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Dusk in Autumn The moon is like a scimitar, A little silver scimitar, A-drifting down the sky. And near beside it is a star, A timid twinkling golden star, That watches likes an eye. And thro’ the nursery window-pane The witches have a fire again, Just like the ones we make,— And now I know

Seven or eight years ago, I retired from a state job and spent years getting an MFA in writing from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. Then I dragged my feet for a few more years before publishing a book of essays. Many describe the lives of friends on the Kuskokwim River of Western Alaska. You

Andre Dubus III, author of The House of Sand and Fog, wrote that bestseller 17 minutes at a time. Employed as a teacher, and also busy as a husband and father of young children, Dubus had a twice-daily routine of stopping at a cemetery parking lot, to and from work. For less than twenty minutes

The day before a frost hit our garden, August 19, our friend Frank Soos was killed in a one-person bike accident on a road in Maine. Frank spent summers on the east coast with his wife, Margo, returning each fall to Alaska and his beloved ski trails. We didn’t hear about Frank’s accident until the

At 49 Writers, we are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Frank Soos, beloved board member and program chair, whose contributions to Alaska’s writing community have been generous and sustained for over three decades. His wisdom, experience and steady guidance on the board were invaluable to us, and his loss leaves a big space

I just experienced a learning failure that makes me feel like a fish exposed to the air. That wasn’t really the first metaphor that came to mind but I wanted to share this idiom with you because Chinese idioms tickle me. In the story on which it’s based, river carp that are able to jump

It’s been more than seven days since we last received a Juneau Empire paper. It’s been a week since the newspaper’s delivery person has driven by. We’ve called the newspaper office every morning but they never call back. Folks over near the high school haven’t received a paper for seven days, nor have our closer

In addition to being a wise and skilled fisherman, poet, novelist, and short story writer, Rich Chiapponne has helped a lot of MFA students learn how to craft their words. The University of Alaska Anchorage is shutting down his program.That hadn’t stop Rich from sharing out at least one more little writing lesson before turning