Fishtrap participants explore ‘Matter and Spirit’

RON OSTERLOH photo Animated in voice and body, Gary Snyder reads from several of the books he has written during past decades. His poetry and prose ranged from nature to philosophy and according to Kim Stafford “offered a watershed of studies to nourish our generation for 60 years.”

Since 1988, when Fishtrap began at Wallowa Lake with a Summer Writers’ Gathering, more than 15 programs have been added and continue year-round. Workshops for aspiring writers were added to the weekend gathering in 1989.

Gary Snyder, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, gave a reading of his work and participated in faculty discussions at The Gathering at Summer Fishtrap, which began July 15.

Born in 1930 in San Francisco, Snyder became an Oregon resident at the age of 12 when his family moved to Portland. He worked as a copy-boy at The Oregonian where his mother was a reporter. He attended Lincoln High School and spent many weekends skiing at Mount Hood. He became a member of the Mazama Club for mountaineers at the age of 16.

“You could apply for membership only if you had climbed a snow peak that could not be ascended with a horse,” he remembered.

In 1947 Snyder received a scholarship to Reed College, where his first poems were published in a student journal. While at Reed he did folklore research on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon. He graduated in 1951 with a dual degree in anthropology and literature.

He said Reed College was a combination of academic demands and total personal freedom. The individual determined whether he was going to survive or not, and many didn’t, he said.

Snyder has worked as a seaman on an oil tanker, a timber scaler, a fire lookout on the upper Skagit River in Washington and as a chokersetter in Central Oregon. These varied experiences are echoed in his poems “Oil” and “A Berry Feast,” among many others, and were later collected in the book “The Back Country.’’

Snyder’s study of the ideas of Buddhism and Zen meditation and the study of the Chinese and Japanese languages developed into an extensive stay in Japan, work as a translator and formally accepting the Buddhist religion.

In explaining how his interest in Buddhism began, Snyder said he read a short exposition of Buddhism in a popular magazine when he was 9 or 10 and it stayed with him. He re-visited the precepts as a freshman in college, he said, and was most attracted to the moral obligation to all life, not just humans.

He said he studied Buddhism because of its ethics. The first precept of non-violence has meant different things at different times. It has meant not killing, not harming; causing the least harm at all times. “It has meant ‘don’t kill something you’re not going to eat’,” Snyder said.

He returned to the United States about 1969 and now lives in northern California in the Sierra Nevada mountains. He has been deeply involved in environmental and cultural issues and teaches creative writing as a professor emeritus of the University of California at Davis.

Snyder won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1975 for his book of nearly 60 poems, “Turtle Island. The title is an English language translation of many Native American tribes’ terms for the continent of North America. According to the introductory note to the book, it is the old/new name for the continent based on the creation myth of the indigenous people. The old cultural traditions of Africa, Asia and Europe all share the view of the land, the planet as a living being, the introduction says. The poems are sharp, lyrical, mythical and some are political.

All the poems share a common vision of rediscovery of our continent and of ways we might all be able to become natives of this place to leave behind the attitudes that divide us, a review of the book said.

“Hark again to see our ancient solidarity, and then to the work of being together on Turtle Island,” Snyder’s introductory note said.

This year, under the guidance of interim director Barbara Dills, Summer Fishtrap opened at Wallowa Lake Camp at the south end of Wallowa Lake on July 11. Dills first attended the Fishtrap Gathering in 1989 and then three years later attended as a fellow. She has come to 13 of the summer seminars for writers since then and said through her experiences realized she “could be a writer.’’

Since its inception, Summer Fishtrap has embodied many themes. “Western Writers, Eastern Publishing” was the first theme, followed a few years later with “Language, Politics, and Place,” “Legacy of Vietnam” and “The Restless West: WWII and After.’’

The 2010 theme derives from a reflection of Snyder on a long and exhausting hike —  “The closer you get to real matter, rock air fire wood, boy, the more spiritual the world is.”

Summer Fishtrap’s theme, “Matter and Spirit” was explored with the help of many  writers including Amy Minato, former Wallowa County resident and education coordinator at Fishtrap, who conducted a seminar called “Write Your Heart Out: A Memoir Workshop.’’ Minato is the author of “Siesta Lane’’ and a poetry collection, “The Wider Lens.’’

Charles Goodrich, whose latest book, “In the Chesnim Country,’’ includes writings from his 2009 writer’s residency at Billy Meadows, conducted the Outpost Workshop this summer at Billy Meadows with a seminar called “Traveling in Place.’’ Goodrich is program director for the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature,and the Written Word at OSU.

Holly Hughes, a boat captain and naturalist from Alaska who also teaches writing at Edmonds Community College in Lynnwood, Wash., presented a workshop titled “Poetry as Practice, Poetry as Witness.’’

Karen Fisher of Lopez Island (Washington) held a seminar on historical fiction writing that explored why writers feel compelled to write their stories and the importance of research and life experience in creating fiction.

Beth Russell, a high school teacher from Corvallis, and Kirsten Rian both conducted workshops for young writers. Russell’s was intended for 13- to 17-year-olds. Participants wrote, read and hiked every day.

“Seeing: Finding’’ was a workshop for 8- to 12-year-olds where the emphasis was on engaging all five senses to discover and describe.

Ehud Havazelet, a professor at the University of Oregon, taught participants how to get the most out of the various elements of fiction — setting, detail and dialogue. Two of his books, “Like Never Before’’ and “Bearing the Body,’’ won the Oregon Book Award.

Musician and songwriter Cosy Sheridan has taught songwriting, performance and guitar classes for 15 years and has won contests for her writing at the Kerrville Folk Festival and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. She directed participants through the writing of two songs using an emphasis on the craft of writing (Matter) and the inspiration of creating a song (Spirit).

Jack Loeffler of New Mexico is well known and recognized for his aural histories and radio productions. His radio series include “Moving Waters — the Colorado River and the West,’’ and “The Lore of the Land.’’ His current radio series/book project is “Headed Upstream: Interviews with Iconoclasts’’ and “Adventures with Ed: A Portrait of Abbey.’’ His workshop considered three short aural history presentations exploring themes of environmental philosophy, Native American points of view and techniques for conducting interviews and recording wildlife and music.

Fishtrap participants may also enroll in yearlong workshops on writing a novel or a memoir. The yearlong courses started during Summer Fishtrap in 2008 with eight participants, four of whom had completed a book-length draft at the end of the course. The novel course is taught by author Jane Vandenburgh, who has written a handbook for writing longer narratives called “The Architecture of the Novel’’ that will be published in June. She is also the author of the “Physics of Sunset,’’ “Failure to Zigzag’’ and “A Pocket History of Sex in the 20th Century.’’ The yearlong course on memoir writing concluded this summer and has been taught by John Daniel, the author of eight books and a frequent faculty member of Fishtrap. His most recent book is “The Far Corner: Northwestern Views on Land, Life, and Literature.’’

The writers’ workshops continued from July 11 through 16, and the Gathering opened July 15 with introductions of a special guest and presenters. Special guest Robert Michael Pyle writes essays, poetry and fiction from his home in Southwest Washington. He has a novel in progress. His 14 published books have won numerous awards.

Presenters for The Gathering at Summer Fishtrap included Jack Shoemaker, owner and manager of a number of literary bookshops and small publishing companies; Brian Doyle, who edits Portland Magazine at the University of Portland and is the author of nine books, including “The Wet Engine;’’ and Dian Million, a Wood River Band, Tanana Athabascan from Seattle, who is a co-founder of the Northwest Native American Writers’ Group and has published articles, essays and poetry since 1981.