If you missed Bill Streever, he will be making an appearance on Sunday, February 10, 2pm at the Eagle River Nature Center, where he will talk about Heat. Free admission, $5 parking for non-members.
There was also a great show of interest in last Sunday’s panel on Writing Science Creatively at the Hotel Captain Cook, which necessitated extra chairs! Attendees represented a good mix of scientists in town for the Alaska Marine Science Symposium and local writers. Panelists Nancy Lord, Sherry Simpson, Andromeda Romano-Lax, and Judith Connor shared their experience and thoughts on how to write about the natural world in a non-academic way, reminding us of the importance of experience, observation, imagination─and curiosity. Our thanks go to Marilyn Sigman of the Alaska Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE-Alaska) for organizing such an excellent event as part of her practicum for the UAA MFA program.
If you live in Barrow or know someone who does, we have partnered with the Tuzzy Consortium Library and UAF English Department to bring author Alan Heathcock to Barrow for Crosscurrents: A Confluence of Writers and Readers, a series of literary events funded by the Alaska Humanities Forum:
- Saturday, February 2, 12-2pm: Five Things You Absolutely Positively Must Do to Write a Great Story, writing workshop
- Saturday, February 2, 2:30-4pm: Writing on the Edge, an on-stage conversation between Alan Heathcock and Debby Dahl Edwardson
- Monday, February 4, 5:30-7pm: Why I Write, Why We Write, a reading and craft talk
Today, January 25, is Burns Night, a highlight of the year for lovers of
Scotland’s national bard. Eat haggis (after first addressing it properly, of course)! Drink whisky! Recite Burns' poetry and succumb to sentimentality!
LAST CHANCE TO APPLY for the Science Fiction
and the Nonfiction Apprenticeships is today, Friday, January 25. Click
here for information.
LAST CHANCE TO SUBMIT your entry for the 3rd Annual Alaska Statewide Youth and Art Writing
Competition is today, Friday, January 25, 10pm. Click here for more details on the F Magazine website.
Here’s a reminder of upcoming 49 Writers events and classes:
- Saturday, February 9, 10am-1pm: “Writing Fiction and Non: How Story Chooses Its Form,” a workshop with Christine Byl
- Saturday, February 9 at various times: “Writing Your Place” at Anchorage Reads, a writing workshop, reading by Eowyn Ivey, and panel of Alaska authors.
- Monday, February 11, 7:00pm: A Reading, Craft Talk and book signing with Cinthia Ritchie at Great Harvest Bread Company
- Saturday, February 16, 9:00am-4pm: “Bring in the Clowns: the Uses of Humor in Writing,” a workshop with Richard Chiappone
- Monday, February 19, 6:30-8:30pm: Building a Platform as a Writer, a series of workshops with Lorena Knapp
- Tuesday, February 19, 7:00pm: An Evening with New State Writer Laureate, Nora Marks Dauenhauer, at Wilda Marston Theatre, Loussac Library. (In partnership with Anchorage Public Library and Alaska Writers Guild)
- Tuesday, February 19, 6-9pm: Spiritual Writing: An Introduction, a series of classes with Kathleen Tarr
Coming at the UAA Campus Bookstore: Monday, February 4, 5-7pm, author Eowyn Ivey will read from The Snow Child and be interviewed by David Stevenson, director of the CWLA MFA program at UAA. (Co-sponsored with Anchorage Reads) On Monday, February 11, 5-7pm, Vic Fischer will discuss his memoir, To Russia, With Love. And on Wednesday, February 13, 5:30-7pm, GEM (Gordon) Thomas will present "The Journey of Writing the Strong Roads Series."
The deadline for the Fairbanks Arts Association’s Annual Statewide Poetry Contest has been extended to Monday, February 11, 6pm, postmarked or hand-delivered to the FAA, Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts, Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way, Fairbanks. Winners will be announced March 9, 7pm. This year’s juror is Anne Coray. Divisions are Adult, High School, and Elementary and Middle School. For school students, entry fees are $3 per poem or $10 for four poems. For adults, entry fees are $4 per poem or $13 for four poems. Alaska residents only; no more than four poems per person. Poems must be original and not previously published, and must not exceed 100 lines in length. Each must be typed or formatted to an 8 ½ x 1inch sheet of paper. A separate cover page should include name, address, phone and division, as well as the titles of all poems submitted. AUTHORS’ NAMES SHOULD NOT APPEAR ON ANY POEMS. Digital Submissions may be emailed to digitalfaa@gmail.com Fees for these will be accepted by phone, mail, or in person. Otherwise, send entries with entry fee to Fairbanks Arts Association, FAA Poetry Contest 2013, PO Box 72786, Fairbanks AK 99707.
Congratulations to writer Doris Bordine on the publication of The Flip of a Coin, a book chronicling her family’s 114 years in Alaska. The story begins in Sweden and leads to the startup of the Alaska Sportsman Magazine in Ketchikan in 1935, the precursor of Alaska Magazine. Copies of her book can be ordered from Northbooks in Eagle River.
49 Writers Spring faculty member
Kathleen Tarr will be a guest speaker at the 31st Annual Cocoa Beach
Writers’ Conference sponsored by the Space Coast Writers’ Guild in Cocoa Beach,
Florida, January 26-7.
If you have news of events of interest to writers or a literary success to share, feel free to contact us at 49writers@gmail.com.
If you have news of events of interest to writers or a literary success to share, feel free to contact us at 49writers@gmail.com.