Last call for Fellowships, and they don't call it the Big Read for nothing

Hello Fishtrap Friends,

You get a two-fer this week.

LAST CALL FOR FELLOWSHIP SUBMISSIONS

This is your last chance to submit prose or poetry for a 2010 Summer Fishtrap Fellowship. The proceess is FREE, it is FAIR, and it gives up to five recipients a full ride to Summer Fishtrap. Submissions must be postmarked no later than February 1. See www.fishtrap.org/fellows.shtml for complete submission guidelines.

THE BIG READ

Kate Loftus and friends at the all-volunteer Mid-Valley Theater will be putting on a live production of To Kill a Mockingbird in March. Kate tells me she’s got a complete cast, but for one person – Reverend Sykes. If you’re interested in a small but important part, with what I think is one of the best lines in the book – “Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passing.” – let us know or give Kate a call. She said the pay is great.

Tickets are going fast for our Big Read finale at the Hurricane Creek Grange. As is now tradition, this will be a potluck. Bring your favorite Southern recipe. Fishtrap is supplying pork ribs, expertly barbecued courtesy of Eric Carlson. Southern desserts supplied by our favorite Grange ladies. And the program: South African writer Mark Mathabane, author of the best-selling autobiography Kaffir Boy, a true story of his coming of age under apartheid in South Africa. The book made the New York Times and Washington Post bestseller lists and was translated into several languages. Today, the book is used in classrooms across the U.S. Tickets are a mere $10, and are available at Mt Joseph Family Foods in Joseph, Fishtrap or the Bookloft in Enterprise, and the public library in Wallowa. And they are about half gone.

One-time Wallowa County resident Katie Kissinger is following The Big Read with us from her current home on the “Westside,” and has shared with us a list of her favorite children’s books that deal with the subject of skin color. Go to http://fishtrap.org/tbrchildren.shtml. Thanks, Katie.

Our friends at KPBX in Spokane will start a serial broadcast of To Kill a Mockingbird on Monday night, February 1, from 6:30 to 7 pm. Susan Creed will read on The Bookshelf program, Mondays through Thursdays, weekly, until she gets to “He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.” Please join us by the woodstove, tuning in to 89.5 FM in Wallowa County or on any one of KPBX’s many translator stations.

Portland lawyer Steven Goldberg asks, “Would Atticus Finch have represented civil rights workers who sat in at lunch counters, or were arrested attempting to register to vote? Maybe not.” Steven will address this question and others in a 7 pm presentation at the Wallowa County Courthouse on Wednesday, February 10.

Goldberg, who has practiced law in Oregon since 1975, has focused on the representation of labor unions and working people. He has also been involved in numerous political cases over the years: Representing prisoners challenging medical and mental health conditions in the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution, representing Freedom Socialist Party in gaining access to the ballot, representing Emiliano Santiago in his challenge to the Army’s stop loss policy, and most recently being part of the legal team challenging the National Security Agency’s warrantless wireless wiretap of an Islamic charity in southern Oregon. Steven recommends two New Yorker magazine articles which are relevant to his presentation: "The Courthouse Ring: Atticus Finch and the limits of Southern liberalism," by Malcolm Gladwell and "State Secrets: A government misstep in a wiretapping case," by Patrick Radden Keefe. You can read them onl ine at:

www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/10/090810fa_fact_gladwell

www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/28/080428fa_fact_keefe

FISHTRAP FRIENDS

Nominations are still open for the sixth Poet Laureate of Oregon. Lawson Fusao Inada, the current Poet Laureate, will step down later this year. Nominations will be accepted until February 15, 2010. See the Oregon Cultural Trust’s website at http://www.culturaltrust.org/pdf/Poet_laureate_nomination.pdf

Well, I hear it’s the weekend. Guess I’ll go home.

Cheers,

Rick Bombaci
Executive Director

Big Read presentations, fellowships and scholarships, Summer Fishtrap 2010 lineup

Hello Friends of Fishtrap,

A quickie this week. We're all hustling to stay on top of ...

