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EVENTS and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Please note: the 49 Writers Statewide Roundup will now appear biweekly,
on the first and third Friday of each month.
SOUTHCENTRAL
ANCHORAGE MUSEUM | December 2, 2016—February 26, 2017 | The Cabin Fever: On Film exhibition presents non-narrative films as a single-channel installation. Four experimental films and one sound recording featuring poet and memoirist Eva Saulitis stretch the boundaries of cinema and poetry through northern artists and filmmakers who delve into the varied expressions of cabin fever, ranging from melancholy to amusement. More.
ANCHORAGE | December 5, 2016, 6 pm | 3rd annual West High Storytelling Event, West High Library, free. Suggested $5 donation proceeds directed to a nonprofit chosen by students. More info: Story Works Alaska
ANCHORAGE MUSEUM | December 7, 2016, 7-10 pm | Celluloid Wednesdays: Local Spotlight: Ward Hulbert moved to Alaska in 1958. An army captain, his first post was at Whittier’s Buckner Building. He began photographing and filming the area, inspired by its people and landscape. He has since become a painter, a sculptor and video artist and is currently writing a book about the Buckner Building. Hulbert will show 35mm slides, 16mm film, digital video and read a few pages from his forthcoming book. Presented in partnership with the Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association (AMIPA). Free. FB event
PALMER | Friday, December 9, 2016, 4 pm at Fireside Books | Chantelle Pence signs Homestead Girl, a collection of essays about Alaska as seen through the eyes of the author who came of age on one of the last homesteads in America. Chantelle Pence is from the Upper Copper River Region of Alaska. A regular contributor to the Alaska Dispatch News and Copper River Record, her work has also appeared in Elephant Journal and Zetetic Record. In 2015 she received a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award. Chantelle divides her time between her rural home and Anchorage.
PALMER | Saturday, December 10, 2016, 3 pm at Fireside Books | Tom Anderson signs North Country Troopers, a book of stories relaying early Alaska Law Enforcement and Alaska State Troopers, and Tom Brennan signs Dead Man’s Dancer, a true-life crime book about the Mechele Linehan murder.
ANCHORAGE | Arctic Entries, a community storytelling series, will occur this month on December 13, 2016 in the Atwood Theatre downtown at the PAC. This 2,000 venue is the largest venue yet. If you’ve given up on getting advance tickets because they usually sell out, now’s your chance! Tickets here. More info here.
ANCHORAGE | December 16, 2016, 1-3 pm at UAA Bookstore | Mystery author Stan Jones talk and speculative fiction authors Sterling Emmal and L. S. Goulet talk and signing. FB event
ANCHORAGE MUSEUM | December 16, 2016, 6 pm | Conversation and readings about mountaineering myth and history. Hosted by David Stevenson, professor and coordinator of the Low Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Alaska. Part of Unbound, a Museum series that “loosens words from the page through monthly experimental literary events. Included with admission. FB event
ANCHORAGE | March 31-April 1, 2017 | Organized by the graduate students within the University of Alaska Anchorage English department, the Pacific Rim Conference on English Studies invites submissions in literature, rhetoric and composition, linguistics, anthropology, history, journalism, gender studies and other related fields. See the call for proposals here.
EAGLE RIVER | The Living Room Reading Series, every 2nd Wednesday 7-9 pm at Jitters, featuring writers and book lovers. Sign up to read, or come listen. More
INTERIOR
FAIRBANKS | Fairbanks Arts Association hosts the oldest literary reading series in the state. Nearly every month, writers reading their own work publicly at a community meet-up where people can connect with other lovers of literature. Readings are held on the day after First Friday, usually the first Saturday of the month at 7 pm. Most reading are held in the Bear Gallery in Pioneer Park, although occasionally in the summer (June, July, and August) the weather is beautiful reading are held outside to another spot in Pioneer Park. Additional readings and events may be held, but the First Saturday Literary Reading Series is monthly at 7 pm the day after First Friday (except February).
FAIRBANKS | University of Alaska Press seeks a Director and Acquisitions Editor to head the department. This is a term funded, full time position. More
SOUTHEAST
JUNEAU | Sealaska Heritage Institute will release six culturally-based children’s books that reflect the Native worldview as part of its Baby Raven Reads, a program for Alaska Native families with children up to age 5 that promotes language development and school readiness. The series includes a three-book set derived from ancient creation stories that have been passed from generation to generation for thousands of years. The set includes Raven and the Box of Daylight, Raven Brings us Fire, and Origins of Rivers and Streams. The books were adapted from oral histories by Pauline Duncan and illustrated by Lindsay Carron. The series also features a book that teaches the Lingít words for colors. “In the Lingít language, words for colors come from comparisons to animals, plants and natural objects found in Southeast Alaska,” said SHI President Rosita Worl. “For example, the word for ‘blue’ comes from the Steller’s jays common to the region, so to describe something as blue, you would say ‘it is like a Steller’s jay.’” The illustrator will sign copies during December First Friday. More
JUNEAU | Tidal Echoes is open to submissions. See Opportunities section, below.
JUNEAU | 49 Writers members meetup on December 8, 2016, 7-9 pm, Park Shore Condos. Contact us for directions.
