When summer arrives, we Alaskans tend to head out of the city for the weekend to make the most of our long hours of daylight. But before you finalize your plans, remember these upcoming one-time opportunities from 49 Writers:
On Friday, July 20, 1:00-4:00 pm and Friday, July 27, 1:00-5:00 pm, Erin Wahl will be offering a two-part workshop called Inspiration and Innovation through Primary Resources. Although the workshop starts off at the 49 Writers classroom on 645 W. 3rd Avenue, we will move on quickly to the Attwood Resource Center at the Anchorage Museum, where manager/librarian Teressa Williams will introduce us to the rich materials in their archives. The second session will take place at the UAA/APU Consortium Library (free parking on Fridays), where Anna Bjartmarsdottir (English Liaison/Instruction & Reference Librarian) looks forward to providing a tour of their collections and introducing us to the comprehensive variety of digital resources available to the writer conducting research or looking for inspiration. Both sessions will include time for writing inspired by material from the archives/collections and sharing of work.
On Friday, August 10, 7:00-8:30 pm, poet and essayist Dan Beachy-Quick will feature in a summer Synergies event at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson auditorium with Alaska musician Emily Kurn. Don’t miss this exciting pairing of talent! If you have family and friends visiting, what better way to entertain them of a summer evening? Emily has been described as “one of the exciting voices of folk music” and compared to Iris Dement. Dan is visiting Alaska to conduct a Poetry Workshop in McCarthy for our partner, the Wrangell Mountains Center, August 12-17. To learn more about that workshop, staff, and venue, click here. Members of 49 Writers are entitled to a 10 percent discount.
This summer our youth program, Write Young Alaska (WYAK), is partnering with Mountain View Community Library to offer workshops and writing groups as part of their Writer’s Block activities on Tuesdays. Other news from WYAK is that the winners of our third and final spring writing contest, “Hunted” (judged by Canadian writer Cheryl Rainfield, author of Hunted), can now be announced: in the 12 and under category Sara Chen won for “The Hunt of My Life;” the 15 and under winner was Erin Donelson for “They Can’t Be Far Away;” and Trevor Woodhouse won in the 20 and under category for “Bug-Hunting.” Congratulations! The winning entries from all three competitions and many other creative contributions from Alaska’s young writers can be found in our recently published WYAK anthology, soon to be available in downloadable PDF on the WYAK website, www.WriteYoungAK.com.
Be sure to take advantage of the 2012 Northern Renaissance Arts & Sciences Reading series with keynote speaker Gary Snyder on July 8, 8:00 pm in the Wendy Williamson Auditorium on the UAA Anchorage campus. UAA faculty will read and speak every evening (except July 13) July 9-17, at 8:00 pm in Fine Arts 150 at UAA. Click here for a printable schedule of readings.
- Sunday July 8: Gary Snyder (Wendy Williamson Auditorium)
- Monday July 9: Ed Allen, Nancy Lord, Valerie Miner
- Tuesday July 10: Jo-Ann Mapson, Eva Saulitis, Derick Burleson
- Wednesday July 11: Graduating Students Reading
- Thursday July 12: Rich Chiappone, Zack Rogow, Linda McCarriston
- Saturday July 14: Ernestine Hayes, Sean O’Grady, Carolyn Turgeon
- Sunday July 15: Anne Caston, Craig Childs
- Monday July 16: David Stevenson David Kranes
- Tuesday July 17: Sherry Simpson, Andromeda Romano-Lax
This week we received the following message from the Rasmuson Foundation: “Can she do it? Can we do it together? Alaska author Andromeda Romano-Lax is raising funds to research her next novel. We’re all in for her new work that explores 1920s psychology, the rise of the parenting advice industry, and the controversial individuals who made history. Will you join us for this and other Alaska projects now on the USA Projects site?” Click here to see a brief video presentation and to learn more about how you can support the project. At the time of writing, Andromeda has raised 14 percent of the $5,500 funded and has 41 days lefts to meet her goal.
Submissions:
Ashland Creek Press seeks book-length submissions of fiction and nonfiction on the themes of travel, the environment, ecology, and wildlife. ACP is looking for exceptional, well-written, engaging stories. www.ashlandcreekpress.com.
Damselfly Press seeks exceptional writing from female writers of all experience. Currently accepting fiction, poetry, and nonfiction for its twenty-first issue. Deadline is Sept. 15, 2012.
The New Guard Review contest offers $2K in prizes/publication. Deadline July 18; $15 entry fee. Judge: Rick Bass, fiction and Jeanne Marie Beaumont, poetry. Submit at www.newguardreview.com/ TNG/ PO Box 10612, Portland, ME 04104.
For more information about literary happenings around the state, visit the Alaska Literary Events Calender.