THE BIG READ

I found myself in Portland this past weekend, and took advantage of the fact to enjoy an up-close and personal viewing of Profile Theatre’s fine staged reading of To Kill a Mockingbird. It was a fine example of “less is more,” as the cast used minimal props to maximum advantage while acting out Horton Foote’s Academy Award-winning screenplay. Meanwhile, here in Wallowa County, we’re just getting started:

Join us at Fishtrap’s Coffin House in Enterprise this Wednesday, January 27, to hear Whitman College history professor David Schmitz speak on “The Structural Origins of Racial Change in Mid-Twentieth Century America.” David, who gave a great talk for us back in 2006 when we were reading Fahrenheit 451, will examine the political and social structures of race relations during the 20th century, and the forces that brought forth the post-World War II Civil Rights Movement. 7 pm. Admission by donation.

And next week, on Tuesday, February 2, we will host a Big Read panel discussion on the question "Who is Your Mockingbird?" In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch teaches that mockingbirds cause people no harm, but only "make music for us to enjoy." And yet some people harm them.

In similar fashion, out of blindness, bias, or prejudice, we can harm others even though they cause us no harm. The panel, moderated by Eastern Oregon University Director of Student Relations Colleen Dunne-Cascio, will examine the ways in which we form our identities with respect to other groups, the ways in which we act with prejudice towards those "others," and the ways in which we can live with each other with respect. Other panel members include Wallowa County residents Katie Boyd, Don Harker, and Angie Lunde. Join us at 7 pm at the Fishtrap house. Admission by donation.

FELLOWSHIPS and SCHOLARSHIPS

We’re still accepting submissions for the Fishtrap Fellows program. It’s a free process, and the blind judging is totally impartial. Five fellowship winners will get a free ride to Summer Fishtrap. Submission deadline is February 1. Details at www.fishtrap.org/fellows.shtml.

We will also have scholarships available for Summer Fishtrap, and it’s not too early to check out the guidelines and send in an application. The Sally Bowerman Scholarship is for working women, and the Frank Conley and Bryn Lunde scholarships are for young people (anyone under 30 years old). Guidelines are available at www.fishtrap.org/scholarships.shtml.

SUMMER FISHTRAP LINE-UP

Speaking of Summer Fishtrap, we’ve got our faculty pretty well lined up, and full details will be available soon. Registration will start on April 1. The theme for 2010 will be “Matter and Spirit,” and we’re pleased to have the following folks joining us:

John Daniel, Brian Doyle, Karen Fisher (historical fiction), Charles Goodrich (Outpost), Ehud Havazelet (fiction), Holly Hughes (poetry), Ursula Le Guin, Jack Loeffler ("aural" history), Amy Minato (memoir), Robert Michael Pyle, Kirsten Rian (kids’ workshop), Beth Russell (teens workshop), Cosy Sheridan (songwriting), Jack Shoemaker, Gary Snyder, and Jane Vandenburgh (yearlong novel workshop)

This promises to be another fine Summer Fishtrap, so keep an eye out here for more details.

FISHTRAP FRIENDS

The Oregon Cultural Trust invites all with an interest in the literary life of Oregon to submit nominations for the next poet laureate of Oregon. There was a 16 year hiatus after the close of William Stafford’s tenure in 1989. Lawson Fusao Inada, the current Poet Laureate, will complete his second term in early 2010. Nominations will be accepted until February 15, 2010. See the Cultural Trust’s website at www.culturaltrust.org/pdf/poet_laureate_nomination.pdf for more details.

PageToFame is a writing contest that allows writers to have their work reviewed by a large audience of readers. An escalating series of submissions and reviews move your work along. The organizers have offered a submission fee waiver to Fishtrap friends. Go to their website at www.webook.com/poll/writers.aspx, and use this coupon code: WGFISH001.

