Winter Fishtrap Gathering
Living Right: Empathy, Charity and Responsibility
Debra Dean - Michael Rohd - Sisters of the Road
February 22-24, 2008, Wallowa Lake, Oregon
Click here for the evaluation of Winter Fishtrap 2008!
Over the years, Winter Fishtrap at Wallowa Lake has been the
time and place where we put writing and issues of public policy together.
Most presenters are writers in one way or another–poets,
novelists, essayists, program managers–all are passionate about
the subject at hand. We’ve dealt with Fire, Violence, Food, New
Wealth, and, last year, “Civil Conversation in the West.”
This year we concentrate on people and institutions who are “living
right.” One could certainly name or count more virtues, but we
chose three–Empathy, Charity, and Responsibility–and then
went to find presenters. I am sure you will be pleased with our choices.
"Live right" and ride the Fishtrap bus from Portland!
We’ll cut carbon emissions and build community as we pick up Fishtrappers
in Hood River, The Dalles, Pendleton, and La Grande along the way! It’s
a 47 passenger bus, so we will have room for all I-84 participants who
want to visit Fishtrap and the Wallowas mid-winter without putting on
snow tires or chains! It seems like such a good idea (and maybe a trial
for Summer Fishtrap) that I plan to ride along myself!
In past Winter sessions, we have explored issues; this
year we ask you to be more directly engaged. If you have a relative
with Alzheimer’s, or if you currently volunteer at the local food
bank or act in community theater, you already are. If not, Winter Fishtrap
will challenge you to do so. Winter Fishtrap will explore the intersections
of community action and the arts, and challenge you to examine and increase
your personal involvement. Presenter Michael Rohd gives us a couple
of sample questions: “What does a belief in social justice demand
from a person on a daily basis? What are the ethics of privilege? Or,
how much should you enjoy your life knowing others are suffering every
day?” Novelist Debra Dean says: “I believe that the highest
purpose of fiction is to increase our empathy.”
If these questions and concerns tickle your soul, get on the Fishtrap
bus in February!
Presenters
Debra Dean’s
bestselling debut novel, The Madonnas of Leningrad, deals 
with
art and Alzheimer’s. It’s been translated into more than
a dozen languages and received wide critical acclaim, including selection
as a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Her short fiction has appeared
in Mid-American Review, Image, The Seattle Review, Calyx, and Writers
Forum. Dean is a graduate of Whitman College who worked as an actor
in the New York theatre for nearly a decade before returning to the
Northwest to earn an MFA at Oregon and take up the life of a writer
and teacher. She is currently the visiting writer at the University
of Miami. Her collection of short stories, titled Confessions of a Falling
Woman (HarperCollins), will be out in February.
Michael
Rohd is the founding artistic director of Sojourn Theatre in
Portland, Oregon. His work there as creator/ director/performer includes
GOOD (his critically acclaimed site-specific Brecht adaptation at a
car dealership), The War Project (2005 Drammy), 7 Great Loves (five
2003 Drammy awards including Best Production and Best Director), and
Witness Our Schools (nine months of Oregon and national touring). Rohd
is an associate artist with Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles
and an artistic associate with Ping Chong & Co. in New York City,
and is currently a visiting professor at Northwestern University. He
is author of the book Theatre for Community, Conflict, and Dialogue.
Rohd has an MFA in Directing and Public Dialogue from Virginia Tech.
Sisters
Of The Road supports community-driven solutions to the 
calamities
of homelessness and poverty in an atmosphere of gentle personalism and
nonviolence. Their Portland, Oregon café is open to everyone,
serving low cost, hot, nutritious meals that can be purchased in a variety
of ways, including with cash, food stamps, or in exchange for work.
Sisters also provides job training, support to parents and children,
and innovative solutions to the issues surrounding poverty and homelessness
through self and community advocacy.
Sisters Of The Road is about changing hearts and minds by building cross-class
community, addressing root causes, and creating systemic change that
goes to the root of hunger and homelessness. At press time, Sisters
presenters are not decided, but they will be represented by staff and
volunteers.
Registration for Winter Fishtrap 2008 opens Wednesday, November 28, 2007. Click here to register and pay online. Click here for a mail/fax registration form.
Click here for Winter Fishtrap 2008 Agenda
Wallowa Lake Lodge
We meet in the old hotel’s great room, and eat in the dining
room. Some bedrooms offer a shared bathroom, and are priced accordingly;
some look out on Wallowa Lake, while others face south and catch winter
sun. Each room is individual; we offer them largest to smallest, more
to less elegant, on a first come basis. They are all on the second and
third floors, but everything else at the Lodge is wheelchair accessible.
We will help out-of-towners who need wheelchair access find suitable
lodging. Meals are required–communal eating is a part of the event.
Visit www.wallowalakelodge.com
for more information on the lodge, including photos.
Winter Fishtrap Gathering 2007 was a sold-out success! Click here to see what it was all about.