49 Writers presents Crosscurrents
Tales of the City: Writing from Alaska’s Urban Hubs
ANCHORAGE | October 13, 2016
5-6:45 pm – Building Fires in the Snow celebratory meet-and-greet at MUSE
7-8:30 pm – Crosscurrents event in the Anchorage Museum auditorium
As part of an author exchange facilitated by Susan McBeth at Adventures by the Book in partnership with 49 Writers, Inc., four authors will present programs of interest to writers in Anchorage Sept. 24 – 28:
Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, 9:50 -10:50 am
Breakout Session: Alaska Writers Guild Conference
Location: BP Energy Center, 900 E. Benson Blvd., Anchorage
Event: Best Practices to Present Your Book
Presenter: Kathi Diamant
Open to: conference registrants only
Host: Alaska Writers Guild, 49 Writers, SCBWI
Contact: Brooke Hartman (AWG), Jeremy Pataky (49W)
Description: How do you present your book to an audience so that they will buy it? This workshop will offer specific techniques to craft talking points about your book, and adapt those messages to various audiences, covering the spectrum from the inhabitants of an elevator, to book club groups, classrooms, speaking engagements, and print, web, radio and television interviews. Topics covered include creating a 30-second “elevator speech” and how to prepare for a live broadcast interview or speaking engagement.
Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, 11 am – noon
Breakout Session: Alaska Writers Guild Conference
Location: BP Energy Center, 900 E. Benson Blvd., Anchorage
Event: Strategic Event Planning – How to Market Your Book, Building an Author Foundation
Presenter: Susan McBeth
Open to: conference registrants only
Host: Alaska Writers Guild, 49 Writers, SCBWI
Contact: Brooke Hartman (AWG), Jeremy Pataky (49W)
Description: You wouldn’t dream of building your house without a foundation, yet counterintuitively, that’s precisely what most authors do. It’s not until after they create their book that they typically start to think about a marketing foundation to launch it successfully. In this session, Susan will share tips on how you can start building your foundation, no matter where you are at in the publishing process. Learn about some innovative ways to host your book events, whether you are setting up your very first book signing, or you are a seasoned author looking to inject new life into your book signings.
Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, 11 am – noon
Breakout Session: Alaska Writers Guild Conference
Location: BP Energy Center, 900 E. Benson Blvd., Anchorage
Event: Native Tongues: Blending the Other into Dialogue
Presenter: Marivi Soliven
Open to: conference registrants only
Host: Alaska Writers Guild, 49 Writers, SCBWI
Contact: Brooke Hartman, Jeremy Pataky
Description: In an increasingly diverse world community, writers face the challenge of replicating a myriad of voices into their stories. In this session, writers will learn to create memorable, authentic characters by capturing the cadence of English as it is spoken by non-English speakers and weaving other languages into their dialogues, including strategies for replicating the nuanced speech patterns of characters from varied cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Participants will examine excerpts from stories by Jhumpa Lahiri, Edwidge Danticat, and Soliven’s own work. Following this discussion, writers will draft passages of dialogue inspired by writing prompts. Those comfortable with sharing their work will be encouraged to read their scenes aloud for feedback.
Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016 2:10 – 3:10 pmBreakout Session: Alaska Writers Guild Conference
Location: BP Energy Center, 900 E. Benson Blvd., Anchorage
Event: Cooking Up Memoirs: How to Record History
Presenter: Kitty Morse
Open to: conference registrants only
Host: Alaska Writers Guild, 49 Writers, SCBWI
Contact: Brooke Hartman, Jeremy Pataky
Description: Have you ever daydreamed, while standing at the stove, of handing down family recipes to the next generation? Better yet, of recording your family’s history in the process? Don’t wait to tell your story. This sense of urgency motivated Kitty to write her award-winning memoir, Mint Tea and Minarets: a banquet of Moroccan memories. During this hour-long seminar, find out how she gathered family recipes and stories, tested the dishes, organized text and photographs, and mastered the publishing and marketing processes.
Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, 6 PM
Event: An Evening at the Kasbah
Location: Turkey Red Restaurant, 550 South Alaska St.