Lost Horse Press is accepting submissions for the Idaho Prize for Poetry 2010, a national competition offering $1,000 plus publication by the press for a book-length poetry manuscript. Check out www.losthorsepress.org for more information.

That’s it for the moment,

Rick Bombaci
Executive Director

Race relations, wizards, and the rest of "that" story

The Big Read is off and running in Wallowa County, with full house turnouts of 125 and 135 people at our first two live events. Monday night, at the beautiful Joseph Methodist Church, we showed the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 speech in Washington DC. It has become known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, but two other memorable phrases that King used repeatedly were and “We will not be satisfied” and “Now is the time.”

Rich Wandschneider, who was in DC five years later when King was assassinated, followed with an eloquent piece of his own, which was so good that we’ve posted it on our website. Go to www.fishtrap.org/mlkrich.shtml to read Rich’s short speech.

Rich was followed by a wonderful performance by Seattle singer and songwriter Reggie Garrett, who soon had the audience in the palm of his hand. If you get a chance to hear Reggie, take it.

Our next Monday Movie, on January 25, is Blood in the Face (1991, NR). It is “an expose of the beliefs, history, and personalities of American White Supremacist groups, including neo-Nazis, fascists, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Aryan Nation.” (as reviewed by Murray Chapman at IMDB.com) Shows are at Mutiny Brewing in Joseph, Fishtrap in Enterprise, and the Public Library in Wallowa, 7pm at all venues, admission by donation.

“Race relations have long marred the idyllic portrayal of American democracy and freedom, and raised questions about the nation’s commitment to justice and equality. To Kill a Mockingbird provides a unique and trenchant insight into the role of race in American society at two different points of change, the period of the Great Depression and New Deal that provides the setting for the novel, and the beginning of the 1960s when the book was published,” says Whitman College history professor David Schmitz.

On Wednesday, January 27, Schmitz will lecture on “The Structural Origins of Racial Change in Mid-Twentieth Century America,” examining the political and social structures of race relations during the 20th century, and the forces that brought forth the post-World War II Civil Rights Movement. Join us at Fishtrap’s Coffin House, 7pm. Admission by donation.

Along the same lines, if you are in or near Portland, check out Susan Banyas’s new performance work, “The Hillsboro Story, ” shows at the Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland on January 22, 23, and 24. It’s a story of a sleepy, segregated Ohio town (where Susan was in third grade), woken up when the “colored” elementary school went up in flames, sparking a fight which became a test case for the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The work is a mix of voice, images, and music. Go to www.susanbanyas.com or http://www.artistsrep.org/learn-about-us/new-work/hillsboro-story.aspx for details.

WRITING ON THE RIVER with ANNICK SMITH

Join Fishtrap, Winding Waters River Expeditions, and Annick Smith on a fully-catered five-day combination writing workshop and float trip on the Snake River of Hells Canyon. Annick is the author of Homestead, In This We Are Native, and Big Bluestem, and has written for Story, Outside, Orion, Audubon, Travel & Leisure, and the NY Times Traveler. She was also executive producer of the film Heartland and co-producer of A River Runs Through It.

The trip takes place August 26 - 31, and is limited to 12 participants. The cost is $1295 for adults. Go to www.fishtrap.org/rivertrip.shtml for details.

YEARLONG NOVEL WORKSHOP with JANE VANDENBURGH

“A book length work of fiction – be it a novel or a collection of linked stories – often fails to be completed for reasons of its own length,” says Jane Vandenburgh. “The narrative weight of all its novelistic material so easily defeats a story’s need to feel effortless. Structural problems are, in fact, almost always the reason these good books of ours are never given a chance – either never started or not completed.”

Jane is the author of two novels, a memoir, and a book on the craft of writing the longer narrative, Architecture of the Novel: A Writer’s Handbook (Plot, Story and the Mechanics of Narrative Time), which will appear in June 2010. “She’s a powerhouse, a wizard, the most generous teacher I’ve ever had,” said one of her recent yearlong students.

