Once again we are indebted to Sandra Kleven for
organizing this year’s Poets in Winter dialogue on the 49 Writers blog last
weekend, and to Vivian Faith Prescott for her assistance in promoting the event
and for contributing to the conversation. Many thanks to our two featured poets, Emily Wall and John Morgan, for participating. Do check out the discussion thread in
the comments sections of Vivian’s blog post, A
Bright Spot in Winter – it’s an honor to spend a little time in the company
of these thoughtful and inspiring poets.
Bird registration is now open for the 2013 Tutka Bay Writers Retreat, September 6-8. Visiting writer Ron
Carlson is this year’s retreat leader, so don’t miss the opportunity to learn
from a respected author and educator, while enjoying the many benefits of a
remote and beautiful environment in which to focus on your creative writing.
Our hosts at Tutka Bay Lodge will ensure that you have a memorable experience –
their hospitality knows no bounds. We’re not surprised that in 2012 Fodor named
Tutka Bay Lodge as one of the 100 best places to stay in the world! More
details on the Retreats
page of the 49 Writers website, where you can also register. While in Alaska,
Ron will also feature in a Crosscurrents event with Don Rearden at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center on September 4, and give a reading for
Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer on September
5.
Crosscurrents event on First Friday,
April 5, 7pm at the Anchorage Museum have also been finalized.
Nancy Zafris, who is also teaching a 49 Writers workshop, “Short Story
Structure and Brainstorming,” April 6-8,
will join up with Fairbanks author Frank Soos for an onstage conversation
entitled “The Short Story: Alive and Well?” This is the 30th
Anniversary of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and both Nancy
(1990) and Frank (1998) are past winners – in addition to the fact that Nancy is
the series editor of the Award after many years as fiction editor at the Kenyon
Review.
Writers classes and events coming up in March– details at 49writingcenter.org:
- Monday, March 4, 7:00 pm, Great Harvest Bread: Reading and Craft Talk featuring poet Anne Coray, who will discuss “The Poem Within.”
- Friday, March 22, 7:00pm, Great Harvest Bread:
AQR and 49 Writers present a Reading and Craft Talk featuring Eva Saulitis (NOTE: NOT March 23, as published in the February 28 newsletter). - Saturday, March 23,
9am-4pm: Prose/Poem, a workshop with Eva Saulitis. - Saturday, March 23, 10am-1pm, Juneau Arts & Humanities Council: Characters: Real and Imagined, a class with Amy O’Neill Houck.
Arctic Entries is looking for storytellers, and what better place to find them than a community of writers? In the manner of This American Life and inspired by Stoop Stories of Baltimore, Arctic Entries brings seven community members, known and unknown, to the stage to share a personal story. Each story lasts seven minutes and relates to the show’s given theme with live, local music to compliment the heartfelt stories.
From September through May, they host monthly, Tuesday-evening performances in Anchorage at the Snow Goose Theatre. The next show on March 12, 7:30pm, has the theme of Do it Yourself: Stories of Homemade Concoctions, Solo Journeys, and Taking Matters into Your Own Hands. Looking for a better sense of who they are? Click on “shows” to listen to recordings of past stories. If you have a personal story (all stories must be true) that relates even abstractly to March’s theme, visit arcticentries.com, click on “submit a story,” and send a summary. They have story coaches and a relaxed, informal rehearsal, so don’t worry about doing it right or not onstage the night of the show.
Tickets are $10 (cash only, limit 4 tickets per-person) and are sold at the door at 6:30 p.m. the night of the show, but the event sells out quickly, and those who snag tickets usually get in line much earlier. So why not skip the line, get a free ticket for you and a friend, and tell a story?
Tonight, Friday March 1, 7.30pm, as the culmination of Homer’s Big Read, Tim O’Brien will deliver the Capstone Address at the Mariner Theater. Suggested donation $10, students and seniors free. Not to be missed!
On Saturday, March 2, 5pm, Bunnell St. Arts Gallery in Homer presents
Emilie Springer’s writing, research and interviews—“Community Voices: Tales of
Men and Fish in the North Pacific.”
Institute presents their March Writer-in-Residence Sierra Golden in a reading
on Tuesday, March 5, 7pm at the Kettelson
Library. $5 suggested donation. Refreshments will be served.
Streever for a lecture on his new book Heat:
Adventures in the World’s Fiery Places and his first book Cold: Adventures in the World’s Frozen
Places. Book-signing to follow the lecture.
F Magazine will be announcing the winners of the Third Annual Alaska Statewide Youth Art and Writing Competition (ASYAWC) at the celebratory awards ceremony March 16, 5:30pm, at Out North Art House in Anchorage and published in the summer issue of F. Everyone is invited to attend to support our creative Alaskan youth. This competition is run entirely by volunteers and made possible by the generosity of donors and grants. A special shout out goes to 49 Writers volunteer Michelle Saport for coordinating the judging process – thank you!
On March 19, 7pm, Wilda Marston Theatre, Loussac Library, the monthly program of the Alaska Writers Guild will feature David Onofrychuk, creative writing professor at APU, talking about Writing Nonfiction and Memoir. If you have ever considered writing about your Alaskan adventures, publishing your grandfather’s memoirs, or compiling the diaries of your spinster aunt turned dance hall darling, then this is the workshop for you!