Thank
you to everyone who contributed to the planning of our successful Reading & Craft Talk last week featuring Eva Saulitis. We were glad of the opportunity to
collaborate with AQR and, as always, enjoyed the hospitality of Great Harvest
Bread Company while appreciating the event coordination by Lucian
Childs behind the scenes. Thanks also go to Rachel Epstein at the UAA Bookstore
for providing Eva’s latest titles for sale. Eva’s reading included her
non-fiction piece from the Fall & Winter 2012 issue of Alaska Quarterly
Review, “Thirteen Attempts,” which reminded us all just how difficult it can be
to find the right way into a story that is close to our heart.
of us who had the opportunity to attend Eva’s Saturday workshop were not disappointed!
After her Friday reading four more people signed up so it was a little cramped
in the classroom, but how could we turn anyone away? Eva put the “work” in
workshop with a series of writing prompts that generated some very promising
story starts by the creative group assembled. Our next project with Eva is a
Crosscurrents literary weekend in Kodiak, April
21-22, made possible by funding from the Alaska Humanities Forum.
Be sure to join us on First Friday, April 5, 7:00pm, when visiting author Nancy
Zafris participates in a Crosscurrents on-stage conversation on
with
Fairbanks author Frank
Soos (one of Eva’s early mentors) at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson
Center. On Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7, Nancy will teach a nine-hour workshop on Short Story Structure and Brainstorming (register here). This is a rare opportunity to work with a renowned educator who receives glowing reviews for her sessions at the annual Kenyon Review Writers Workshop.
Write-a-thon update: With $3,312 raised by 23 participants with 87 supporters, we are approaching the half-way mark of our $8,000 fundraising goal with two weeks to go. If you haven’t yet registered it’s easy to do so:
just go to our FirstGiving
webpage and click Join Now. For reasons to participate in the event on April 12, 6:00-11:00pm, see yesterday’s
blog post! You will find more information about the event and how it
supports writers around the state at our website. Fireside Books in Palmer will donate 1% of its proceeds on April 9 (4/9) to the Write-a-thon, so be sure to shop there if you can and thank David Cheezem for their sponsorship.
49 Writers classes and events in April– details at 49writingcenter.org:
- Sunday, April 7, 2:00-4:00pm: Poetry workshop in Palmer with Julie LeMay
- Saturday, April 20 & 27, 10:00am-1:00pm: What’s Next? Juneau workshop with Amy O’Neill Houck
- Saturday, April 27, 9:00am-4:00pm: Anatomy of the Sentence with Andromeda Romano-Lax
49 Writers and the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) are partnering again to offer two new workshops: a Virtual Critique on May 11 (manuscripts due April 14) and Revision: Becoming Your Own Editor on July 8. Visit our website for more information and to register.
Congratulations to Barbara Williams, one of our members who submitted to the Alaska Magazine blog and had “No Experience Necessary” published this month.
Remember that the deadline is March 30 for the WC&C scholarship. AWP offers two annual scholarships of $500 each to emerging writers who wish to attend a writers’ conference, center, retreat, festival, or residency. The scholarships are applied to fees for winners who attend one of the member programs in AWP’s Directory of Conferences & Centers. Winners and four finalists also receive a one-year individual membership in AWP.
Propose an Event for AWP 2014: Event proposals for AWP’s 2014 Conference & Bookfair in Seattle, WA will be accepted from Monday, April 1 through Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The 2014 conference will be held February 26-March 1, 2014 at the Washington State Convention Center and Sheraton Seattle Hotel and will feature a keynote address by Annie Proulx. New guidelines for 2014 proposals are now available online. Please consult the handbook as you craft your proposal.
Congratulations to the latest AWP Intro Journals Project winners, who include John Messick, UAF, for “Discovering Terra Incognita” (Creative Non-Fiction), Tampa Review, and Zackary Medlin, UAF, for “The Collective Nouns of Inanimate Objects” (Poetry), Mid-American Review. In the Fiction category, Christie Hinrichs, UAF, received an Honorable Mention for “Snag.” The competition recognizes excellent new fiction, poetry, and nonfiction by students in AWP’s member programs. Way to go, UAF!
The Island Institute is holding a community reading on Sunday, March 31, 4:00-5:30pm at the Yaw Chapel on Sheldon Jackson Campus featuring two of their writers-in-residence. Sierra Golden will read poetry about life as a fisherman and Cedar Marie will share her stories about women of the fishing fleet. $10 suggested donation. Hors d’oeuvres provided.
April 9, 7:30pm, UAA/APU Consortium Library 307 – Join us at the 2013 Alaska Literary Series/Boreal Books Anchorage Launch that includes readings by Mei Mei Evans, Erin Hollowell, Carolyn Kremers, Sara Loewen, and Peggy Shumaker.
If you’re in Homer, don’t miss the opportunity to participate in a weekend workshop with Debra Gwartney, “The Art of Scene Writing in Personal Narrative,” May 3-5, Friday 5-8pm, Saturday 9:30-4:30, Sunday, 9:30-1. Fee: $185. Enrollment is limited to 12 so register early at uaonline.alaska.edu or stop by Kachemak Bay Campus, off Pioneer. The workshop is listed as CED AO49, R30 and CRN #40646. Call (907) 235-1651 for registration questions. Participants should bring a four-page scene, with twelve copies.
Today, PBS will air a Masters Series documentary about the life and work of author Philip Roth, who recently turned 80 and claims he has retired from writing. Andromeda Romano-Lax wrote an essay, “10 Things About Writing I Learned From Philip Roth” which was featured at Huffington Post this week. Check it out, take the poll if you’re a Roth reader, or leave her a comment.
Tonight, Friday March 29, 7pm, the Midnight Sun Visiting Writers Series presents Eowyn Ivey, Wood Center Ballroom. She will also give a craft talk at 3pm in the Alumni Lounge on the UAF campus.
Tomorrow, Saturday March 30, 7pm,, the winners of the Fairbanks Arts Association Statewide Poetry Contest will be honored and will perform at the Bear Gallery, Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts, Fairbanks.
On Saturday, April 6, 11:30am, Dan Bigley and Debra McKinney will be at Fireside Books in Palmer to meet readers and discuss their collaboration on Beyond the Bear, the inspiring story of how Dan rebuilt his life after a near-fatal bear mauling.
Looking ahead to the next Poetry Parley on Wednesday April 17, readers are sought to perform poems by the marquee poet, Sandra Cisneros. If interested please contact poetryparley@gmail.com asap.
The North Words Writers Symposium schedule, May29-June1, is now available. This year’s symposium features Oregon writer-activist Kathleen Dean Moore, former Anchorage Daily News editor (now writer) Howard Weaver, and Alaskan writers John Strayley, Heather Lende, Lynn Schooler, Andromeda Romano-Lax, Kim Heacox, and, Dave Hunsaker. A 488 page compilation of historical features and photographs titled Skagway, City of the New Century will be launched at the conference. Curated by Jeff Brady of Lynn Canal Publishing, the book contains essays by Brady himself as well as many other Skagway writers and regional historians.
Congratulations to the winners of the F Magazine Statewide Youth Art and Writing Competition. The winning pieces will be on exhibit at Out North Art House, 3800 DeBarr Rd.
Because I am very very excited about the opportunity to share my written words, I wanted to say that I am scheduled to be the local guest poet at the upcoming April Poetry Parley ~ junemoon (aka Janet Elliott).
I hope to see some of you there! Big Smiles.