If you have a novel in you that deserves a chance, join Jane in Fishtrap’s yearlong low-residency novel workshop. The workshop starts at Summer Fishtrap 2010, concludes at Summer Fishtrap 2011, and includes a five day meeting in between. Go to www.fishtrap.org/yearlong.shtml for full details.

CROSS GENRE REVISION WORKSHOP with COLLIER NOGUES

Join Collier Nogues, our Writer-in-Residence for the next two months, in a workshop on Cross Genre Revision. “This workshop is designed to do two things,” says Collier. “First, help participants move a specific piece of writing from draft stage to near-final; and second, build a foundation of revision strategies useful across genres for other and future writing projects.” The 10-hour class will run every other Wednesday evening, 7-9 pm, starting January 20 and ending March 17. Cost is $50. Call us at Fishtrap at 541-426-3623 or just show up to register.

THANK YOU. When all was said and done, you responded like CHAMPIONS, donating over $13,000 to Fishtrap in response to our Fall Letter. While not as high as 2008, this exceeded our more modest goal of $12,000 for 2009. Many of you included friendly notes, and I hope that you all enjoyed your Fish Stickers.

OK, THE REST OF THE STORY

Valerie, from the Cannon Beach Book Company, reminded me of that “old saw” about theatre: “If you show a gun in the first act, fire it in the second.” So, about the chimney sweep and that garter belt: Years ago, when I was younger and more limber, a handful of us would get together to play hockey up at “Slinkers’ Pond.” We’d shovel the snow for an hour and skate for half that. Times have changed. These days Wallowa County, thanks to many volunteers, has what may be the only outdoor community ice rink in the entire Pacific Northwest, and we all wear full hockey regalia: helmets, pads, and long, thick leggings. Quite a contrast to the chimney sweep who, gallused and gravel-voiced, logger-booted and railroad-capped, came to clean my flue. I came home from work and saw his invoice sitting on my dining room table, right next to the brand new “hockey garter belt” I’d just ordered to hold up those pesky hockey leggings. Bang!

FISHTRAP FRIENDS

Elizabeth Quinn at High Desert Journal in Bend is looking for a Development and Outreach Director. The position can be based anywhere in the West. Contact Elizabeth at 541-419-9836 or at editor@highdesertjournal.com for more info.

That’s it for now, friends.

“All best,” as they say.

Rick Bombaci
Executive Director

The Big Read and Martin Luther King Day

Hello Friends of Fishtrap,

I was going to tell a little anecdote about how the chimney sweep, when he came to clean my wood stove flue, probably saw the new garter belt on my dining room table. But then, today in the Fishtrap College class, we watched the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, and that sure changed my mood. It reinforced for me the importance of this year’s Big Read, as we study To Kill a Mockingbird.

THE BIG READ

Charles Shields, author of the Harper Lee biography Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, did a great job as our Big Read kick-off speaker, addressing a standing-room-only crowd of over 130 people at the historic Odd Fellows Hall.

This Monday, January 18, Martin Luther King Day, you can see the brief but still powerful speech by King, then listen to Seattle musician Reggie Garrett play his unique blend of blues, folk, and ethnic music. Garrett, who has performed through the U.S. and Canada, performs original songs, traditional folk ballads, and contemporary folk music. The sound has strong rhythmic underpinnings, beginning with Garrett’s almost percussive guitar style. He has been compared to acoustic legends Richie Havens and Bill Withers by the national folk publication Dirty Linen. Join us at the Joseph Methodist Church at 7 pm. Admission by donation.

Other Big Read news: Wednesday, January 27 will be Whitman College professor David Schmitz on the history of race relations in the US. And if you have a buff-colored calendar handout, the panel discussion shown as February 3 is actually on February 2.

Those of you who are not in Wallowa County can still experience To Kill a Mockingbird. We’ve been cooperating with the good folks at Ada Community Library in Boise, who are also doing the Big Read on Harper Lee’s book. Even if you didn’t catch Charles Shields in Boise on January 14, you can catch Mark Mathabane there on March 1. The Spokane County Library District is also doing the Big Read, and KPBX in Spokane will be serially broadcasting the book on its Bookshelf program Monday through Thursday nights, starting February 1 at 6:30 pm.

