2020 Robert Traver Fly Fishing Writing Award Results Announced
The John D. Voelker Foundation and the American Museum of Fly Fishing (AMFF) are pleased to announce the winner of the 2020 Robert Traver Fly-Fishing Writing Award: “Blue Lines” by Alexander Benoît. Mr. Benoît’s essay describes how he creates rough hand-drawn maps of places he has fly fished to help him remember those places and events, and to tell stories. He describes a deep map of a fishing trip in Alaska to communicate the story to his ailing grandfather, who had once entertained him with stories of his own trip to Alaska years ago.
The winning entry will receive a $2,500 prize and be published in the Spring 2021 edition of the American Fly Fisher, the journal of the American Museum of Fly Fishing.
The Traver Award judges also bestowed Honorable Mention recognition on two other entries:
“The Best Fish I Ever Caught” by David Gray-Clough of North Yorkshire, UK
“Grace Note” by Michael Thane of Hingham, Massachusetts
The 2020 competition drew a field of 60 entries. Entries were judged anonymously to narrow the pool down to seven finalists. The other four finalists were:
“Caddis Flats” by Trigg White of Allenspark, Colorado
“Homecoming” by Robert H. Miller of Louisville, Kentucky
“The Mertrout” by Jon Tobey of Duvall, Washington
“A Small Act of Reverence” by Anthony Lavers of Oxford, UK
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