Uncommon Waters: Women Write about Fishing (Adventura Books) [Paperback]

Holly Morris (Author)

Book Description

Series: Adventura Books | Publication Date: March 11, 1998

In this enthralling anthology, 34 contributors, including Margaret Atwood and Ted Gallagher, provide the literary answer to why women have gone, and will always go, fishing. Includes a list of fishing organizations and resources for fisherwomen.18 illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This unusual anthology of essays, poems and stories by writers famous and unknown celebrates the joys of fishing for women. Viva's risible delivery of her adventures during the opening of trout season in Roscoe, N.Y., shows how hard it is for people to accept a woman who plays the role of both femme fatale and serious sports enthusiast. Lorian Hemingway, granddaughter of the famous angler/writer, gives a teeth-clenching account of angling for marlin. In between are poems by Tess Gallagher, Linda Hogan and Carletta Wilson, a tale by Sugar Ferris that penetrates a large female bass's mind's eye and a moving memoir by Jean Rysstad of her fisherwoman-daughter, who was killed by a rogue wave. Also included is the first piece--by man or woman--published on the sport. Written in 1421 by Dame Juliana Berners, it is a fascinating primer on every aspect of the endeavor, from making a rod to preparing bait, with instructions that sound like recipes for a witch's brew: "take wheat and seeth it well and then put it in blood a whole day and a night." This collection pk should inspire more women to record their outdoor experiences and in so doing create a new vision of feminine independence. Morris is a Seattle editor and angler. Illustrated.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Morris has compiled a unique anthology of essays, fiction, and poetry which the publisher touts as the first collection of women's writing about fishing. Thirty-six contributors, including Dame Juliana Berners ("The Treatise of Fishing with an Angle," c.1421), Le Anne Schreiber, Margaret Atwood, Nancy Lord, and Lorian Hemingway cover many types of fishing, both as sport and vocation, in locales from Siberia to Bimini. Morris attempts to define what it means for a woman to experience fishing, and how that relates to her family, mentors, and peers. She succeeds in creating a common voice which proves that the beauty of fishing "lies precisely in the fact that it touches each of its impassioned adherents in a place deep inside the self." This touching and informative overview is a recommended purchase for women's studies and general fishing collections.
- Diane McNamara, Springfield City Lib., Mass.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press; 2nd edition (March 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1878067761
• ISBN-13: 978-1878067760
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,190 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Holly Morris' essays are widely anthologized, and she is a regular critic for The New York Times Book Review and contributor to many national publications. She is the former editorial director of the book publishing company Seal Press, and is an alum and board member of the Hedgebrook writers' residency. Her book Adventure Divas: Searching the Globe for a New Kind of Heroine, was named an "Editors' Choice" and a "Notable Book of the Year" about exploration by the New York Times. She is the editor of the anthologies A Different Angle and Uncommon Waters.

Morris is also a documentary television producer and correspondent. She is the executive producer/writer/director of the award-winning prime-time PBS documentary series, "Adventure Divas," and host of the series' "Globe Trekkers," (PBS) (aka Pilot Guides), "Treks in a Wild World," (PBS) and "Outdoor Investigations" (OLN). She was a special correspondent for the National Geographic Channel's "Today" show and a columnist for "National Geographic Adventure."

More about Holly and Adventure Divas can be found at www.hollymorris.com and www.adventuredivas.com.