New book heads upstream

FOR Ocean Grove local Hamish Brooks, fly fishing is a hobby that’s made him pay attention to the natural world and now, with the release of his new book, it’s a journey he’s taking others on.

Upstream in a Dream features a collection of 20 essay-style stories reflecting on becoming a father, losing a loved one and navigating relationships, all through the experiences of fly fishing.

The book is deeply personal to Brooks and was inspired by recounting his own fishing journeys, something he has loved since learning to fish at 12 years old.

“I love fly fishing and fly fishing in the local area and around Australia and even internationally if I get the chance,” he said.

For the father of two, fly fishing became a great escape, a chance for him to take some timeout from all the other aspects of life.

The newly published book was born out of a love for writing about the experience.

 

“I like reading about it as well and those things came together and I started writing some stories about it, almost for my own and family’s interest and then I just grew it from there,” Brooks said.

“I’ve always wanted to be a writer, really; having that as my career, being a published author.”

Upstream in a Dream is Brooks’ first published book, with the author backing himself to get the story on the shelves and into the market.

For Brooks, writing isn’t new to him. As a former editor at Times News Group, he has a way with words, but there are some differences when comparing news writing to a memoir.

“With news writing, there’s a structure and formula to a degree that you can work off and once you’ve done that a few times, naturally, stories will fall into place,” he said.

“These ones, [I’m] probably feeling my way a bit more because I’m trying to achieve a tone or an emotion or make some claim to something artistic or thoughtful.

“That process is a bit different, and I think I’m endlessly editing, whereas in news writing, you write it, it’s printed, it’s there.”

 

Getting to the point where the book can be published has been painstaking work at times, particularly writing for a broader audience.

Brooks started working on the essays for the book in 2018 with the writing finished around 2023, all while still working full time and balancing his family life.

“I started writing them after a trip to see my dad when he lived in Tasmania,” he said.

“When we were down there it was an opportunity to spend some time with him and my daughters, his granddaughters, and the themes and emotions associated with that experience started to imbue the writing.

“The main aim was to write something beautiful, I think the sport itself is really beautiful, you’re in beautiful places and I just wanted something to convey that.”

Throughout the seven years of writing also came decades of memories while fishing, many of them sparking other experiences and stories, with one fishing trip often recalling another.

 

The author described it as an associative process.

“The second essay in this book started off writing about fishing in a thunderstorm, but that brought to mind another thunderstorm I fished in with my dad and family 20 to 30 years before,” he said.

The opening essay is one of Brooks’ favourites and the one that he worked on the hardest, drafting it within an “inch of its life” and trying to bring it up to a standard that he could use it as a template.

“I’ve probably worked on it the hardest and it sets the tone for the whole book in a way, about that experience, becoming a father and then spending time with my own dad,” he said.

“The other ones varied in voice and tone a little bit, but I’d like to think I’ve got them close to that first one and I do love that one, I think it’s a pretty funny experience.”

Through the book, Brooks hoped he can take people to the places he talks about and make it something that attracts anyone who enjoys spending time by the water.

“I take people to the river or ocean or estuary, and they get that feeling of being by the water, for fly fishers, they’ve got a natural way into it.

“But, I would like to think that certainly people who live in Torquay, Barwon Heads, along the Great Ocean Road, it’ll take them to the places they know and love.”

As part of the release of Upstream in a Dream, Times News Group is partnering with Brooks to give readers the chance to win a copy, just in time for Father’s Day.

To enter the giveaway, simply fill out the form here.

Entrants unlucky in the draw will also be sent a discount code to purchase the book.

Upstream in a Dream is available from hamishbrooks.com and local bookshops and retailers.