Best-selling Author Carl Hiaasen to be Honored at the Fourth Annual ‘Hooks for Books’
March 6, 2025
Best-selling author Carl Hiaasen has always coupled a love for literature with life in the great outdoors.
With wildly popular novels like “Bad Monkey” and "Stormy Weather,” Hiaasen has entertained readers for decades with his signature blend of crime fiction, satirical humor and social commentary. The Florida native is also an avid fly-fisher and has been featured in outdoors publications like MidCurrent and Garden & Gun.
That combination makes Hiaasen the perfect guest of honor for this year’s fourth annual Hooks for Books, a fundraiser that brings together the literary and fly-fishing communities to raise crucial support for the University of Montana’s Creative Writing Program.
Space is limited, but there are still some spots left for the one-of-a-kind gathering, which will be held Sunday, Sept. 21, through Tuesday, Sept. 23, in Missoula.
This year, Hiaasen will receive the Writers on Water award as part of the Hooks for Books festivities. The award is given to honor literary legends influenced by the natural environment.
“We’re thrilled to honor Carl Hiaasen at this year’s event,” said UM Creative Writing Director Chris Dombrowski. “Hooks for Books is a major highlight of every fall. It offers a unique way to celebrate community and conservation and is a vital part of our mission to build sustainable support for UM’s creative writing program.”
Founded by UM alum, entrepreneur and writer Tim O’Leary along with Dombrowski — and with support from the UM Foundation — Hooks for Books melds the Missoula-area's blue-ribbon fly-fishing experiences with a weekend of social events and literary fun to make a meaningful impact.
Anglers are paired in teams of two with expert guides for fishing trips on the Blackfoot, Bitterroot and Clark Fork Rivers. Anglers of all skill levels are welcome. Interested fishing enthusiasts can learn more and register on the event website.
In addition to fishing, registration for the event includes access to three cocktail parties and dinners, culminating in the Writers on Water Dinner at Missoula’s Brasserie Porte Rouge restaurant. An opening night reception will be held at Caras Park, featuring food trucks and a bar.
Proceeds from the Writers on Water Dinner support the creative writing program by providing resources to fund the department's areas of greatest need, including faculty positions and student scholarships. The generous support of donors will help the program attract students and visiting writers and remain competitive with peer institutions.
UM’s creative writing program, one of the oldest and most prestigious in the nation, was established in 1920 in the College of Humanities & Sciences. It boasts iconic alumni and visiting writers, including Richard Hugo, James Welch and many others. Graduates have become essential voices in literature and the arts, penning bestsellers, critically acclaimed books (many that have been adapted into films), while being awarded Pulitzer Prizes, Pushcarts and a wide array of other top literary honors.
O'Leary, whose literary work has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize and earned the Nivalis Prize, and Dombrowski, who earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from UM in 2001 and served as the Kittredge Distinguished Visiting Writer in Residence, hatched the idea for Hook for Books while fishing together on Rock Creek. They hoped to create an event to benefit the creative writing program that represented the spirit of camaraderie among the fishing and literary communities. The first Hooks for Books was held in 2021.
Learn More
For more information about Hooks for Books, visit hooksforbooks.org. To learn more about donating to the UM Foundation in support of the UM Creative Writing Program, contact Beth Burman Frazee, director of development, at beth.burman-frazee@supportum.org or 406-243-7456.
