Editor’s Note: Author Caroline Van Hemert is our special guest at Winter Words 2020, the 49 Writers annual fundraiser happening Sunday, February 23, 2020. Tickets is limited, but there are still some available. “It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.” – Ernest […]
Caroline Van Hemert | Try again. And again. Read More »
I am always surprised when I hear fellow writers admit that they are not avid readers. The reason they often give is a lack of time, or that they’d rather not let another author—especially a disciple of the same genre or subject matter as theirs—influence their own style. Similarly, there seem to exist more bloggers
Michael Engelhard | The Writer as Reader Read More »
Fireside Reading: Some books of nature writing As a “nature writer” myself, I read voraciously in this field. In part, this is research for my own nonfiction projects. I’d also like to know what fellow writers are up to, and about new developments. Lastly, I read these books for inspiration, to be reminded of some
Michael Engelhard | Fireside Reading Read More »
When people Outside think of Alaska, they imagine snow, rugged mountains, sled dog races, grizzlies, homestead cabins and “The Deadliest Catch.” That people would be living up here in an urban context would probably not occur to them. Lucian Childs But over half of us Alaskans live in cities. What makes our experience unique is
Last month, 15 people descended upon a remote harbor near Glacier Bay for a week of boot camp to train minds and mouths in the art of environmental rhetoric. Despite the usual uncertainty, shyness, and/or trauma around speech, students signed up for a course because they saw no other way to change public attitudes and laws than to speak
Daniel Lee Henry | Environmental Rhetoric at the Hobbit Hole Read More »
Back in Sitka, taking a breath with the family before traveling around Alaska to tour with the book, a question keeps coming back: do we as writers take on certain responsibilities as a result of the act of creation? And if so, how to fulfill these responsibilities? For starters, I think what we’re doing as
Brendan Jones | The Moral Writer Read More »
To-day I made the ascent of the highest mountain in this region, which is not improperly called Ventosum. My only motive was the wish to see what so great an elevation had to offer. I have had the expedition in mind for many years; for, as you know, I have lived in this region from
Alaska Shorts: “Ascent of Mont Ventoux” by Petrarch Read More »
I have been trying to imagine thousands of red-winged blackbirds falling from the sky, dead, lying on the ground all around me. How must it have felt, to see that, to stand in a field of dead red-winged blackbirds? And what does it mean? We don’t even know what caused their deaths. Fireworks? Maybe. But
Holleman: What are (environmental) writers for? Read More »
When Bill Sherwonit sent this to me, my first thought was — was I one of the writers who offended him? This time around, it wasn’t me, but I’m sure I’ve been guilty of making offhand remarks about various genres without realizing I could be rubbing someone the wrong way. We have so much nature
Firing Back — Ruminations on Nature Writing : Guest post by Bill Sherwonit Read More »
