A Short History of Fishtrap

Fishtrap founders in 1989

It was in the mid 1980s when Wallowa County bookstore owner Rich Wandschneider attended a Western writers conference in Portland, Oregon, but something didn’t feel quite right. Rich told conference organizer Kim Stafford that it seemed the event wasn’t really a gathering of writers of the West, but of Willamette Valley “I-5 writers.” Kim agreed, then issued a challenge: “Why don’t you host the next one in Wallowa County?” In 1988, Wandschneider, Stafford, and the award-winning journalist and historian, Alvin Josephy organized a gathering at Wallowa Lake with the theme “West Coast Writers and East Coast Publishers.” 

The Summer Fishtrap Gathering of Writers was born.

So began an annual tradition. Every summer, readers, writers, journalists, historians, publishers, and lovers of the arts from all over the world gather at Wallowa Lake to write, to explore issues important to people of the West, and to make connections. The weeklong conference has provided hundreds of writers the opportunity to work with some of the best authors and teachers in the West including Ursula K. LeGuin, Luis Alberto Urrea, Bill Kittredge, Laura Pritchett, Anis Mojgani, Jamie Ford, Kathleen Dean Moore, Beth Piatote and many, many others.  

Providing a place for writers to gather was the start. Cultivating a creative community of readers, critical thinkers, and lifelong learners became the core of the organization. None of that work would have been possible without the active participation and support of the Wallowa County community who have provided thousands of hours of volunteer time, advice, advocacy, and support. Fishtrap wouldn’t be Fishtrap without this place.

Over the years Fishtrap has grown to add new programs like Winter Fishtrap, Fishtrap Reads, Yearlong Writers Workshop, and the wilderness experiential Outpost Writing Workshops. More recently, Fishtrap has expanded to include youth programming, the Fishtrap Fireside reading series, theater programming, and a wide offering of in-person and online workshops throughout the year. Fishtrap serves as a literary arts and humanities hub for the Inland Northwest, offering local and regional programming, reaching thousands of in-person and online participants from all corners of the US. 

Since 2015, Shannon McNerney has led the organization as Executive Director building on Fishtrap’s mission to “cultivate clear thinking and good writing in and about the West.”