Fishtrap continues to grow and thrive.

Until we meet...

My best,

Barbara Dills

FISHTRAP FRIENDS...

This Saturday, May 29, at 6:30 pm, Gwen Trice of the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center invites you to an impromptu gathering at Fishtrap’s Coffin House with Marv and Rindy Ross, where they will be presenting a possible collaborative musical theatre project about the historical logging culture of the 1920's and 1930's in Wallowa County.

Marv and Rindy have also generously offered to perform a few songs from their previous musicals for your enjoyment.

Access to tools, puny human enterprises, and stupendous sights

Hello Fishtrap Friends,

I’ve been carting around a copy of the Next Whole Earth Catalog for the past thirty years. The 608 page, 5 pound, 11 x 14 compendium was published in 1980. Its subtitle is “Access to Tools.” I suppose that’s what Fishtrap does, too – we give writers and readers access to tools to think clearly, write well, and appreciate the writing of others.

Lately, I’ve been leafing through the Catalog while eating bachelor meals. The big, dense pages lie flat, filled with illustrations and quotes and opinions and examples of tools for the mind, tools for the body, tools for society. The Nomadics category is further divided into sections on Bicycling, Road Life, and Foraging. Remember Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons? $3.95 ppd.

The afterglow of the the tumultuous 60's was still strong in 1980. It hadn’t been long since we had first landed on the moon, since Martin Luther King and Kent State and the Kennedys. There were still dreams walking the land.

Maybe they still do. La Grande native Steven Bender will be reading from his fine book, One Night in America: Robert Kennedy, César Chávez, and the Dream of Dignity. The reading will be tonight, Wednesday, May 19, 7 pm, here at Fishtrap’s Coffin House. Suggested $5 donation. (Maybe you’re getting this email on Thursday, in which case you either loved it or are regretting you didn’t go!)

When I first sent out the news about Steven’s reading, I got this reply from Molly Cook, a former Fishtrap Fellow:

“In 1969, those of us working at Chief Joseph Summer Seminars at the Buhler ranch [in Wallowa County] had gathered in the mess hall on the Sunday evening before camp for the usual orientation meeting. We were a bunch of hippies, of course, very sympathetic to the Farm Workers’ movement. As was Don Buhler, who flew in every summer from California.

“We had just begun the meeting when the door to the mess hall burst open and there was Don with a big grin on his face and a wooden crate in his hands. He walked to one of the tables, plunked that crate down and said, ‘Union grapes!’ The place went nuts. We enjoyed some of the very first union grapes thanks to people like Don and people like Cesar Chavez.”

*****

One captivating feature of the Catalog is a small panel at the bottom right of each spread, called the “Rising Sun Neighborhood Newsletter,” with wonderful tidbits like this one on page 417: “Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.”

Remember, the Catalog was published in 1980. Starting halfway through the Catalog, the Rising Sun panels feature a backdrop of a majestic mountain, which, when you fan the pages like a deck of cards, can be seen to emit, first a pencil, then a plume, then a cloud of ash and smoke. Mt. St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, thirty years ago.

To celebrate the event, Jerry Franklin and Ursula Le Guin joined Gary Snyder (who will be at Summer Fishtrap) at a special event in Portland sponsored by Illahee, “a forum for environmental innovators.” As the Illahee blurb said, “We often forget that the human enterprise is puny compared to nature writ large.” According to one Fishtrapper who made it there, the event, if puny compared to the event it commemorated, was a fantastic success. Thank you Ursula, Jerry, and Gary for sharing your stories about Mt. St. Helens.

And, what the heck, we’ve all seen it a hundred times, but it’s such a stupendous sight, I figured you wouldn’t mind seeing it again.

*****

A couple more note before going. I got this message from Emily Harris, the host of “Think Out Loud” at OPB (91.5 FM, www.opb.org/thinkoutloud). Like Gary Snyder, Ehud Havazelet will be one of our faculty at Summer Fishtrap.

“Ehud Havazelet, author of Like Never Before and Bearing the Body (both Oregon Book Awards winners) will be our guest on Think Out Loud, Thursday, May 20 on Oregon Public Broadcasting. The program is live on OPB radio from 9 to 10 AM, rebroadcasts at 9 PM and is archived online.

