Sullivan during a performance at a previous FisherPoets Gathering.
Sullivan pauses while salmon fishing in the Uganik Bay in 2014.
Continued from Page 6
bolstered his ability to induce emotion in
his readers.
“I (write) about the inner landscape of
fishing, not the environment itself. But of
course the environment informs your inner
life,” he said. “In a way, fishing is just a
vehicle to tell a human story.”
By the late ‘90s, Sullivan had a poem
published in the Alaska Fishing Jour-
nal, catching the attention of Jon Broder-
ick who, coincidentally, had been making
some of the first calls for the first FisherPo-
ets Gathering in 1998. Since its inception,
the event has been held every year for fish-
ermen to come together as a community and
share their written works with one another.
Naturally, Sullivan has been a long-time
participant.
Throughout the years, Broderick, who
lives in Cannon Beach, has become Sulli-
van’s friend. Broderick said Sullivan is a
thoughtful and insightful creator.
“Almost nobody can hold a crowd in
a bar or the Voodoo Room, or any of our
places where we meet … with a narration,”
Broderick said. “(Sullivan) can read for 15
minutes and keep you spellbound.”
Sullivan is one of this year’s FisherPoets
Gathering performers. In tandem with the
FisherPoets Gathering, the Astoria Visual
Arts Gallery is featuring an exhibit titled
“When Crab Was King” from the Kodiak
Maritime Museum, which Sullivan man-
ages as the director. The exhibit is a com-
pilation of oral histories from the people,
including Sullivan himself, who experi-
enced the Kodiak King Crab Fishery at its
height.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 // 7