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.
Photo courtesy of Callan Wink
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EPISODE NOTES
Topics Discussed:
- 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
Information Referenced:
- Callan Wink
- Callan on Instagram
- August: A Novel by Callan Wink
- Dog Run Moon by Callan Wink
- Beth Loffreda
- Brad Watson
- Joy Williams
- Jim Harrison
- Dead Man’s Float by Jim Harrison
- Michael Earl Craig
- Tap Out by Edgar Kunz
- Breath by Tim Winton
- The Shepard’s Hut by Tim Winton
- Stegner Fellowship at Stanford
- Blood Meridian by Corman McCarthy
- Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
- Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
- Rock Springs by Richard Ford
- Road House
- Yellowstone River
Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these as well:
- Chris Dombrowski – Words, Water & the West
- Peter Heller – Chasing the Flow
- David Gessner, Part 2 – Ambition, Art, and Arête
- Hampton Sides, Part 2 – How to Tell a Damn Good Story
- Heather Hansman – Demystifying Water in the West
- Emilene Ostlind – Storytelling for the New West
- Mark Kenyon – A Passion for Public Lands
