Review by Dan Branch Tom Sexton has always seemed pretty Alaskan to me. But, he grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts. He served in the Army at Anchorage’s Ft. Richardson, and eventually obtained an MFA from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. Then he established a Creative Writing Program at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. Twenty-four […]
Cummiskey Alley, a new book of poems by the Alaskan Tom Sexton Read More »
REMEMBERING TERRENCE COLE Terrence Cole died on December 12, 2020. He was 67. A lover of family, friends and Alaskan history, he served thirty years as a professor at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. In May of 2018, Dan Branch and I encountered Terrence at the North Words Writer’s Symposium in Skagway. By then,
Remembering Terrence Cole by Doug Pope Read More »
Before sifting through today’s blog photographs, I put the kettle on to boil and drop a bag of Barry’s Irish Breakfast Tea into a mug. Then I start the music from the Chieftains first album playing on the stereo. Aki follows me around the kitchen after the water boils. Something about the smell of Irish
A Long Way from Ireland at Christmas: By Dan Branch Read More »
A guest post by author and North Words Program Director Daniel Henry. (First Posted in May, 2018). As Time magazine’s travel correspondent since 1986, Pico Iyer has visited nearly every corner of the globe in search of the astonishing, remarkable, bizarre, and profound. He’s the author of bestselling books including Video Night in Kathmandu and The Global
Revisiting His Dash to Stay Still: Pico Iyer on the Craft and Life of a Restless Writer Read More »
When I heard writer Eva Holland interviewed on public radio about her book Nerve, Adventures in the Science of Fear, I knew I had to read it. Holland lives in Whitehorse, Yukon and is a correspondent for Outside Magazine. In this debut work of nonfiction, Holland unpacks and dissects her debilitating struggle with a wide
At this very moment, I’m nervously waiting to hear back from a half-dozen authors I’ve asked to blurb a new novel coming out in 2021. Even after a lifetime of writing books, and even though I’ve served as both blurber and blurbee, I continue to be confused by peer-written testimonials. Is the key to getting
Andromeda Romano-Lax: Asking for Help Read More »
(Rainy Day Eagle, Photo by Dan Branch) On the third Friday of every month, 49 Writers profiles an Alaskan writer. Some are written for the post. This month’s profile of Homer Writer Tom Kizzia was written by Julia O’Malley for a grant from the Rasmussen Foundation. The foundation has been kind enough to allow this
Alaska Writer’s Series: Julia O’Malley Profiles Tom Kizzia Read More »
Those of us lucky enough to have known or been taught by Eva Saulitis still miss her after she died in 2016. She left behind a body of writing which reveals a strong understanding of nature, love, and loss. She wrote truth with a courage that few can equal. More than seven years ago she
First Friday Reposting: Eva Saulitis: The Goshawk Within Read More »
(Photo by Dan Branch) When then 49 Writers Executive Director Jeremy Pataky suggested we create a podcast, I volunteered to use my skills as a former public broadcaster and produce and host it on the spot. I wanted to hear what writers were thinking and writing at this pivotal time on multiple fronts. Two years
Kathryn H. Ross on her journey confronting racism as a young, black woman after a relatively discrimination-free childhood, and her debut essay and poetry collection, Black Was Not A Label, “a heart song of who I am, what I’ve gone through and my hope for the future.” Writers and artists discuss their work in these
AVP 15: Kathryn H. Ross, Writer, Author of “Black Was Not a Label” Read More »