And now through January 24, the Profile Theatre in Portland is showing a staged reading of Horton Foote’s Academy Award winning screenplay of To Kill a Mockingbird. Call 503-242-0080 or visit www.profiletheatre.org for more information.

Back here in Wallowa County, tickets are on sale now for the Big Read finale, Sunday, February 28, featuring Mark Mathabane, author of Kaffir Boy. We will have a Southern foods potluck at the Hurricane Creek Grange, followed by a presentation by Mr. Mathabane, who was born in a ghetto in South Africa, escaped from apartheid at age18, and touched the hearts of millions with the bestseller Kaffir Boy in 1986. Tickets are $10 each and are available at Fishtrap, the Bookloft in Enterprise, Mt. Joseph Family Foods in Joseph, and the Public Library in Wallowa. Seating is limited, so don't delay picking up your tickets.

For a complete Big Read calendar of events, go to www.fishtrap.org/tbr.shtml.

OTHER FISHTRAP NEWS

Fishtrap writing groups will continue to meet in 2010. The all genres group meets 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, 6 pm, next meeting January 19. The poetry group meets 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, 6 pm, next meeting January 26.

Our wildly successful 2009 Writer-in-Residence, Collier Nogues, has returned to Wallowa Country for a reprise in 2010. Collier, now a year older (happy birthday, Collier), will be offering a workshop on Cross Genre Revision. Says Collier, "How do you turn a promising draft into a polished piece of writing? This workshop is designed to do two things: first, help participants move a specific piece of writing from draft stage to near-final; and second, build a foundation of revision strategies useful across genres for other and future writing projects." The 10-hour class will run every other Wednesday evening, 7-9 pm, starting January 20 and ending March 17. Cost is $50. Call us at Fishtrap at 541-426-3623 to register.

Best to all,

Rick Bombaci

Executive Director, Fishtrap

In the winter, in the dark hours, when others were asleep...

Hello Friends of Fishtrap,

The new year brings a full docket for Fishtrap. So let’s jump right in. But first, a note: Fishtrap now has a blog at http://fishtrapnews.blogspot.com, and a Facebook page. You can also access either from Fishtrap’s website. OK, on with it:

THE BIG READ

The Big Read, on the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, starts Monday, January 11, with 7 pm screenings of the film Capote in three Wallowa County venues: Mutiny Brewing in Joseph, Fishtrap’s Coffin House in Enterprise, and the Public Library in Wallowa. Admission by donation. Why Capote? Because Harper Lee grew up with Truman Capote, and they influenced each other’s work.

About the film: Capote (2005, R). 114 min. Truman Capote, played by Oscar nominated Phillip Seymore Hoffman, researches his book In Cold Blood. Nelle Harper Lee, a childhood friend of Capote’s, plays a major role in the film, accompanying him to the small Kansas town where a multiple homicide occurred.

Watching the film should warm people up for the Kick-Off event on the following evening. On Tuesday, January 12, 7 pm at the Odd Fellows Hall in Enterprise, we will feature Charles Shields, author of Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee. Shields will discuss Lee as described in his book, a New York Times bestseller. There will also be a free book raffle and refreshments. Admission by donation.

I’ll keep you all posted on a weekly basis about upcoming Big Read events. In the meantime ...

For the full calendar of Big Read events, go to www.fishtrap.org/tbr_calendar.shtml.
For an annotated list of recommended books, go to www.fishtrap.org/booklist.shtml
For an annotated list of recommended films, go to www.fishtrap.org/tbrfilms.shtml

Some other resources you may wish to consider:

Professor Quintard Taylor of the University of Washington recommends www.blackpast.org, “dedicated to providing information to the general public on African American history in the United States” and more.

