Callan Wink - A New Voice for the New West

May 8, 2020

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Callan Wink is a writer, novelist, fishing guide, and surfer who currently splits his time between Livingston, Montana and Santa Cruz, California. He’s the author of the newly released novel August, as well as the highly regarded short story collection Dog Run Moon, books that I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed. Callan’s writing speaks for itself, but if you’re looking for credentials, he’s got those too—he’s been published in The New Yorker, Men’s Journal, The Best American Short Stories Anthology, and more. He’s also been awarded fellowships by the National Endowment for the Arts and Stanford University, where he was a Wallace Stegner Fellow.

A native of Michigan, Callan moved west soon after high school, where he began guiding on some of Montana’s most renowned rivers. In the ensuing years, writing became more and more of a focus, and eventually, he published Dog Run Moon. Currently, Callan writes seasonally—he guides in Montana during the warm months, then moves to California during the winter, where he focuses exclusively on writing, with surfing filling the remainder of his non-writing time.

Callan and I connected via the internet from our respective quarantines and had a fun conversation about fishing, writing, reading, creativity, and more. We started out talking about his upbringing in Michigan and how fishing eventually led him to build a life in the West. We discuss the pros and cons of his seasonal approach to writing, and how working as a fishing guide helps to fuel his writing career. We talk about the importance of being a keen observer of people, and we also discuss where and how he finds inspiration for his characters. We also talk about his friendship with the legendary author Jim Harrison, and how that relationship has positively affected his life and work.

I encourage you to check out August and Dog Run Moon—I think you’ll enjoy them both. But in the meantime, enjoy this wide-ranging conversation with Callan Wink.

All Episode Notes: https://mountainandprairie.com/callan-wink/

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

3:30 - Callan’s early years in Michigan
4:00 - Childhood ideas about the west
6:30 - Heading to Montana to fish
10:30 - Childhood obsession with reading
12:30 - Progress toward becoming a professional writer
18:30 - Lessons learned from grad school
21:00 - Balancing writing and fishing
23:30 - Gathering material for characters
30:15 - Callan's writing routine
33:30 - How an idea becomes a short story or novel
37:00 - How the novel August evolved from a short story
39:30 - Outlining versus organic growth of a story
43:00 - Jim Harrison’s influence
45:45 - Poetry Recommendations
51:00 - Callan’s current reading habits
54:00 - Advice for aspiring writers
58:30 - Favorite books
1:00:30 - The magic of Road House
1:01:30 - Favorite location in the West
1:04:00 - Best advice ever received

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