SOUTHWEST
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ARCTIC
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CONFERENCES, RETREATS, and RESIDENCIES
Alaskans interested in becoming an Audiobook Narrator can join Professional Narrator Basil Sands at The Alaska Audiobook Narrator’s Workshop with top rated Voice Acting Coaches Christa G. Lewis and Sean Pratt. Saturday, December 10, 2016, 9-5, Sandman Production Studios of Alaska, $100 per person, 15 Student Max. Learn more.
North Words Writers Symposium will be May 31-June 3, 2017 in Skagway, Alaska. This year’s keynote speaker is world world travel and fiction writer Paul Theroux. After writing nearly fifty books of nonfiction and fiction set in the most exotic of locales, America’s greatest travel writer is finally headed for one of Alaska’s most notorious: Skagway. Paul Theroux will lead a faculty of seven acclaimed authors at the 8th annual North Words Writers Symposium. A maximum of 50 registrants at the 2017 North Words Symposium will also engage with a faculty of Alaskan writers that includes John Straley, Sherry Simpson, Deb Vanasse, Tom Kizzia, Andy Hall, and Lenora Bell. Learn more and sign up soon; 50 participants max. northwordsinfo@gmail.com
2017 Kachemak Bay Writers Conference will occur June 9-13, 2017 in Homer, Alaska. Keynote speaker will be Jane Smiley. Details and more.
2017 Writers Tutka Bay Writers Retreat will occur September 10-12, 2017. Faculty to be announced soon. Details.
The Alderworks Alaska Writers and Artists Retreat in Southeast Alaska is now accepting applications for its summer 2017 cabin residencies. Three log cabins will be available as residencies for two 4-6 week periods in early and late summer. The application period for these residencies began on November 15, 2016 and will end on February 15, 2017. The retreat is located nine miles from historic Skagway at the northern end of Lynn Canal. Situated on a five-acre homestead along beautiful West Creek at the end of the Dyea Road, the retreat is within the Dyea-Chilkoot Trail unit of Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Dyea (pronounced Die-eee) was a jumping off point for young Jack London and other stampeders in 1897-98. For hundreds of years leading up to that event, Dyea was a Tlingit fishing and trading village. Testimonials, a photo gallery, cabin descriptions, residency guidelines, and information about how to apply online may be viewed at www.alderworksalaska.com. The cabins are best suited for writers, artists working in small mediums, and acoustic singer-songwriters. All residents must have a degree of self-reliance, as they will be doing their own cooking and working on their own schedule. In their vision statement, the Bradys state, “The idea is simple enough: give writers and artists a quiet, beautiful spot to create or enhance their works, and wonderful things will happen.”
OPPORTUNITIES and AWARDS for WRITERS
University of Alaska Press seeks a Director and Acquisitions Editor to head the department. This is a term funded, full time position. More
Storyknife Writers Retreat, a women’s writing residency program in Homer, Alaska, seeks to raise $250,000 to build their main house, which they’ll name “Eva’s House” in honor of Eva Saulitis. Details
23rd annual Statewide Poetry Contest now accepting entries. Deadline: 6 pm, February 1st, 2017. Administered by the Fairbanks Arts Association, this year’s contest will be judged by Jeremy Pataky. Cash prizes. Details
35th annual UAA/Alaska Dispatch News Annual Creative Writing Contest is accepting entries. Deadline: 5:30 pm, February 12, 2017. Over $800 is cash prizes. Details
On behalf of Byron Mallott, Lieutenant Governor of Alaska, Alaskans are invited to contribute brief essays (150 words or less) to “150 Reasons We Love Alaska,” a publication to be distributed in early 2017 during Alaska’s sesquicentennial year. Alaska Dispatch News will publish and distribute a booklet with entries. Submissions may be edited and then published with your permission. Also, if a photo and caption tells the story, send that. They welcome your thoughts about Alaska music, art, books, science, food, relationships, adventures — whatever describes who we are as Alaskans and what we want to be. This is modeled on the cover story of Time Magazine in July — “240 Reasons to Celebrate America”. They are not just soliciting affirmations, but also overlooked history, the things we as a state can improve in the future, or humorous anecdotes about failure — all are welcome. You may write about your occupation or specialty, but please don’t limit yourself. For example, in the Time Magazine issue the great jazz musician Wynton Marsalis celebrated Route 66, and many others gave shout-outs to their favorite regional foods or restaurants. All points of view will all be honored – whatever your heritage or background might be – the more diverse the better. This event was a turning point for Alaska Native, Russian, and American cultures. Email Kathy Kolkhorst Ruddy at kathy.ruddy65@gmail.com or call 907-321-7558 with questions. Sooner is better, with 150 word pieces due no later than December 10, 2016.
The Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities ceremony will be held in Juneau on Thursday, January 26, 2017. Visit ASCA’s website here for information about last year’s Governor’s Awardees, and here for the Alaska State Writer Laureate program.
Tidal Echoes, Southeast Alaska’s literary and arts journal published through the University of Alaska Southeast, is currently looking for submissions from all of Southeast Alaska and we hope to see people from all communities share their creative work. Deadline is December 1st, 2016. They accept prose, poetry, paintings, drawings, photography, ceramics, and more. Everything must be in a digital format, which means you need to scan art pieces or take photographs of them, so that they can be easily uploaded to our submission page on Submittable. The website is a quick and easy way to upload your work. A short bio will need to be provided alongside your contact information. http://www.uas.alaska.edu/arts_sciences/humanities/tidalechoes/
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