Presenter: Kitty Morse
Host: Fireside Books
Contact: David Cheezem; Barbara Hecker barbara@goodbooksbadcoffee.com
Estimated attendance: venue seats 50
Book sales: by Fireside Books
Description: Savor the authentic flavors of Morocco with Casablanca-born Kitty Morse, author of Cooking at the Kasbah: Recipes from my Moroccan Kitchen, now in its tenth printing from Chronicle Books. Chef Alex will prepare a menu featuring recipes from Kitty’s book using local Alaskan products. Have dinner while Kitty entertains guests with tales of Moroccan culture and cuisine from Dar Zitoun, her family home south of Casablanca. Books will be available for sale courtesy of Fireside Books.
Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, 9 – 10:15 am (40 minute talk)
Event: 9 AM service Anchorage Unitarian Universalist (AUU) Fellowship: “Uniting Writers and Readers for Social Justice”
Location: 2824 E. 18th Ave, Anchorage
Presenters: Susan McBeth, Marivi Soliven
Cost: none
Host: Anchorage Unitarian Universalist (AUU) Fellowship
Contact: Gary Holthaus
Estimated attendance: 50 – 60
Description: Susan McBeth, founder of Adventures by the Book, and Marivi Soliven, author of The Mango Bride, will discuss how they collaborated on “Saving Beverly,” a literary event that raised awareness and funds to assist immigrant victims of domestic violence, as well as the broader challenge of enabling meaningful interactions between writers and readers.
Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, 11:00 am – 12:15 pm (40 minute talk)
Event: 11 AM service Anchorage Unitarian Universalist (AUU) Fellowship: “Saving Beverly”
Location: 2824 E. 18th Ave., Anchorage
Presenter: Marivi Soliven
Cost: none
Host: Anchorage Unitarian Universalist (AUU) Fellowship
Contact: Gary Holthaus
Estimated attendance: 80 – 90
Book sales: following service
Description: Inspired by her work as an interpreter for immigrant survivors of domestic violence, San Diego author Marivi Soliven wrote The Mango Bride. Within the context of the novel, Beverly, an immigrant wife whose dreams of a better life vanish when her marriage turns violent, is a composite of the anonymous women for whom Soliven translates.
Domestic violence cuts through all socio-economic classes. Despite their widely differing backgrounds, immigrant wives are especially vulnerable when their legal status is controlled by an abusive spouse. During the 11 am service, Soliven will discuss the expanded protections of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the Filipino diaspora, and the Saving Beverly movement, which raises funds for community organizations that support immigrant survivors of domestic violence.
Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, 5:00 – 7:00pm
Event: Salon Meet and Greet; includes informal panel (20 – 30 minutes) “Novel Ways to Get Noticed” featuring all visiting authors
Location: Home of Martha Amore, address forthcoming to RSVPers
Presenters: Susan McBeth, Kathi Diamant, Marivi Soliven, Kitty Morse
More Info: http://49writers.web907.com/special-events-and-salons
Cost: Potluck; BYOB
Open to: 49 Writers, Alaska Writers Guild, and Alaska SCBWI current members only
Host: 49 Writers
Contact: Jeremy Pataky
Estimated attendance: 25 – 35
Description: An informal meet-and-greet potluck event, by invitation to members of 49 Writers, Alaska SCBWI, and the Alaska Writers Guild. Visiting authors will speak as an informal panel on their success with novel ways of connecting readers with their books.
Monday, Sept. 26, 5 – 7 pm
Event: Kafka’s Last Love—Dora Diamant
Location: University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) Bookstore, 2901 Spirit Way, Anchorage
Presenter: Kathi Diamant
More info: https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/bookstore/events/special-events-calendar.cfm
Cost: free
Open to: public
Host: UAA Philosophy Dept/Honors College/UAA Bookstore
Contact: John Mouracade, Rachel Epstein
Description: In her book Kafka’s Last Love: The Mystery of Dora Diamant, author Kathi Diamant explores the relationship between Franz Kafka and his companion and confidante Dora Diamant (1898-1952). It details their life in Berlin and, after his death in 1924, her passionate commitment to keep Kafka’s literary flame alive while caught in the maelstroms of fascism, communism, and the Holocaust.
Kathi Diamant is Director of the Kafka Project at San Diego State University which is an ongoing international search for Kafka’s missing literary treasure: 35 letters and 20 notebooks written by Kafka in the last year of his life, and confiscated from Dora by the Gestapo in Berlin 1933. Just returning from investigations in Berlin, Kathi will also share her latest findings and her extraordinary adventures through archives and history.