"We’ll talk about his work, writing and teaching, his novel-in-progress (his first set in the West), his own family history and the burden central in all his books: how hard it is to truly communicate.

"Listeners can call in during the show or post questions or their thoughts about his work any time on our website: http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/shows/northwest-passages-ehud-havazelet/”

Finally, poet Penelope Schott invites everyone to hear The Cool Women Poets of New Jersey on their third Oregon visit. Says Penelope, “This group of nine outrageous women will be reading at Looking Glass Books in Portland (7983 SE 13th Ave, Sellwood) on Thursday, May 20th at 7 pm and on Friday May 21st at the Trash Bash in Manzanita. And you know what people say about Jersey girls. These poets – authors of four anthologies and 1 1/2 CDs as well as many individual books – will stop at nothing.”

*****

Until next week,

Rick Bombaci
Executive Director, Fishtrap

Fishstock 2010 cancelled

Dear Fishtrap Friends,

So I’ve been cajoling you to buy tickets to Fishstock in The Dalles on May 15, where you could hear Rosalie Sorrels, Robin Cody, Dan Maher, Clem Starck, and the Ukalaliens ...

And now I need to tell you that we had to cancel Fishstock 2010. Rosalie Sorrels gave us a call, saying she’s sick with a flu that just won’t give up. She’s doing well enough to get around, but didn’t feel like a trip from Idaho to The Dalles would be wise. Instead she’s going on a trip to the local doctor’s office to get some antibiotics.

Join us in wishing Rosalie a quick return to spring happiness!

All tickets that were purchased directly from Fishtrap at our website have already been refunded to you. If you purchased tickets in person, please go back to the place you bought them to get your refund.

Thanks very much, and we are very sorry to disappoint you. Think about next year!

Cheers,

Rick Bombaci
Executive Director

Uncle Sam, Enron thieves, and dreams of dignity

Hello Fishtrap Friends,

Wednesdays are a big deal at Fishtrap for the next few weeks.

UPCOMING READINGS & LECTURES

When Literary Arts contacted us last year about their Oregon Book Awards Author Tour, we had the clever idea of holding the event outdoors on a warm August afternoon at the gazebo by the courthouse. We’d do it in conjunction with the farmer’s market, right after the Thursday music concert. It was probably a childhood memory of an old LP cover of the Boston Pops at Tanglewood that inspired that notion.

The clouds lowered, the wind blew, the mercury shriveled, and everybody stayed home – everybody but the poor authors and a handful of diehards. So this year, we had the more clever idea of holding the 2010 Literary Arts Oregon Book Awards Author Tour inside, at Fishtrap’s Coffin House, on Wednesday, May 12. Maybe it’ll snow 6 or 12 inches, like last week, but who cares? Come on over to hear three fine authors read from their work, at 7 pm. It’s free.

John Kroger, Attorney General of Oregon, will read from his book, Convictions: A Prosecutor's Battles Against Mafia Killers, Drug Kingpins, and Enron Thieves, which won the Sarah Winnemucca Award in Creative Nonfiction.

Joining John will be Donna Matrazzo of Portland, finalist in creative nonfiction for Wild Things: Adventures of a Grassroots Environmentalist. Matrazzo’s work has appeared in numerous publications, on PBS and the Discovery Channel, and in national park visitor centers and museums around the country.

We’ll also be hearing from Jon Raymond of Portland, winner of the Ken Kesey Award in Fiction for Livability. Raymond is an editor at Plazm magazine and his writing has appeared in Bookforum, Artforum, the Village Voice and other publications.

Despite the gray chill last August, we liked one of the readers, Steven Bender, so well we’ve invited him back to read at greater length from his fine book, One Night in America: Robert Kennedy, César Chávez, and the Dream of Dignity. Stephen will be reading on Wednesday, May 19, 7 pm, at the same old place, Fishtrap’s Coffin House. Suggested $5 donation.

