Rich Chiappone

 

Creative Writing & Literary Arts Program   richchiappone@gci.net Richard Chiappone is the author of Water of an Undetermined Depth, a collection of short fiction published by Stackpole Books (2003). The story "Raccoon" from this collection was made into a short film and featured at international film festivals.  He has taught at the University of Alaska Anchorage and served as a senior associate editor at Alaska Quarterly Review. His work has recently been featured on the BBC Radio 3 literary show "The Verb." He now also teaches at the Kachemak Bay Campus of Kenai Peninsula College and lives with his wife on the Anchor River. Opening Days, a new collection of short fiction and essays on outdoor sports was published in 2010.

 

	Opening Days, 2010 Richard Chiappone elongates the fishing-writing genre like a perfect backcast, suggesting that he finds almost anything a fisherman does interesting--anything but the actual fishing. He describes only one sport fish landed--a late season Alaskan steelhead too cold to put up a fuss about being hooked. In another piece, he never gets any farther than his own backyard, standing in a midwinter snow bank, casting to house cats. The essays, both funny and touching, reveal him as a writer of stark contradictions: a man who despises winter and loves living in Alaska, who thinks that the Clean Water Act ruined as much as it fixed.
	Water of an Undetermined Depth, 2004 What's a man to do when his life is just work and trouble? Some hunt, some fish, some drink, some gamble. Richard Chiappone writes about them all--men living their lives, doing what they have to, and getting through the day. These characters are real, gritty, imperfect working men, who make the wrong choices and mess up. These stories about real people, tough and resilient, making hard choices, are a powerful and inspiring collection.
	City Fishing, 2004 Shelves of books have been written about the ultimate fly-fishing experience: the trip to remote, pristine waters where fish are plentiful and wild. But sometimes there's good fishing to be found right down the street, in the most unlikely of settings. These writers share stories about the fish they've found in the midst of Manhattan, London, Tokyo, and Paris. This unorthodox collection reveals what true fishermen understand: good fishing is to be had anywhere you can find it.