Becky Saleeby After six drafts, two professional rounds of editing, and a moderate investment in publishing, I’m on the verge of seeing my first novel, Searching for Isaiah John, in print. It has taken shape, changed course, and arrived in final form over the course of a decade. Yes, one decade. But that’s a conservative […]
Becky Saleeby: On the Verge of Seeing my First Novel in Print Read More »
I didn’t let myself think about who I was trying to help as I stopped underneath the darkened balcony. She was just a girl. Just your average all-powerful, insanely beautiful girl. My thoughts weren’t calming. My heart was thumping as loud as a jackhammer at the crack of dawn—which was about what time it was,
Spotlight on Alaska Books: WORDLESS, by AdriAnne Strickland Read More »
By the time you read this I’ll be in Homer, waiting to meet up with the very diverse and accomplished group of poets and memoirists who will be participating in this year’s Tutka Bay Writers Retreat led by distinguished poet Carolyn Forché. We’ll bring you a full report next week, and post a photo album
Linda: 49 Writers Weekly Roundup Read More »
Boyhood’s Ellar Coltrane: This is going to take a long time… Whenever I’m feeling bad about how hard it is for me, my students or friends to be novelists or memoirists—the years of self-education, the long road to publication, the utter uncertainty that all that investment will ever pay off—I find it refreshing to look
Andromeda: Boyhood’s Long Road to Success: An Inspiration for Wordsmiths Read More »
Bill and Denali along Turnagain Trail In opening up my month’s worth of guest author postings, I’ll briefly reference an earlier 49 Writers contribution I made way back in September 2010, titled “Some Musings on the Essay.” To quote myself from that piece: “When people ask what I do, or how I make
Bill Sherwonit: Of Essays and Animal Stories Read More »
Stuart Archer Cohen How did you choose your first lines in the book? Part of my research in Buenos Aires was steeping myself in the expedientes of several murders committed by the police. These were huge case files made available to me by a lawyer who was one of my sources. They can run to
Lizbeth Meredith interviews Stuart Archer Cohen, author of 17 Stone Angels Read More »
I started reading Alaska Quarterly Review as an undergraduate creative writing student at University of Central Florida. Yes, Central Florida. I’m not sure whether I found the journal or the journal found me. My childhood was filled with dreams of mountains, despite being raised in a state so flat the majority of it sat below
JT Torres: Lost and Found: On the Alaska Quarterly Review Read More »
As summer draws to a close, our thoughts turn to winter writing projects that will sustain us through the long, dark days. The new schedule of creative writing classes at 49 Writers is designed to both inspire and encourage you, while you hone your writerly skills and re-connect to your literary community. The Anchorage season
Linda: 49 Writers Weekly Roundup Read More »
It was probably January when I decided to move a short distance into an abandoned log cabin right on the riverbank. Now there were two things I didn’t know. First, it was abandoned because it’s too cold right on the river, and if that wasn’t enough, this cabin had been lifted up in a flood
Spotlight on Alaska Books: Sleetmute: A True Story of Alaska, by Stan Resnicoff Read More »
The first thing I learned in journalism was this: news is written at a 4th or 5th grade reading level. For Americans the average reading level is around 7th grade. When people read for fun or information, they tend to select materials a grade or two below their actual reading level. Thus, writing at a
Jessica Ramsey Golden: Writing For the American Reading Level Read More »
