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Callan Wink: Literary angler
Published
7 years agoon
Posted By
Outlaw PartnersBy Doug Hare EBS Staff
When Montana State University professor and poet Greg Keeler was asked why Montana has so many acclaimed authors compared to similarly populated states, he said, “I don’t know for sure. Some of them were born here. Some of us came for the trout.”
MSU graduate Callan Wink falls into the latter category. A Michigan native, Wink has been guiding drift boat fly-fishing trips on the Yellowstone River in spring, summer, and fall for over a decade. In the winter, he writes from his home in Paradise Valley.
Also holding a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Wyoming, Wink has already been published in The New Yorker, and his novella “In Hindsight” can be found in full on its website. Not too shabby for a part-time writer in his early 30s.
Published this year, Wink’s “Dog Run Moon” is an impressive debut collection of short stories. Within three pages of the namesake piece, a dognapper is running naked cutting his feet on sharp rimrock pursued by a shady businessman and his accountant on an ATV. Here is a chase story not easily forgotten.
The protagonist calls his ex-girlfriend and says, “I ran afoul of some bad people in a matter concerning a dog.” Most of his characters have clothes and shoes on, but almost all of them are down-and-out, blue-collar workers making or about to make bad decisions, and each one reveals redeemable qualities that make them engaging, relatable and usually affable.
“Crow Country Moses” might be the best story in the whole collection. The protagonist, driving lost around eastern Montana, looks back on his delinquent childhood while dealing with the death of his mother and the pipe dreams of an aging father. “Breatharians” is another piece where Wink’s raw talent for telling memorable stories about 21st-century rural life is undeniable.
Writing about contemporary fiction in Montana, Bill Kittredge said, “Our writers are no longer paying attention to the old hide-bound mythology of the Western; they are writing from their own experiences, discovering and defining their own demons and battles, engaged in the constant business of the artist—renaming the sacred.”
Wink’s versility and originality are on full display in this collection, but one leitmotif is pain: breakups, workplace accidents, killing cats, suicides, cancer, the death of loved ones. He does not shy away from confronting tragedies, large or small. But the other theme that offsets the oftentimes grim plotlines are the way his stories are also veiled meditations on the nature of healing.
Comparisons will be made between Wink and a young Cormac McCarthy, the late Jim Harrison, or Tom McGuane, but Wink has already carved out his own inimitable style: bold, frenetic, introspective and darkly comical. We’re lucky Montana has long winters.
Doug Hare is the Distribution Coordinator for Outlaw Partners. He studied philosophy and American literature at Princeton and Harvard universities.
The Outlaw Partners is a creative marketing, media and events company based in Big Sky, Montana.
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My Barking Dog is a nightmare comedy
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My Barking Dog is a nightmare comedy that tells the story of Toby and Melinda, two lonely people whose lives are forever changed the night they encounter a starving coyote at their apartment building. Over time they grow to expect him, leaving ritual offerings to entice the coyote every night. Toby and Melinda forge a connection over this visitor and share curiosity and concern about his presence in the city. The coyote expands their world–until, one night, their world is shattered. Their lives are pushed suddenly into uncharted territory, sending them on a surreal odyssey that changes their city–and the world–forever.
Directed by LX Miller. Starring Max Schneider and Denise Hergett
Verge Theater is continuing their mission to provide accessible theater to our community. Tickets for My Barking Dog are Pay What You Wish with a suggested price of $35. Audience members are offered the opportunity to select the price point that is comfortable for them when purchasing tickets.
My Barking Dog runs March 15-17, 22-24, 28-30
Performances on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays begin at 7:00 p.m., with Sunday matinees offered at 3:00 p.m.
Suitable for ages 16 . No animals are harmed in the staging of this production.
Tickets are available online at www.vergetheater.com
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Area parents are encouraged to bring their young children to Symphony Storytime with a Bassoon which will be presented at the Bozeman Public Library’s Community Room during
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Area parents are encouraged to bring their young children to Symphony Storytime with a Bassoon which will be presented at the Bozeman Public Library’s Community Room during their regular Toddler and Preschool Storytime on Wednesday, March 20, at 10:15 a.m. The free program, presented by the Bozeman Symphony is especially for children ages 3 to 5. Children will be able to listen to Montana Shakespeare in the Parks actor Emma Rather, who will be joined by Bozeman Symphony Bassoonist Sam Macken. The goal of the program is to encourage a love of music, literacy, and discovery. Additional programs are scheduled at the Library on April 10 and June 12. For more information, visit www.bozemansymphony.org or call 406-585-9774.
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