Ron P. Swegman is an American angler, artist, and author. His work includes the illustrated essay collections Philadelphia on the Fly: Tales of an Urban Angler (Frank Amato Publications, 2005) and Small Fry: The Lure of the Little: (The Whitefish Press, 2009). His writing primarily explores those times and places when and where nature and the city intersect.

Literary career

Swegman was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended Penn State where, as an undergraduate, he worked as a feature writer and Arts Editor for the university's newspaper, The Daily Collegian. A post-baccalaureate fellowhip at The Poynter Institute steered him toward incorporating illustrations into his writing projects. He settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, freelancing fiction, journalism, and poetry, some of which appeared in a variety of literary journals and independent zines during the 1990s. A broadside, museum of buildings: poems, was published in 1998.
His first book, Philadelphia on the Fly (2005), introduced a new generation of American outdoor writing with a new set of interests and values: urban angling in the shadow of city skylines; mountain biking to regional fishing destinations; birding as a guide to the fish; and poetic prose writing to describe the practical "How To" strategies for luring fish to the artificial fly. His second, Small Fry: The Lure of the Little (2009), portrays these same themes on a broader geographical canvas.
Swegman is a contributing writer to several publications, including Eastern Fly Fishing, The Flyfish Journal, and Pennsylvania Outdoor News. In 2010 he began an ongoing blog - "Wildflowers of the West Village" - documenting urban nature in New York City, where he has resided since 2009.

Nonfiction

• Philadelphia on the Fly: Tales of an Urban Angler (2005)
• Small Fry: The Lure of the Little (2009)

External links

• "The Lure of the Little" by Dominic Garnett, Devon, UK, 2011.
• "Urban Angling" by Eric Cox, Philadelphia, PA, 2011.
• Official website of ron P. swegman