Writer, Firefighter, Citizen, Human

Canyon Hohenstein is an American writer hungry for experience. He’s partied with Rastafarians in The Pearl of Africa, forged rivers to fight wildfires, gotten mugged in Nairobi, and trekked over glaciers in Iceland. Through it all, writing has been the only thing he’s ever loved.

He’s written about Bozeman’s legendary Bridger Canyon Whale for the Montana Quarterly and sung the praises of Lebanon for Brandt Guides. His writing rap sheet is short, but everyday he’s inching towards his dream of being a fulltime writer.

His first novel Who Tames the Flames? will be self-published in 2025. It’s a tale about a prison crew fighting a wildfire (based on an actual experience from Canyon’s firefighting career). The central theme is the interplay between the redemptive destruction of wildfires and how the prisoners find their own arc of redemption amongst the flames.

Two beliefs undergird Canyon’s writing:

The best writers are those who don’t just scribble words. Lived experience is a vital elixir for good writing. Canyon always strives to engage with the world, find what exhilarates and upsets him, then process those feelings through prose.

The other belief comes from Patrick Hemingway—son of Papa himself.

Patrick said to Canyon: People always ask if I really knew my Dad. The answer is yes, but only because I made an effort to do so.

With this pearl of wisdom, Canyon endeavors to know his fellow travelers for writing inspiration and for the sheer pleasure of knowing and being known.

And that includes whoever is reading this. Let’s connect.