Merton’s coming to Alaska in that beast of a year, the “year of everything horrible” as he referred to it, is a little-known, under-told story. The publication of my book, We Are All Poets Here, coincides with the 50th anniversary of Merton’s Alaska journey, which also happens to be the 50th anniversary of his death. Alaska was one of the last places on earth he saw.
This is the first in a series of four posts honoring Alaska Quarterly Review‘s 35th Anniversary. ~ 49 Writers, Inc. EDITOR’S NOTE: 35th Anniversary By Ronald Spatz, Co-founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief Alaska Quarterly Review It took Alaska Quarterly Review (AQR) 37 years to reach this 35th season. If that math seems strange, we’re counting the …
AQR @35 | EDITOR’S NOTE: 35th Anniversary, by Ronald Spatz Read More »
Listening to a Literary Monk: Balancing Writing with Silence Thomas Merton chose to live on the margins. As an isolated Trappist monk, he joined a strict and austere religious order as a deep and profound act of cultural resistance. He entered the Abbey of Gethsemani on December 10, 1941 at age 26, a newly confirmed …
Guest Blogger Kathleen Witkowska Tarr | Listening to a Literary Monk Read More »
Our Active Voice: Writers Respond series asks Alaska writers to explore how current events and issues are shaping their work and their perspective on the state of our democratic values of justice, freedom, equality, and liberty. The most important role in Active Voice is yours: we want to hear from you. Do you like a post, …
Active Voice | Richard Chiappone: Whoever Fights Monsters Read More »
As summer turns to winter in Alaska, with a brief interlude long enough to weigh three-quarter ton pumpkins in Palmer that some might call fall, we are excited to announce the return of the blog series Active Voice: Writers Respond, a forum for Alaska writers to respond to current events and controversies on the national …
Active Voice: Writers Respond | Erin Coughlin Hollowell Read More »
Just when I think I’ve achieved equilibrium, there’s a jolt. Such is life. That’s the Zen way of thinking. But I’m a writer, and writing demands focus. Under certain circumstances—death, illness, tragedy, the potential demise of democracy—focus is hard. It won’t help with all circumstances, but one source of wisdom I’ve returned to time and …
Books can change minds, shape policy, and, according to at least one of Alaska’s former senators, alter “the course of human history.” In his new Anchorage Press column, “Yeah Write”, 49 Writers Executive Director Jeremy Pataky explores the societal impact of books like Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, the seminal environmental science book that made the …
Active Voice by Jeremy Pataky | 100,000 Pennies for your Thoughts Read More »
In a year where it seems like there’s a new issue or story in the news to divide us on a daily basis, Lynn Lovegreen has made a commitment to reach out to new people through books in 2017. What’s the perfect book to recommend to a stranger who disagrees with you? Do you believe …
Active Voice | Lynn Lovegreen: The Fellowship of Words Year Read More »
Our new series, Active Voice: Writers Respond, asks Alaska writers to explore how current events and issues are shaping their work and their perspective on the state of our democratic values of justice, freedom, equality, and liberty. In addition to this blog series, we will also host 49 Writers Active Voice events in Juneau and …
Active Voice | Jonathan Bower: We Must Revise Our Lives Read More »
March slips out a snow-dumped, slightly shivering lamb—and the cruelest month is all but here. Here’s a little known alternative fact for you. T.S. Eliot was talking about April in Alaska for that section of The Waste Land. Didn’t know that did you? Although he died 17 years before the first dividend payment, and despite the …
Guest Blogger Don Rearden | Avoid the Wasteland: Pick.Click.Give. More Read More »