And a week later, on Wednesday, May 26, Reiko Hillyer, an Oregon Humanities Conversation Project speaker, will be visiting to talk about “Marking Our Territory.” Here’s the intriguing blurb from the Oregon Humanities catalog:

“The big house and the quarters; the front door and the back door; lunch counters, water fountains, the back of the bus. One of the most persistent ways people exert power over others is to control their access to space. Drawing upon the fields of architecture, environmental studies, urban design, and public policy, this discussion will pose the following questions: How do we mark our territory? How do the built environments we create reflect our values and aspirations? Whom do we include and whom de we exclude in the process?

“Touching on gentrification, the decline of public space, historic preservation, residential segregation, and suburban sprawl, Reiko Hillyer will lead a conversation about how to reading the history of our communities through the landscapes we build and consider how we can be more aware of and more engaged in the creation of our surroundings.”

Join us on the 26th at 7 pm. Suggested $5 donation. Just don’t mark the territory.

OTHER FISHTRAP NEWS

Last week I mentioned that we have a couple of new writers’ groups going – one is for all genres, and is held on 1st and 3rd Tuesday evenings here at Fishtrap. The second is poetry only, and is held on 2nd and 4th Tuesdays. Free, open to all regardless of experience, and typically graced with a bottle of vino.

Sure enough, that mention brought another bug to my ear: I forgot to mention that there is a children’s literature writers’ group, which meets once a month, on the first Sunday, from 1-3 pm, here at Fishtrap. If you’re interested in participating, contact Joan Madsen at jcreative@eoni.com. Her email address is not accidental. Joan is the graphic design expert who has been putting together our Summer Fishtrap brochures for years. So if you liked the “Matter & Spirit” brochure for this year, you can give Joan a shout out and a big thank you.

Speaking of Summer Fishtrap, if you think kids (8-12 years old) and teenagers (13-17 years old) deserve to enjoy the beauty of Wallowa Lake and the bounty of Summer Fishtrap, we need you to get the word out. At roughly $200 for 15 hours of workshop time in the wonderful setting of Wallowa Lake and the Eagle Cap Wilderness, these sessions are a great opportunity for budding writers. And we do want them to bud, don’t we?

The kids’ workshop will taught by Kirsten Rian, who has used poetry in places like Sierra Leone as a tool for literacy, healing, and storytelling within refugee and immigrant communities. Her anthology of Sierra Leonan poetry, Kalashnikov in the Sun, was the recent focus of a very powerful group reading in Portland. Just ask Rich, he was there. And that was all he could talk about for a couple of days.

The teens’ workshop will be offered by the energetic writer and teacher Beth Russell, who received a Presidential Scholars Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009. Those of you who came to Winter Fishtrap can vouch for the suitability of that award. Just the kind of person we want to engage those young folks.

Send out the word! (I thought of sticking in a photo of the famous “Uncle Sam wants you” poster, only to find hundreds of versions, take-offs, and parodies on the Internet. This one in particular caught my eye, because it’s NOT TOO LATE to get your tickets – from http://fishstockoregon.net/ – to Fishstock, May 15 in The Dalles, featuring Rosalie Sorrels, Robin Cody, Dan Maher, Clem Starck, and last but not least, those Ukalaliens Steve Power and Kate Einhorn. Which one posed here as Uncle Sam?)

And that is enough words from me for now.

Until next time,

Rick Bombaci
Executive Director

Fishstock: A Celebration of Words and Music, May 15

Dear Fishtrap Friends,

I woke up the other morning with a vivid dream burning behind my eyelids. Was it Steve Einhorn, up on a stage in rainy, rural, upstate New York, playing the Star Spangled Banner on a ukelele, then lighting it on fire in front of a crowd of half a million Ukalaliens?

Or was it Steve and his partner Kate Power emceeing the fabulous Fishstock II at the historic Civic Auditorium in The Dalles on May 15, before an audience of, well, hundreds? Yes, it’s Fishstock time again – a celebration of words and music.

This year you can catch the legendary Rosalie Sorrels, whose recent album Strangers in Another Country, featuring songs by Utah Phillips, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2009. The prolific Sorrels has recorded over 20 albums, and has written three books. An Idhao native who still lives in the log cabin her father built, she began her career as a folklorist in the 1950s. Studs Terkel wrote introductory liner notes for her albums; Robert Creeley wrote a poem about her. She was at the Newport Folk Festival in 1966, and the University of California at Santa Cruz has set up a Rosalie Sorrels Archive as part of its Beat Generation Archives.

