Douglas Honors College lecturer’s work selected for Best American Essays 2024

On the first day of fall classes, Matt Martinson found out that his essay “Trout and Trout Remain” had been listed as a Notable in the 2024 volume of Best American Essays.

This surprised the William O. Douglas Honors College senior lecturer because he wasn’t aware that he’d even been nominated.

“I was just walking along and happened to check my email,” Martinson said. “I was very confused about what I was reading at first, and it took a few minutes to grasp what was happening. I wouldn’t in my wildest dreams have expected a reaction like that to the first work of creative non-fiction I’ve ever published.”

Martinson submitted “Trout and Trout Remain” to the literary journal Lake Effect last year, where it was accepted and published, marking his first successful foray into the non-fiction genre. The essay dissects the poem “Taneum Creek” by Richard Hugo, a short piece which describes the scenery surrounding the titular creek just outside of Ellensburg.

“An important poet like Richard Hugo writing about a place so close to where I live had me pretty excited, which is why I did a deep dive into it,” Martinson said. “As I reflected on the poem, it had me thinking about how we interact with the natural world, and the simultaneous appreciation and destruction that comes with it. Young men are often raised to love nature by attacking it or trying to gain something from it, so I wanted to explore the damage that does both to ourselves and to the world around us.”

Martinson’s essay relates to the words Hugo uses to describe Taneum Creek, finding deep and personal connection with the poem through a shared experience of enjoying nature by attempting to tame it. Martinson finds that looking for these connections, even if the poem’s original author didn’t necessarily intend them, is key to the process of appreciating poetry as an art form.

“It has to do with finding connections with the text and seeing things that the author might not have put there on purpose,” he said. “It’s like loving a song but constantly misquoting the lyrics doesn’t somehow lessen your connection to that song. I think we have some reexamining to do when it comes to reading poetry, and making it a pleasant experience rather than a painful slog.”

In his role with the Honors College, Martinson works with students from a variety of majors to help them hone their creative craft. He sees his own creative output as a critical means of staying in touch with what it takes to get one’s work seen in the modern world.

“I like to practice what I preach,” Martinson said. “If I’m going to ask students to put themselves out there creatively, I’m going to do the same, and try to stay current in my medium. It just feels better when I’m talking to my students, to know what’s going on out in the world.”