Sun jackknifes into the river. Elsewhere, wars blight and innocents die. The river’s texture of fish-skin, sparks, and burbles can breed a harvest of grief. The month my mother died, I plied her with chocolate determined to keep her alive. Near the end, I touched a damp […]
Spotlight on Alaska Books: River of Light by John Morgan Read More »
Photo courtesy of Christina Whiting First of all, we’d like to express our appreciation to everyone who participated in last Friday’s Write-a-thon – a great time was had by all at Snow City Café as you created new work and raised money for 49 Writers! We’ll have a full report for you next week. Special thanks go to
Linda: 49 Writers Weekly Roundup Read More »
The gun handle is facing my mother’s withered body as she labors to breathe through a mouth that grimaces more than smiles these days. Her hair is pure white now, like ivory, and her skin is the color of cream. It’s obvious how fragile she is in an emaciated state. She chills easily. The day’s
Anita Dale: The Gun Read More »
Tiger Swallowtail on lilac “The principal object, then, proposed in these Poems was to choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible…” – William Wordsworth, “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” For twenty-eight years, we lived in the same house a few miles from Palmer. The
Katie Eberhart: Common Life Read More »
For a while we watched expectantly. Then Volk and Ted broke out fishing rods. I dozed in the afternoon sun on the bank of the East Fork of the Chandalar River, now fifty or sixty miles above the Arctic Circle. Ted and Volk were looking intently upriver when I awoke. “Johnny Frank coming,” Stanley announced.
Spotlight on Alaska Books: Dreaming Bears Read More »
The whishing snow over the frozen river Sends sastrugis marching to the Ice boom drum. The wind chime Rhymes carry from houses on the Western bluff, Whose windows squint in the sinking sun. The jet plane above the Eastern Bank flies silently, stalked by engine churn. A dog team, small and invisible, barks In my ear.
Alaska Shorts: The Tanana Chats Read More »
Tonight’s the night! The Write-a-thon at Snow City Café, 5:30–10:30 p.m. Thanks to you, we’ve raised around $5,000 so far. In the past 24 hours alone, we’ve raised nearly $1,500. A tremendous thank you to all those already registered and their supporters. If you haven’t registered, it’s not too late to sign up. Online registration
Lynn: 49 Writers Roundup! Read More »
What have you done lately for your writing community? What have you done for yourself as a writer? If your answer to either is “not enough,” fear not. Tomorrow night, these two priorities meet in perfect convergence at the 4th Annual 49 Writers Write-a-thon. You’ve got a story to start. A novel to finish. An
Deb: A Writer’s Convergence Read More »
Walking along the Matanuska River Laboring on yet another revision of my essay Driving the Dempster, I realized that I could not include every interesting occurrence or idea but I also could not bring myself to permanently jettison the deleted fragments. In The Art of Travel, Alain de Botton wrote “Journeys are the midwives of
Katie Eberhart: Digressive Travel Read More »
The Minnesota Northwoods Writers Conference[1] at Bemidji State University is back again for its second year after a four-year hiatus. On the BSU campus on the shores of Lake Bemidji where you’re likely to be awakened by the haunting call of a loon or inspired by the grace of a bald eagle, conference attendees are
Sean Hill: The Minnesota Northwoods Writers Conference Read More »