Tuesday, Sept. 27, 1 – 2:30 pm
Event: “The Mango Bride: A Frank Talk about Domestic Violence in Immigrant Communities and the Filipino Diaspora”
Location: University of Alaska (UAA) Bookstore, 2901 Spirit Way, Anchorage
Presenter: Marivi Soliven
More info: https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/bookstore/events/special-events-calendar.cfm
Cost: free
Host: UAA Public Health, UAA Bookstore
Contact: Gabe Garcia, Rachel Epstein
Description: Marivi Soliven reads from her award-winning debut novel, The Mango Bride, inspired by her work as an interpreter for immigrant survivors of domestic violence. Discussion will include the expanded protections of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the Filipino diaspora, and the Saving Beverly movement, which raises funds for community organizations that support immigrant survivors of domestic violence.
Tuesday, Sept. 27, 5:30 – 7 pm
Event: Ten Things You Should Know about Kafka (Before You Waste the Rest of Your Life)
Mountain View Branch Library, 120 Bragaw, Anchorage
Presenter: Kathi Diamant
Cost: free
Open to: public
Host: Mountain View Library
Contact: Virginia McLure
Estimated attendance: unknown
Book sales: by author
Description: Who was Franz Kafka? Why is he so important? And what does Kafkaesque really mean, anyway?
One of the most influential and misunderstood writers of our age, Franz Kafka was a lawyer who wrote in his spare time as “a form of prayer.” After his death at the age of forty in 1924, his three unfinished novels were published, and barely sold a few copies. Yet, 100 years after the publication of his most famous short story, The Metamorphosis, he has become an icon of modern literature. His name is invoked more than 75 times a day on the internet, and a new book has been published on Kafka somewhere in the world every 10 days for the past 15 years. Yet, many people have never heard of him.
In this fun and informative talk, Kathi Diamant, author of Kafka’s Last Love, and director of the SDSU Kafka Project, outlines ten things you should know to help you understand and appreciate Franz Kafka, one of the early players in defining–and shaping–our modern world view. You will discover surprising facts to impress your friends and family, and learn how reading Kafka actually can make you smarter.
Tuesday, Sept. 27, 7 – 8:30 pm
Event: “Saving Beverly” Fundraiser for Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis (AWAIC)
Location: Anchorage Unitarian Universalist (AUU) Fellowship, 2824 E. 18th Ave., Anchorage
Presenter: Marivi Soliven
Cost: $10 suggested donation
Host: Anchorage Unitarian Universalist (AUU) Fellowship; fundraiser for AWAIC
Contact: Gary Holthaus
Estimated attendance: unknown
Book sales: following program
Description: Inspired by her work as an interpreter for immigrant survivors of domestic violence, San Diego author Marivi Soliven wrote The Mango Bride. Within the context of the novel, Beverly, an immigrant wife whose dreams of a better life vanish when her marriage turns violent, is a composite of the anonymous women for whom Soliven translates.
Domestic violence cuts through all socio-economic classes. Despite their widely differing backgrounds, immigrant wives are especially vulnerable when their legal status is controlled by an abusive spouse. After several women shared their own stories of domestic violence, Soliven realized that more could be done –should be done – to spare others from suffering Beverly’s fate.
At the Saving Beverly event in Anchorage, Soliven will discuss the expanded protections of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the Filipino diaspora, and the Saving Beverly movement, which raises funds for community organizations that support immigrant survivors of domestic violence. $10 suggested donation to support Abused Women Aid in Crisis (AWAIC).
Wednesday, Sept. 28, 6:30 – 8 pm
Event: “Sprinkle Flowers on Your Plate” for the Alaska Botanical Garden Lecture Series
Location: BP Energy Center Birch Room, 900 E. Benson, Anchorage
Presenter: Kitty Morse
More Info: http://alaskabg.org/programsevents/
Cost: $30 ABG members; $35 non-members
Host: Alaska Botanical Garden (ABG) with 49 Writers
Contact: Stacey Shriner
Estimated attendance: room holds 75
Book sales: following program
Description: Let award-winning cookbook author Kitty Morse take you on a fragrant excursion through the world of edible flowers. During her presentation, Kitty will share her knowledge of growing, gathering and cooking with these delectable edibles. A sampling of flowers and treats containing them, recipe handouts, and a signing of Kitty’s latest book, Edible Flowers: A Kitchen Companion with recipes (www.chefspress.com.) round out the presentation.