Joining the Fishstock lineup will be Dan Maher, who, as host of NWPR's Inland Folk for two decades, has opened a window into the world of folk music, tinted with his own stories and anecdotes. And Dan is quite a performer in his own right. I still remember that concert in the old “Medical/Dental” building on Main Street in Enterprise (before it got turned into a law and CPA office), when we had the ceiling joists shaking as we sang along with Dan.

Steve and Kate probably won’t burn ukeleles on stage, but they will undoubtedly “build community with harmony, guitars, banjo and two mighty little ukuleles,” sharing a “rare elixir of spellbinding harmony, eloquent songwriting and seasoned musicianship.”

Then there are the writers.

We are pleased to welcome Robin Cody, author of the novel Ricochet River, considered one of the 100 essential “Oregon books,” and of the award-winning Voyage of a Summer Sun, an account of Cody's 82-day solo canoe trip down the Columbia River. His most recent book, from OSU Press, is Another Way The River Has: Taut True Tales from the Northwest, which collects Cody's finest nonfiction writings, many appearing for the first time in print.

Joining Robin will be Clem Starck, whose poems have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. He has given readings in San Francisco and throughout the Northwest and has been a featured author at FisherPoets Gathering in Astoria several times. The man has done a whole lot of different, interesting kinds of work, grist for the poetry mill. His books of poetry include the award-winning Journeyman's Wages, plus Studying Russian on Company Time, China Basin, and Traveling Incognito.

There you have it. A couple of the Pacific Northwest’s outstanding writers, along with a cadre of fine musicians. Toss in some art work, good food and drink, and the company of a bunch of like-minded folk, and you have Fishstock. May 15, more info and tickets ($25) available at www.fishstockoregon.net.

WRITING GROUPS

We have two new writing groups that are meeting twice a month here at Fishtrap’s Coffin House (now you know what that means, remember?). A poetry-only group meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month, 7 pm. And an all-genres group meets on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, same time. Open to all, free, supportive, and friendly. Email info@fishtrap.org if you’re interested, and we’ll put you in touch with either or both groups.

FISHTRAP FRIENDS

Fishstock ain’t all that’s happening on the weekend of May 15. We’ve had Roberta Lavadour to Summer Fishtrap a couple of times, where she has offered bookbinding and book arts classes. She’s one of the most engaging instructors you’ll ever meet, and the stuff she makes and gets her students to make are works of art. In fact, some of her work resides at the Museum of Modern Art. Join the flourishing movement in hand binding of finely crafted books. Roberta's offering a class in Pendleton:

Introduction to Bookbinding, at the Pendleton Arts Center, with Roberta Lavadour, Saturday May 15, noon to 4:00 pm, and Sunday May 16, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. To sign up, or for more information, call 541-278-9201, or email classes@pendletonarts.org.

Charles Goodrich, our Outpost workshop instructor this year at Summer Fishtrap, was recently fectured on The Writer’s Almanac on NPR. Garrison Keillor read his poem, “Wild Geese,” and you can listen to it online at http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/

It rained and snowed some today, and the weather forecast gossip is that we’re going to get 6-12" of snow in the next day or two. So it seems appropos to leave you with this poem that a local Fishtrapper sent to me. She thought it was too late in the season, but nature proved her wrong. Doesn’t it always?

WE DELIVER

Winter on the Wallowa waterway, sunny and cold and
All those rednecks and long waders in the river, silent for once.

Winter steelhead are coming. You can track migration by
the herds of dirty pickups and stockdogs parked and panting anywhichway.

It’s nearly noon. In a cloud of gravel and dust,
The faithful FedEx driver pulls his shiny white truck to a sudden stop --
Leaps out! Fishing rod in hand, he takes an uncharted break.

You could get lucky too: Lunchtime, winter, Minam canyon.

– Kathy Bowman

Happy Spring to all,

Rick Bombaci
Executive Director