February 27 & 28, 2026
Fishtrap, 107 W Main St, Enterprise
In-Person:
All events: $120, $100*, $40 students
Friday Workshop: $60, $54*, $20 students (includes reception ticket)
Friday Opening Reception and performances: $20, $17.50*, $7 students
Saturday only: $65, $58.50*, $20 students (includes lunch)
Saturday night showcase: FREE
Virtual:
Friday Opening Performances: $12.50, $11.00*, $7 students
Saturday only: $40, $35*, $20 students
Registration open now!
Storytelling is universal. Each of us, no matter our background, culture, or education, has been formed and informed by the stories we encounter. The art of oral storytelling predates podcasts, television, movies, radio, and the printed word. It expands beyond passports, borders, and regimes. It is an artform available to all of us, and one we activate daily at the dinner table with our partners, over coffee with friends, at work with colleagues, and in conversations between generations.
This winter, learn more about the art of storytelling, how it helps us retell our history, and shape our understanding of the present. Plus, learn how to tell your story — and be inspired by some of the best storytellers in the West.
Schedule
Friday, February 27, 1:00–4:00 – Tell Your American Story (in person only)
Workshop with Eric Braman and Jason Graham
Learn how to take a favorite family legend, anecdote, or encounter and craft it into a compelling oral story that you can “perform” for friends, family, or an open mic audience.
- Setting the stage and identifying the “why” of your story
- Building an effective story arc
- Good performance practices: Engaging and responding to the audience (no matter the size!)
Friday, February 27, 6pm – Winter Fishtrap Opening Reception
Featuring performances from Eric Braman, Debra Magpie Earling, Jason Graham, and Robert Stubblefield
Saturday, February 28, 9am–3pm – How Do We Tell Our American Story?
A day for story tellers, story listeners, and lifelong learners. Learn more about the history and tradition of oral storytelling, the stories we tell ourselves and the ones we’ve inherited. We’ll dive into the practice of listening with all of our senses, exploring how true listening can be a show of respect and an act of love. Finally, you’ll have an opportunity to practice your story telling—and listening. Lunch is provided.
Saturday, February 28, 7:00pm – Winter Fishtrap Storytelling Showcase (in person only)
FREE and open to the public
Winter Fishtrap Friday workshoppers showcase their stories with 5 minute “short story” performances.
Eric Braman
Eric Braman (they/them) is a poet, playwright, theatre maker, educator, and performer based in Springfield, Oregon. They were raised in Michigan, where a tenacity for niceties and a love of nature was born. Since coming out, their queer identity has pushed their art to explore themes of masculinity, mental health, ancestry, and queer possibility. They are inspired by the dualities of themself and the communities they have called home. In addition to writing, they are also a co-founder of Bring Consulting, working with artists, makers, and those who want to feel invigorated in their work, to use creativity as a force for change.
Debra Magpie Earling
Debra Magpie Earling is the author of The Lost Journals of Sacajewea and Perma Red. She has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, two American Book Awards, and her second novel was long listed for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and awarded the 2024 Montana Book Award. She retired from the University of Montana where she was named professor emeritus in 2021. She is Bitterroot Salish.
Jason Graham
Jason (McNeal) Graham, better known as MOsley WOtta is a Windy City Heartland transplant living in Central Oregon. Wotta’s work spans nearly two decades of exploration in multiple mediums including writing, painting, performance, video. Mosley Wotta’s music, literary performance and visual art have featured internationally, including: Living Future Con, TED X, Fishtrap, Oregon Community Foundation invited speaker, Goddard College (Resident Scholar), High Desert Museum “Desert Reflections” Exhibition, Street Con Dubai, Valley Forge Fiesta, Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, and the Portland Art Museum. Jason is an Arts Beautification & Culture award recipient. Individual Artist Fellowship Recipient, Fields Fellowship recipient, City Club Community Leader Honoree, Oregon Slam Poetry Champion 2008, Creative Laureate (Bend, OR.), Oregon Humanities Conversation project leader, and, a Bridging Oregon (North Coast) Facilitator.
Robert Stubblefield
Robert Stubblefield has published fiction and personal essays in Dreamers and Desperadoes: Contemporary Short Fiction of the American West, Best Stories of the American West, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Left Bank, The Clackamas Literary Review, Cascadia Times, Oregon Humanities, Oregon Salmon: Essays on the State of the Fish at the Turn of the Millennium, Open Spaces, basalt, Southern Humanities Review, Whitefish Review, and High Desert Journal among others. Awards include a Georges and Anne Borchardt scholarship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Fishtrap Fellowship, and Imhaha Writers’ Retreat Fellowship. Robert grew up in Eastern Oregon and now lives in Missoula, Montana and teaches at the University of Montana.
Thank you, Winter Fishtrap 2026 Sponsors and Partners!
Sponsor Winter Fishtrap and support clear thinking! Click here to learn more.
About Winter Fishtrap
Winter Fishtrap takes on issues that are important to citizens of the West by gathering diverse voices to inspire a greater understanding on a timely theme. Activities include lectures, panel discussions, break-out workshops, and more.
Over the years, this popular program has explored such topics as “The New Agrarians,” “Dams,” “Fire,” “Down Wind, Down River,” and “Water” among many others. Expect a vibrant exchange of ideas and information while making life-long connections.
Winter Fishtrap is takes place in-person at our headquarters in the historic Bowlby Building in Enterprise, Oregon. Contact The Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce to find lodging options to fit most any budget. Can’t make the trip to Wallowa County? Much of the event will also be available virtually.
We talked!! (and listened)
Winter Fishtrap 2024 Videos here.
