ENTERPRISE — December’s Fishtrap Fireside showcases an artistic collaboration between poet Dustin Lyons and painter Leah Svendsen. They recently published a book together titled “Passage” that draws a line “between the wild and rugged landscapes of Wallowa County and the creative inner worlds of two artists.”

The evening also features award-winning author Gregg Kleiner and Eastern Oregon University professor Nancy Knowles.

Fishtrap Fireside is Friday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m. at Fishtrap, 107 W. Main St. Admission is free.

Those unable to attend in person can tune in at fishtrap.org or Fishtrap’s YouTube channel.

An intermission after the featured readings will be followed by an open mic. Five open mic spots are available. Writers of all ages and experience are encouraged to sign up at 6:30 p.m.

December’s Fishtrap Fireside is sponsored by Terminal Gravity Brewing.

Featured readers

The son of school teachers, Gregg Kleiner grew up outside the small, rural Oregon towns of Langlois, Lookingglass and Silverton. During summer vacations, his parents took their five kids on extended backpacking trips, which instilled in him a love of the outdoors, wilderness and mountains — especially the Wallowas. At 16, he spent a year as an American Field Service exchange student in the mountains of northern Thailand, where he lived for a month at a Buddhist monastery. In 2003, he served as the Fishtrap writer-in-residence, living at the head of the lake with Lori Salus and their two children and teaching at local schools. He and Lori now call Wallowa County home. He has worked as a wildlife biologist, journalist, visiting professor, communications professional, dairy goat farmer, and is currently the project coordinator for the Joseph Branch Trail-With-Rail project.

Kleiner is the author of “Where River Turns to Sky,” which was a finalist for the Paterson Fiction Prize and the Oregon Book Award. His first book for kids (and their grownups) “Please Don’t Paint Our Planet Pink!” asks what might happen if we could see carbon dioxide puffing up into the Earth’s atmosphere.

Nancy Knowles writes mostly literary/media analysis, grant proposals and poetry. She earned first place for her Shakespearean sonnet “Diamond Craters” in 2022 from the Oregon Poetry Association. Originally from California, she has taught English and writing at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande since 2000. During her sabbatical this past year, she launched two yoga book projects and spent a month in India. Her first creative nonfiction “Super Blue Moon Yoga” was published on the Oregon Humanities website in October.

Born and raised in a small timber town in southwest Washington, Dustin Lyons graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor’s in English literature in 2001. Following this, he spent a decade living out of a backpack, from Alaska to Arizona, and from Eurasia to Central America. In 2011 he moved to Ashland to study shoemaking and start his business, Alkahest Leather. He eventually found his home in Wallowa County where he builds shoes, roams the hills, and puts pen to paper.

Leah Svendsen grew up along Hurricane Creek. Before returning home in 2003, she received her bachelor’s in art with a concentration in painting from Lewis & Clark College in Portland. She learned encaustic painting in 2012 and fell in love with the medium. The opportunity presented itself for a retail space in Joseph in 2021 and she opened Element, a shop, gallery and studio where she sells her artwork, represents other local artists and shares her passion of encaustic painting through teaching.