And Portland lawyer Steven Goldberg, who will be speaking in Enterprise on February 10, suggests people read two New Yorker articles, one entitled “The Courthouse Ring: Atticus Finch and the limits of Southern liberalism,” and the other “State Secrets: A government misstep in a wiretapping case.” See them at

www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/10/090810fa_fact_gladwell
and www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/28/080428fa_fact_keefe

Finally, we’re seeking good Southern cuisine recipes for our Big Read potluck and finale event on February 28. Got a good one? Share it with us!

FELLOWSHIP SUBMISSION DEADLINE APPROACHING

We are accepting Fellowship submissions until February 1, 2010. The application process is free, and the judging is a blind and impartial process. Up to five winners will get a free ride to Summer Fishtrap. Go to www.fishtrap.org/fellows.shtml for full submission guidelines.

SUMMER FISHTRAP 2009 ANTHOLOGIES AVAILABLE

These lovely little books, which we’ve been producing since 1991, contain pieces by participants and faculty from last year’s Summer Fishtrap. $8 each plus shipping. People whose work appears in the anthology get up to two copies for $5 each including shipping. Go to www.fishtrap.org/store.shtml to order. Thanks, Janis, for the nice publishing job!

CELEBRATE WILLLIAM STAFFORD

“In winter, in the dark hours, when others / were asleep, I found these words and put them / together by their appetites and respect for / each other. In stillness, they jostled. They traded / meanings while pretending to have only one ...” – William Stafford

Fishtrap, like many other groups around the state, will be celebrating William Stafford in January. Our event will be on Sunday, January 17, at 3 pm here at the Fishtrap House. We will feature poets Pam Steele and Shaindel Beers. And y’all are welcome to come and pick out a Stafford poem to read as well. For a list of Stafford events throughout the state, go to www.williamstafford.org.

CATCH A TASTE OF WINTER FISHTRAP

Although Winter Fishtrap at Wallowa Lake Lodge, with Ursula Le Guin, Tony Vogt, and Molly Gloss, is sold out, we still have about 15 Saturday Night Only tickets available for a mere $10 apiece. The price includes your choice of a dessert or beverage, as well as admission to an evening program of comments and discussion led by the presenters, followed by live music with Janis Carper, Carolyn Lochert, and Simon Tucker across the street at Glacier Grill.

You must pay in advance to hold your reservation. Please go to the Fishtrap website, www.fishtrap.org, and choose "Make a Payment" (at the bottom left of the home page) to pay online. Or call us at 541-426-3623, or send a check to PO Box 38, Enterprise, OR 97828.

The ticket price does not include dinner at the Lodge, but you can make reservations for dinner beforehand at Glacier Grill. Smoked prime rib will be the special, with other entrees available. Reservations are required. Call 541-432-9292.

FISHTRAP FRIENDS

Congrats to Ruth Wineteer who, according to an anonymous source, won $100 in a recent writing contest. Ruth, you didn’t know you were being watched, did you?

The application period is now open, until March 1, for the 2011 and 2012 Margery Davis Boyden Wilderness Writing Residencies at Dutch Henry Homestead in the Rogue River Canyon. If you would like to spend six to seven months in backcountry solitude with bears and old growth trees for neighbors, with the support of a $5,000 stipend, go to these links: For a full residency description and application instructions: www.johndaniel-author.net/oddsandends.php#residency. For a brief residency description with photos: http://writersconf.org/memdir/members/PNW00019.php.

Poet Ed Skoog, who taught a workshop at Summer Fishtrap in 2009, will be reading from his new book of poems, Mister Skylight, at the University of Idaho on Wednesday, February 17, 7 pm.

The 8th annual Tcha Tee Man Wi Storytelling Festival will be held in Corvallis on February 18-21. Go to www.tchateemanwistorytelling.com for more info. Jana Z hinted something about “late night Bawdy Tales.” And it’s free.

That's it -- plenty! -- for now. Get out there and write something.

Rick Bombaci, Executive Director, Fishtrap