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RECENT NEWS: New Works of Narrative Non Fiction about Trout, Rivers, Ecology, and Fly Fishing

'The Voices of Rivers' book cover

I am excited for release of two new works of narrative non-fiction between late summer of 2018 and spring of 2019. 

In April of 2019, Homebound Publications released The Voices of Rivers: Reflections on Places Wild and Almost Wild. This collection of essays was set in Alaska, Montana, and Maine. Much of writing was based on my time as Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park (Montana) in June of 2017 and Artists-in-Residence at Acadia National Park (Maine) in May of 2018, as well as time spent in National Parks, National Forests, and State Parks of Alaska, especially some amazing time over three trips to The Farm Lodge in Lake Clark National Park with visits down to Katmai National Park and Preserve.  

You will visit arctic streams, glacial rivers flowing green with flour, alpine brooks tumbling out of melting snow, and little estuaries where lobsters and brook trout swim within a few yards of each other;wide deep lakes, little tarns with crystal clear water, and tannin-laden beaver ponds the color of tea. The narratives interweave creative, personal narrative with nature writing informed by science and history as well as close observation and the eye of a naturalist. The characters in the stories include fly fishing guides, fisheries biologists, wranglers, my family and friends, myself, and most important the rivers I visited whose music I spent time listening to, and hope to help you hear.  

Early response to The Voices of Rivers: Reflections on Places Wild and Almost Wild has been encouraging, with praise coming from nature writers, fly fishing writers, environmentalists, and poets alike.  

Bill McKibben, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? wrote, "One of America's greatest (and most threatened) glories is its network of public lands, and in this volume the talented Matthew Dickerson makes the most of them. These landscapes are not the backdrop but the foreground of his lovely essays, that will make you want to travel to these treasures."  

John Shewey, Editor-in-Chief of the Northwest Fly Fishing magazine group, wrote, "In The Voices of Rivers, Matthew Dickerson wraps his provocative discourse on pressing ecological concerns within a framework of wide-eyed wonder at the beauty and complexity of nature experienced through the eyes and soul of an itinerant angler. Through his captivating storytelling, Dickerson seamlessly translates his personal journeys of discovery into a single poignant cautionary tale about what those of us who value intact ecosystems stand to lose if we don’t remain both intellectually engaged and socially vigilant."  

And Chris Dombrowski, author of Body of Water noted, "In The Voices of Rivers, Matthew Dickerson obeys Chekhov’s great dictum by rendering the natural world not as a mere backdrop but rather so keenly that the bodies of moving water he traffics as an angler become well-drawn characters in their own right. In Dickerson's clean prose, they speak with the bedrock and the cobbles, with the author's beloved salmonids, and--yes--the author himself. In a world radiating with "the virtual," this book provides unmistakable contact with the actual and a rarefied depth of immersion."  

'A Tale of Three Rivers' book cover Over the Summer of 2018, Wings Press released A Tale of Three Rivers: of Wooly Buggers, Bowling Balls, Cigarette Butts, and the Future of Appalachian Brook Trout--a second volume in the Heart Streams series begin with Trout in the Desert. This collection of essays was set in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, Vermont, and Maine. I wrote it at the Cabin at Shotpouch Creek while a Writer-in-Residence on the Spring Creek Project.  

As the title suggests, the book shares the story of three different rivers going in different directions--or, rather, of one little tile in the mosaic that is the story of each of these rivers. The book speaks of warning and loss as well as of hope: of streams full of old appliances and a trout eating cigarette butts, as well as the return of osprey, eagles, loons, and trout to a river once listed among the filthiest in the United States.  

A reviewer for Outdoor Guide Magazine wrote, "While the message is subtle, it does come through that ... we humans must treat [rivers] with care and respect if we expect them to provide the beauty, thrills and deep joy of which they are capable. This is a good read...”  

MOST RECENT FICTION

'Illengond' book cover

The entire Daegmon War Trilogy is now available. Illengond the third and final volume of my three-volume fantasy novel The Daegmon War and part off the ongoing Chronicles of Gondisle. Illengond concludes the story (begun in The Gifted and The Betrayed) of Tienna, Elynna, and Thimeon and their companies of both "gifted" and un-gifted heroes seeking to rescue Gondisle from the ravages of the Daegmon and the evils of a corrupted king. 

As a novelist--especially a creative writer who has written heroic fantasy as well as medieval historical fiction--is it always a delight to receipt the praise of a poet. Former poet laureate of Oklahoma Benjamin Myers wrote of the series: "In The Gifted and The Betrayed, Matthew Dickerson's masterful story-telling and talent for suspenseful narrative draw us into the battle to save Gondisle from the Daegmon Lord. Dickerson brings to the creation of fantasy epic his keen observation of the natural world. Gondisle's woods, plains, mountains, and marshes seem as real as those of our world. Nature is a living presence in The Daegmon War, and Dickerson follows in the footsteps of Tolkien and Lewis in making of fantasy the art of re-enchanting the world. This series satisfies our hunger for meaning as well as it satisfies our thirst for adventure."

The book was officially released on July 30, 2017 by Archway Publishing, and has quickly been making its way into various local independent bookstoreas as well as big box retailers. (If your local bookstore doesn't carry it, please ask them to order a copy or two. All the books in the three-volume novel are available through major distributors.)

ABOUT ME

'The Gifted' book cover

I am... the author of numerous works of fiction and non-fiction in a variety of genres... a fly-fishing, outdoors, nature, and environmental writer whose works have appeared in a varity of print and online magazines and journals... and a popular speaker on a variety of topics including creative writing, fantasy literature (especially on the writings of J.R.R.Tolkien and C.S.Lewis), philosophy of mind, and trout and fly-fishing.

My works of fiction include two companion volumes of medieval historical heroic romance titled The Finnsburg Encounter (1991) and The Rood and the Torc: The Song of Kristinge, Son of Finn (2014) plus a three-volume fantasy novel collectively titled The Chronicles of Gondisle: The Daegmon War, beginning with The Gifted (2015), continuing with The Betrayed (2016) and concluding in Spring of 2017 with Illengond. (See the Historical Fiction and Gondisle Chronicles tabs above.)

'The Betrayed' book cover

I have also authored a pair of works of creative narrative non-fiction books on nature, ecology, trout, and fly-fishing titled Downstream: Reflections on Brook Trout, Fly Fishing, and the Waters of Appalachia (published by Cascade Press in 2014 and co-authored with David O’Hara) and Trout in the Desert: on Fly Fishing Human Habits, and the Cold Waters of the Arid Southwest (published by Wings Press in 2015 as the first volume in a new "Heartstreams" series to be continued in 2017 with A Tale of Three Rivers). (See the Fishing, Ecology, Outdoors tab above.)

I had the opportunity to do graduate studies at Cornell University in both Computer Science and Old English Language and Literature. I am the author or co-author of several books, chapters, and essays on fantasy literature, especially (but not exclusively) on the writings of J.R.R.Tolkien and C.S.Lewis. (See the About Fantasy tab above.)

I have also written works of biography, apologetics and philosophy of mind and philosophy of computation, and a high school geometry text. (See the all-encompasing Other Writings tab above.)

I am a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont. I am currently co-directing and teaching at the new Northern Pen Young Writers' Conference (wwww.thenorthernpen.com). And for twelve years I was the Director of the New England Young Writers' Conference at Breadloaf, and I still serve on the NEYWC Coordinating Committee and frequently lead workshops or craft sessions there.

SPEAKING AND OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS

Come catch me speaking or teaching at the following time and places. And if you are a young writer, be sure to check out the creative writing conferences.