This week I had a phone meeting about a writing project that has extremely long odds. The meeting itself was a blast. After the call ended, I kept checking in with my feelings, trying to imagine the disappointment I’d feel if the project fizzled. But no matter how I pressed and pinched, seeking anticipatory emotional […]
An invited essay in applied anthropology, “Alan Boraas and Kahtnuht’ana Qenagu: Preserving and Renewing an Alaska Native Language” was published May 22, 2022 by Kerry D. Feldman and Phyllis A. Fast in Profiles in Anthropological Praxis: An International Casebook, ed. by Terry M. Redding and Charles C. Cheney. Excerpt: “The project (a Dena’ina language self-learning
This week, I completed a 9-day DIY at-home writing retreat. My husband was out of town visiting a hospitalized family member, which gave me lots of time and space for the kind of purposefully unbalanced work marathon I’ve always needed, a few times per book. I didn’t talk to myself out loud, but I did
Watch a recording of the event: LIVE FROM STORYKNIFE Recorded: September 20 | 6 PM – 7 PM AKDT Via Zoom Live from Storyknife is a monthly reading series featuring the guest residents of the Storyknife Writers Retreat. Carolyn Forché’s most recent poetry book, In the Lateness of the World, was published in 2020 by Penguin Press and
Live from Storyknife: September Read More »
Watch a recording of the event: 49 Writers Inspiration Series: Paul Greci Recorded: Tuesday, September 13 | 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM via Zoom Inspiration is a 49 Writers series in which Writer Laureate Heather Lende will interview some of Alaska’s premier writers about their work, process, and the writing life. Paul Greci is the
49 Writers Inspiration Series: Paul Greci & Heather Lende Read More »
My friend Christi Chiello, one of the funniest human beings I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, recently posted a screenshot of a comment she’d received on an Instagram post: “I wouldn’t wanna live in a world where people are blind and clearly not intelligent enough to understand that women are scientifically less funny than
Experiments in Comedic Writing by Andrea Staats Read More »
Tommy Orange on his commended debut novel “There, There”, which tells the intertwining stories of Native Americans en route to a pow wow in Orange’s hometown of Oakland, California. He discusses what to expect from the highly anticipated sequel, the current reckoning of the past genocide of Native Americans, white supremacy and the quest for
AVP 20: Tommy Orange, Author, “There, There” Read More »
I first encountered the name Lael Morgan in a copy of an old letter to Lael on my Aunt Betsy’s desk. In the letter my aunt had praised Lael’s book And the Land Provides: Alaskan Natives in a Year of Transition for its vivid and empathetic portrayal of native life in rural Alaska at the
Lael’s Legacy Lives On by Linda Fritz Read More »
It was March, and in the morning darkness, the birch trees that lined the trail stood like ghosts in the snow. I say ghosts in part because I wasn’t wearing my glasses (they fog up in the cold, making the world blurry anyway), but also because the birch’s presence felt palpable, haunting. Enticing. Am I
On Writing Place by Daryl Farmer Read More »
I have listened to a lot of writing advice in my life. The advice always emphasizes the importance of actually writing–not just thinking about it, not reading about it, not getting everything just right at your desk before starting. Usually it’s more urgent, like, “Sit down every day at the same time and write without
Barry Said Wait by Marcia Wakeland Read More »
