First things first: our online discussion of Miranda Weiss’s TIDE, FEATHER, SNOW will open today at about 4 p.m. I’ll start a fresh thread, and all are invited to post comments there through the weekend, until Sunday evening. This is our third online book club, and the way it works as that the moderator (Andromeda, this time around) generally checks in regularly, adding a few more comments each time, to keep the conversation going. Visit once or visit many times — we’d love to hear from all of you.
Lots of good news from Alaska writers this week.
Cinthia Ritchie, a regular guest-poster here, received the grand jury prize at Memoir (and) for an essay called “Pig Road,” the summary for which reads: ‘When the brutal murder of a teenage girl occurs close to home, the narrator’s life begins to unravel.’ The journal featuring the winning essay goes on sale Aug. 22.
Cinthia also has poems coming out in 42opus, Sugar Mule and Little White Poetry Journal. She has offered to write a post about how to get published in literary magazines and I sure hope she does; clearly, she’s figured out some great strategies we’d all like to know.
Ken Waldman has self-published a children’s book and CD set called D IS FOR DOG TEAM, a sequence of Alaska-set acrostic poems. He explains, “It’s a dos-a-dos book, meaning if you go to the back cover, you have to flip it over, and there you’ll find another “front,” and another sequence of children’s acrostic poems, this one titled D IS FOR DENALI.
Waldman has a long list of appearances coming up. The full schedule can be found at www.kenwaldman.com). Confirmed dates include:
Juneau, Monday, June 29: Rainy Retreat Books; KTOO radio interview; kids’ show and then general show at Canvas Arts.
Haines, Thursday, July 2: Babbling Book Bookstore; Haines Public Library show.
Girdwood, Sunday, July 5: Girdwood Forest Fair set.
Anchorage, Tuesday, July 7-Thursday, July 9: Anchorage library–summer reading program shows at five branches.
Palmer, Friday, July 10: Bagels Alaska show.
Talkeetna, Saturday, July 11: Moose Drop Festival set.
Fairbanks, Sunday, July 12: Beluga Nights concert series.
Fairbanks, Tuesday, July 14: Museum of the North signing.
Denali Park, Tuesday, July 14: Denali Education Center show.
Denali Park, Wednesday, July 15: Denali Salmon Bake show.