Steve Duda
Writer and creative director working across books, essays, and brand storytelling, focused on environment and narrative.
Author of River Songs. A new book is forthcoming from Mountaineers Books, Fall 2027.
About
Steve Duda is a writer, editor, and creative director working at the intersection of environment and narrative. His work spans books, essays, brand campaigns, films, and live readings.
His first book, River Songs: Moments of Wild Wonder in Fly Fishing (Mountaineers Books, 2024), drew praise from John Gierach, Dylan Tomine, Peter Kaminsky, Langdon Cook, and Monte Burke for what Tomine called its "ferocious honesty and breathtaking intensity." A second book is forthcoming from Mountaineers Books in Fall 2027. His short fiction "Impossibly Violent and Savagely Fast" appears in the forthcoming anthology Catch of a Lifetime, edited by Peter Kaminsky.
As Head of Fish Tales at Patagonia, Duda writes and directs multi-media campaigns across print, film, podcasts, and live events. His byline has appeared in Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, Fretboard Journal, American Angler, Fly Fisherman, The Drake, Democracy Now!, and elsewhere. He spent eight years as editor of The Flyfish Journal, served as editorial consultant at Microsoft, and has held senior editorial roles at Amazon, The Rocket, and Entertainment! He was a founding editor of Boise Weekly. He has been a featured reader on every Writers on the Fly tour.
He lives in Seattle.
"Good luck finding a better wordsmith for all things rivers and fish."
— Riverhorse Nakadate, Writer and Filmmaker
A Note from Steve
For more than a decade, my work has circled one idea: attention is a form of love, and love is a form of defense. The natural world is shrinking. Writing about it — honestly, specifically, without sentiment — is one small way to hold the line.
River Songs was a book about noticing. The next one is about what happens when you keep noticing long enough to feel time shift under your feet.
Whether it's a book, an essay, a film script, or a campaign for Patagonia, the work is one piece. Same voice. Same fight.
— Steve
Selected Bylines
Rolling Stone · Huffington Post · The Cleanest Line · Treehugger · Democracy Now! · MTV · Fretboard Journal · American Angler · Fly Fisherman · The Drake · San Francisco Guardian
Former editor, The Flyfish Journal (8 years). Founding editor, Boise Weekly. Editorial consultant, Microsoft. Senior editorial roles at Amazon (managing editor, Music; editor-in-chief, DVD and Canadian stores) and Entertainment!
Where to Next
Read the books → /books
See the work → /work
Upcoming readings → /appearances
Contact
For press, readings, and project inquiries: trouts@gmail.com