Watch the recording of this event: CROSSCURRENTS ANCHORAGE: BRIAN CASTNER Moderated by Matt Komatsu Recorded: Saturday April 16, 2022 7 PM-8:30 PM The Anchorage Museum, 625 C Street Anchorage, Alaska Brian Castner is a nonfiction writer, former Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer, and veteran of the Iraq War. His most recent book is Stampede, a new history […]
Danger Close Crosscurrents: Brian Castner and Matt Komatsu Read More »
Danger Close Alaska began as a matter of envy. My first UAA MFA residency recently concluded, I was deployed to Africa in the summer of 2014. I missed the thrill of workshop, of being surrounded with the creative buzz that surrounded craft talks, the rush of responding to prompts that unlocked story ideas and forms
Six Years of Danger Close Alaska by Matt Komatsu Read More »
Have you ever had an idea for something, but you weren’t sure you knew how to pull it off? Of course you have. You’re a writer. Everything we do begins with a blank slate: an empty bar napkin, an un-scribbled scrap of paper, a blank computer screen. And yet you do. It begins with three
Danger Close | Matt Komatsu wants you to get ink on your napkin. And pizza too. Read More »
Thanksgiving’s just two days away. The calendar will flick that domino into the year’s remaining days, triggering the ol’ chain reaction. It would be easy to let time slip right by till the New Year ball drops. Don’t let it. On the cusp of the holidaze, I’m chiming in with a friendly reminder to take
Jeremy Pataky | Steam Ahead, Writers Read More »
I’m not sure what the hell I was thinking when I applied to begin the MFA program at UAA in 2013, but I seemed to ignore the “creative” half of the “creative nonfiction” box when I indicated a genre focus. My idea of nonfiction was that one began at the chronological beginning, and concluded at
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I’ve been thinking lately about the role of literary non-profit organizations (NPOs). NPOs in general are near and dear to my heart: my wife and I have been involved in some form or fashion with a variety of NPOs for the past eight years. But let’s be honest. NPOs, especially the small ones, are filled
Matthew Komatsu | Why I Joined (Another Non-Profit Board) Read More »
Peter Molin, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and professor of English at West Point, published a post this week on his outstanding Time Now blog on the difference between “cooked” and “raw” war literature. And before I forget, if you aren’t tracking Time Now, hit the link and add it to your favorites. His posts
49 Writers: Matthew Komatsu | Raw or Cooked? Read More »
A great essay appeared a little while ago on NYMag about how and why parenting and writing conflict with each other. If you haven’t read it, check it out here, but I can save you a little time for now. The essay’s author, Kim Brooks, asks her friend Gina Frangello (also a writer+parent) why parenting
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Dear Reader, I met Ron Carlson at last summer’s UAA MFA Residency. Which seems a funny thing to say, since there have to be plenty of Ron Carlsons in the United States. But I met THE Ron Carlson, the writer guy. And not only did I meet him; I got to sit down and have
Guest Blogger Matt Komatsu: “Congratulations” Read More »
Dear Reader, Ever since we wrapped up Danger Close Alaska, I’ve been wondering what the future would hold for an effort like this. Thing is, you do something like this, and maybe it was great, but then maybe it never happens again. Years pass, interest wanes, and then a decade from now, some young writer
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