February 2013

More artful spiritual writing has been written and published over the past millennia than can ever be covered in a single class, or one lifetime of self-study. Notice I said, artful. This is the kind of spiritual writing we’ll be covering in my upcoming 49 Writers class. I was born into a secular family in […]

My first week on a Glacier National Park trail crew, I was a twenty-three year old just-out-of-college philosophy major: bookishly un-muscled and completely inept at anything involving two-cycle engines (or four-cycles ones for that matter, though I didn’t yet know the difference.) You can imagine then, that the chainsaw I held at arms’ length in

You’ve heard about the importance of building your online platform as a writer. You may have dabbled a bit with a Facebook page or creating a blog or website but you’ve been meaning to do more (or get started!) but you feel overwhelmed. You don’t know where to focus your time and energy. Let’s start with

We face a critical time at the University of Alaska Press. An essential portion of our financial support in the past six years has been year-to-year money from a foundation account at the university. This funding is no longer available. A permanent allocation of funds would provide sustainable funding for UA Press. UA President Gamble is

The blogosphere is buzzing over Anchorage author Cinthia Ritchie‘s debut novel Dolls Behaving Badly, set – where else? – in Spenard. We’re thrilled at the chance to squeeze in a few questions here. Mark your calendar for Cinthia’s 49 Writers Reading & Craft Talk on Monday, Feb. 11 at 7 pm. at Great Harvest Bread Company

 Christine Byl  Welcome to February featured author Christine Byl, whose new book, Dirt Work, is forthcoming in April.  Happy February, 49ers. I’ve been visiting this site now for a few years and in light of all the great posts I’ve read in that time, it’s an honor to be a guest here this month.

Note time change to 1:00 pm, Saturday, February 9. When you are a “popular” Alaskan author you often get invitations to sit in front of people and talk ad nauseum, or so you’ve heard from your popular Alaskan author friends. You’ve spent most of your time in the audience, and from that perspective, author panels

Of all the statements I’ve read or heard regarding creative writing, one of the truest is this: Writing cannot be taught, but it can be learned.  I know that sounds like one of those manipulative and infuriating quips you get from know-it-all Zen masters or really old, control-freak relatives intent on exuding wisdom, but it