Tomorrow, Saturday, January 7 at 7pm, come out to Pioneer Park, Bear Gallery, Centennial Center, Fairbanks, for the Fairbanks Arts Association’s Literary Reading Series “Ice Fog Open Mic,” featuring Heather Warren, Donald Crocker, Michael Shaeffer, Jasmine Stokes, Raif Johnson-Kennedy–and you!
The 49 Writers Synergies Series opens up 2012 with “Poemgrass: a Poet and a Banjo,” featuring poet Peggy Shumaker and musician Robin Child. Wednesday, January 11, 7pm. Anchorage Museum, Brian E. Davies Chugach Gallery (4th Floor) 625 C St, Anchorage.
Next Saturday, January 14, 2pm, Glenn Shaw will be presenting and signing at Gulliver’s Books, 3525 College Rd, Fairbanks.
Next Sunday, January 15 at 5pm, VOICE Open Mic for folks aged 14-21 will take place at Kaladi Brothers Coffee, 591 Parks Hwy, Wasilla. This meeting will feature the vocal stylings of Allie Poe.
Poetry Parley is coming up on Wednesday, January 18, 7pm. Out North, 3800 DeBarr Rd, Anchorage. A different well-known poet is celebrated each month, as well as a local poet reading their own original work. If you are interested in being a reader, or in submitting your own work for possible inclusion, please email DC McKenzie.
Anchorage essayist and author Bill Sherwonit will teach a 12-week nature and travel writing class beginning Thursday January 19, 7-9.30pm, in the Sierra Club office downtown. Participants in this workshop-style lass will explore and refine their own writing styles, with an emphasis on the personal essay form. The class will also read and discuss works by some of America’s finest nature and travel writers, past and present. The cost is $240. To sign up, or for more information, contact Sherwonit at 907 245 0283 or akgriz@hotmail.com.
“Resolve to Write” events are shaping up around the state. In addition to the Anchorage event on Friday, January 20, if you’re in Homer, mark your calendars for Tuesday, January 24, 6pm at the library. They’re planning to have some substantial food on hand so that folks can come on straight from work.
Mark your calendars for Thursday, January 26, when UAA Student Activities presents 2012’s MLK Speaker for Civil Rights Month, Isabel Wilkerson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of New York Times bestseller, The Warmth of Other Suns. This book brings to life one of the greatest underreported stories of the 20th Century, a migration that reshaped modern America.
Registration for the 11th Annual Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference is now open! It will take place June 8-10 2012 at the Lands’ End Resort in Homer, with a post-conference workshop held at the Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge June 10-12. The keynote speaker will be Barry Lopez. See the website for registration, full faculty line-up and bios, and other conference information.