It was ten years ago this month, in January 2016, that I found myself drawn to a former adult bookstore on Spenard Road in Anchorage for a poetry reading. A shabby building in a neglected part of town, the building represented the dream of a small group of writers – Vered Mares, Teeka Ballas, and […]
Gratitude to those who gathered us by Barbara Hood Read More »
by Dawnell Smith Some of my friends steer clear of tough subjects when choosing books, at least some of the time. They want light reading to escape the real world and have some fun. (Strangely, some of these books involve mysterious dark forces and blood-sucking romance with a lot of bloodshed, but who am I
Bloom Again–a novel that sees collaboration as the seed of hope Read More »
Or how I learned to stop grumbling and love the conference (and workshops, open mics, and lectures) By Lauren Cusimano I hate writers’ conferences. Or, at least I did until very recently. For years, something about them made me grumpy (please note, I am often grumpy by default). It was maybe the overall message that,
An ode to writer’s events Read More »
What do writing and mindfulness have in common? Well – a lot, actually. Both require that we sit still and focus our attention. Both are a process of exploration, a means of coming to know ourselves and the rest of the world a little better. And both have the potential to be simultaneously challenging and
Summertide blew us away! No, seriously. Gusts of wind and pelting rain whooshed against the southside Anchorage home where folks hung out in a cozy living room talking about writing and reading their work. Longtime members and newbies alike cycled from writing prompt to writing prompt at tables spread throughout the house. For nourishment, they
Summertide Blew Us Away Read More »
Author Kim Heacox’s 2023 novel, On Heaven’s Hill (OHH), has been described by novelist Kimi Eisele as “…the kind of story the planet needs right now.” It depicts a small town in coastal Alaska where a group of war veterans form an unlikely alliance with feisty schoolchildren to help defend a pack of wolves. It
A 49 WRITERS INTERVIEW WITH KIM HEACOX Read More »
Puzzles and games in fiction serve a different function than mystery and tension. The latter two exist in all fiction and at their heart posit the question: what will happen next? Puzzles stand apart. We have immediate access to the scaffolding. They exist within the more explicitly stated construct of rules and parameters. After all,
Crimes Against Mimesis and Linear Narratives by Kristen Ritter Read More »
Allison Silverman has written for some of the greatest satiric minds of television: Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Cecily Strong, Tina Fey. When she was in college she would watch comedy onstage and make a note whenever a status shift occurred. “Status informs all humor,” she maintains. So, what is a status shift? Consider a toddler.
Comedy Status Shifts by Kristen Ritter Read More »
I was watching Christopher Nolan’s war epic, Dunkirk, and I found myself performing a familiar exercise: trying to imagine the soldiers as women. Without changing any details of plot or the actors’ essential movements, could I imagine a female in the boy-soldier’s place? What about the boat captain? The sailor? The English commander? What would
War Novels, Combat Women, and the Beautiful Souls Narrative by Kristen Ritter Read More »
It’s a quiet morning in the tall pines. Six inches of snow have fallen, and the breezes of the past few days have died down. Oregon juncos – like Alaskan ones but with peachy patches on their breasts – gather in small flocks outside the window. A bright varied thrush rests in a high branch
With Gratitude to the Writing Spirit, and to You Read More »