Teen Ink: Hope For Fly Fishing Writing

One of the best stories I’ve read on fly fishing in the past few months was just published by — get this — Teen Ink. It was written by teenager Breton S. (Teen Ink doesn’t publish authors’ last names) of Putney, Vermont. Breton’s essay evokes the excitement and opportunity that fly fishing delivers, without pretense and with only a modicum of affectation. Read it and you might find yourself wondering, like I did, if a new generation of writers might pump life back into the literature.
“Sitting tall, beyond the vermilion reeds that scratched at my face, I could see the two bucktail wings against that dark, knotted alder branch reaching out of the water. I had feathered it in perfectly. It hovered in the current, dancing with its reflection.”
Teen Ink, by the way, is one of the most popular journalistic platforms on the Web. It happens to also be entirely non-profit, driven by the enthusiasm of teachers for creative writing and art. “Distributed through classrooms by English teachers, Creative Writing teachers, Journalism teachers and art teachers around the country, Teen Ink magazine offers some of the most thoughtful and creative work generated by teens and has the largest distribution of any publication of its kind.”