I was a junior high writing teacher in northwest Alaska for many years. One of my favorite classes ever was a group of 8th graders I had first period. I know, you’re thinking, writing? First period? 13 year olds? For someone who was never a morning person, I often asked myself the same. But we […]
Lynn DeFilippo: Untracked Read More »
Independence Mine State Historical Park photo credit, Leanne Quirk I was chatting with a friend recently, an avid poetry reader and a writer, following a celebration of William Stafford’s poetry. It seemed the perfect time to encourage her to submit a poem or two for our statewide Poems in Place call. She said she had nothing to offer. “After
Wendy Erd: Language and Place Read More »
I love poems. I love reading them aloud. When the New Yorker comes, I flip to the poems first. (Okay, after the comics.) I love memorizing poems and hearing them read by their authors and sharing them with friends. I love studying poems and posting poems inpublic places. And, though I’ve only had one poem
Christine Byl: Lyric Tinkering Read More »
What a week it has been! Multiple literary events to launch our spring season and a multitude of literary friends turning out for classes and author readings. It feels so good to reconnect with our community. First thanks go to the warm and wonderful Camille Dungy for her excellent poetry class, “How to Write a
Linda: 49 Writers Weekly Roundup Read More »
One month ago, we moved to a tiny village in the mountains of northern Taiwan, where my husband snagged a short-term English teaching position. It’s a place of jade-colored mountains and pink-blossomed cherry trees, parks and trails, tea stalls and fried mushrooms stands, and mosaics and murals in honor of the aboriginal Tayal culture. In other words,
“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next to find ourselves…” Pico Iyer. I left Alaska last November for a winter’s worth of travel. After 10 years of public school teaching and almost as many living in rural, small town Alaska, I needed a break. Leaving one’s home digs for new environs, no
Lynn DeFilippo: The Traveling Journal Read More »
Well-known as a novelist, John Straley is also a poet; “The Gift,” he says, is an old poem from his cowboy days. Don’t miss his craft talk, “Lessons from a Life of Crime,” Thursday night, Feb. 6, from 7:00-8:30 pm at the Great Harvest Bread Company in Anchorage. THE GIFT Pulling a pack string up the
Alaska Shorts: The Gift, by John Straley Read More »
I’ve spent the past few months outside Talkeetna, an area I’ve loved visiting but always wanted to explore in more depth, especially in the winter. Throngs of summer tourists, fishing nuts and international summit seekers are nowhere to be found in January, and Talkeetna shows its true colors as a scrappy, artsy village that manages
Christine Byl: Writing the Complexities of Place Read More »
On Tuesday, February 4, 2014, at 7 pm at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center (W. 7th Avenue entrance), poets Camille Dungy and Sean Hill will discuss “Writing the Whole Environment”: what it means to write about family, history, community, and the natural world. A question-and-answer session and book signing will follow. Admission is free. Here, an introductory poem from
Deb: Meet Poets Camille T. Dungy and Sean Hill Read More »
This week we reached a new milestone: our current membership is more than double what it was this time last year! Thank you to the 28 new members who have joined since the beginning of 2014, who hail from not only Anchorage but also Douglas, Juneau, Skagway, and Wasilla. We’re just a few short of
Linda: 49 Writers Weekly Roundup Read More »
