“As writers, we are in a state of constant and brutal negotiation with ourselves and the details of the world.” ~Victoria Redel I used to secretly cringe whenever I heard the commandment of Henry James, that as a writer I must be “one upon whom nothing is lost.” I was all too aware of my […]
Deb: What’s Left Unsaid Read More »
An adjunct professor in creative writing at UAA, Jonathan Bower has most recently published short essays for The Anchorage Press and also recently released his first CD of new songs after a ten-year hiatus from music. Beginning Nov. 3, he’ll teach the 49 Writers workshop “Writing Wrongs,” in which participants will deconstruct the notion that scandal and confession constitute “truth telling”
Jonathan Bower: What Would Montaigne Do? Read More »
We had a wonderful turnout last week for our first 49 Writers literary salon of the season—a great opportunity for our members to gather, get to know or reconnect with one other, and share some of their work. These gatherings are hosted in a member’s home and invitations go out to current members only due
49 Writers Weekly Round-up Read More »
“The most difficult part of writing,” says Linda Gregerson, “is contriving a way to be open to surprise. Not surprise in general, of course: that’s merely another kind of sameness. But the right surprise: the realignment of attention or the rip in consciousness that will advance the argument or the meditation.” A 2007 National Book
Deb: Surprise, Syncopation, and Sadness Read More »
Through November, we’ll be featuring weekly student bloggers from APU’s Creative Writing Workshop. Mei Mei Evans tell us, “The students run the gamut of age and background and are a lively group. We hope that 49Writers blog followers will enjoy their posts!” When I was first asked to be a guest blogger for this website, I
APU's Evan Nasse: Take That, "The Man" Read More »
“Beyond this one absolute – in which all dramatic effects must be achieved by showing – exists a rich variety of ways in which a writer may balance showing and telling, all of them equally capable of granting us access to a world where the secret life is made momentarily, luminously visible.” ~Catherine Brady In
Deb: Scene and Summary Read More »
It’s Alaska Book Week, during which we create a collective platform for Alaska’s authors. But what about the other 51 weeks in the year, and your individual author platform? Read on! Unless you’ve been systematically ignoring the evolution of the publishing industry, you’ve probably heard about the need to build a platform as a writer. Rachelle Gardner,
Lorena Knapp: Building Your Platform as a Writer Read More »
We enjoyed a great craft talk earlier this week with Kris Farmen at Great Harvest Bread. Kris impressed us with his in-depth knowledge of the historical period in which he has set his newly published novel, Turn Again—the Kenai Peninsula of the 1890s—and his description of the process and challenges of writing a novel drawn
49 Writers Weekly Round-up Read More »
Tolstoy had an entirely different plan for the character of Anna Karenina. I happily stumbled across that fact last week in a book called Showing and Telling by Laurie Alberts. According to Tolstoy’s translator, Alberts explains, Anna in the original conception “was a crude, hypocritical beauty and her husband, portrayed in the final draft as
Andromeda: Character: Fiction's Master Key Read More »
This is the fourth and last post in the series from our September guest author. Thank you, Kathy Tarr! Before Netflix and YouTube, and before I could choose from a thousand cable channels, there was public television. I tuned in to anything Bill Moyers did on PBS, and especially recall his acclaimed poetry series, and
Kathleen Tarr: On Salman Rushdie and the Necessity of the Imaginative Dimension Read More »
