I love opening my inbox to find that another Alaskan author is getting national press. This week, Lew Freedman, author of Thunder on the Tundra (Alaska Northwest Books, 2008) is featured in an interview in School Library Journal.
Alaskan poet Ken Waldman is making the rounds in the Lower 48, doing shows in Cincinnati and Dublin OH (outside of Columbus). From there it’s on to the AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) Conference in Chicago, where he’s also co-producing a show of a dozen writers who play music (Stephen King and Dave Berry, Ken?) at Buddy Guy’s Legends, a local club in town. Later this month he’ll be in Portage WI, Stevens Point WI, Madison WI, South Haven MI, and Saginaw MI.
Dana Stabenow is guest blogging this month at Jungle Red (February 11) and Minotaur’s Moments (six days beginning February 19). She’ll also be a guest on the Big Alaska radio show on 750 KFQD at 9 a.m. on February 14. And author Michael Englehard has added another stop on his tour of Anchorage and Southcentral: a signing of Wild Moments at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art on March 6, from noon to 3 pm.
At the February 19 meeting of the Anchorage Audobon (BP Energy Center, Anchorage, 7 p.m.) Alaskan nature writer Bill Sherwonit will discuss the wild nature that surrounds us — even in Anchorage — and that we carry within us, while sharing some short excerpts from his new book, Living with Wildness: An Alaskan Odyssey.
On Friday February 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Juneau Public Library, Alaskan author Dan O’Neil will talk about his life in Alaska and his New York Times Award Winning book, A Land Gone Lonesome: an Inland Voyage along the Yukon River. O’Neill has run dog teams, worked construction, built log cabins, and experienced Alaska since 1975. He was a research associate at the University of Alaska’s Oral History Program where he produced television and award-winning radio documentaries for public broadcasting. He is also the author of The Firecracker Boys and The Last Giant of Beringia.
Members of Alaska Citizens for the Chugach (ACC) are soliciting essays from anyone who visits, lives, or works in the Chugach and its wild watershed. Tell what the Chugach National Forest means to you in two pages or less (four pages handwritten). Send submissions to Deb Carlson, PO Box 702, Cooper Landing, AK 99572; email carlsons@arctic.net. A quilted wall-hanging goes to the winning essay. The deadline is April 2.
Looking ahead, the Skagway Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Skagway Arts Council are currently soliciting ideas for a writers conference in Skagway for next year – tentatively, May 2010. Contact Skagway News owner Jeff Brady at skagwaynews@aptalaska.net with your ideas. Brady also urges authors to contact him about possible signings if they’re traveling to Southeast Alaska this summer.
And don’t forget our upcoming 49 writers online book club discussion of Seth Kantner’s Ordinary Wolves on March 7 & 8. If recent comment threads are any indication, we’re looking forward to a lively dialogue.
Speaking of the AWP – anyone looking for a room to share expenses there? My roommate just canceled. I’m wondering if it’s a good idea to go after all. I am not at a stage with my work that it’s ready for promotion, so my plan to attend was for inspiration. Would love to hear comments from anyone whose attended AWP before – do you recommend it? Also – anyone want to share expenses on my reserved room at the Chicago Hilton?