Editor’s Note: Author Caroline Van Hemert is our special guest at Winter Words 2020, the 49 Writers annual fundraiser happening Sunday, February 23, 2020. Tickets is limited, but there are still some available. “It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.” – Ernest […]
Caroline Van Hemert | Try again. And again. Read More »
In August 2017, I had one of the strangest experiences of my writing life. I opened a file in a folder associated with a novel I’d given up on five years earlier, read a few unfamiliar paragraphs, What’s this?, and then a few pages more, I know I wrote it; I just don’t remember writing it. I kept going all the way to the end of the chapter, and found myself intrigued, What the heck is going to happen next?
Andromeda Romano-Lax | Page One Rewrite, Part One Read More »
Sometimes writers need to get away from the people and things that fill their days so they can create. Each spring and fall, 49 Writers secures space at the National Shrine of Saint Therese for a writer’s retreat. The May 2019 retreat took place in The Lodge, a two-story log building that can sleep 24
Dan Branch & Katie Bausler | 49 Writers Spring Retreat Reflections Read More »
It’s been quite a #NationalPoetryMonth here, one that ran the gamut. About five minutes after I walked in the door upon returning from the AWP Conference in Portland, I learned that friend and Mat-Su-based poet Julie LeMay had passed away. She was the latest member of the writing community that we’ve lost over the years.
Jeremy Pataky | Looking Ahead and Behind During #NPM19 Read More »
Writer Marybeth Holleman is the emcee at our upcoming Mary Oliver Tribute, “Such Deep Love,” which will be held Sunday April, 21, 4-6 PM, 2019 at The Writer’s Block Bookstore & Cafe | 3956 Spenard Rd, Anchorage. Read Marybeth’s appreciation and rememberance of Mary Oliver below: Mary Oliver was not just an American poet; she
Marybeth Holleman | The Chance to Love Everything Read More »
49 Writers and the Anchorage Museum present a talk and book signing with Caroline Van Hemert on Wednesday, March 20 from 7-8:30 PM for her newly released book, a memoir that blends Alaska adventure, natural history and personal narrative. Hear stories about her 4,000-mile wilderness journey from the Pacific rainforest to the Chukchi Sea. Her research
We threw our Winter Words celebration on a rather spring-like afternoon last Sunday in Anchorage’s Stuckagain Heights neighborhood. Originally slated for December 2nd, we postponed due to—you guessed it—the November 30th earthquake. Interim Board President Barbara Hood hosted this fundraiser in her home. It was a gorgeous day with lush light, long views, and great company (not to mention stable ground). It felt
Jeremy Pataky | Winter Words Fundraiser Blossoms at the Home of Barbara Hood Read More »
Imagine Alaska without books. No The Snow Child. No The Way Winter Comes. No The Cormorant Hunter’s Wife and no Ordinary Wolves. No Blonde Indian. No Winter News. No Two Old Women, nor The Firecracker Boys. No Where the Sea Breaks Its Back. No Leaving Resurrection or Prayers in Wind. You know that books sing, slap, slake, spark. The written word transforms the world we share and our
Support Alaska Writers and Readers this Season Read More »
If you’ve spent any time around infants, you recognize how much of their waking existence is focused on where to look. Grownups look mostly out of necessity—for hazards on the road they’re driving, for the words they’re typing on the screen, for the next item on their to-do lists. Infants look out of wonder, delighted
Deb Vanasse | Where to Look Read More »
After a week of aftershocks and clean-up, it seems like Anchorage and its surrounds are ready for reflection. If you’re out for First Friday tonight in the city, be sure to stop by the Anchorage Museum where you’ll find 49 Writers executive director Jeremy Pataky and visiting poet Joanna Lilley writing earthquake-themed poetry-on-demand. Later in
Literary Roundup | December 7-13, 2018 Read More »
