Ela: 49 Writers Weekly Round-up

Unalaska seems to be blessed with more than its share of dedicated readers. We had one book bag order at the beginning of the week, and then three more yesterday. Thanks J.B. and S.T.! We’ve got a few more bags to go – really nearing the finish line, now! – so if you have been procrastinating, this is your nudge. Order at www.49fundraiser.blogspot.com.

Maybe you’re not in need of any new books at the moment and are more concerned about writing your own. Check out our bigger-than-ever Winter/Spring term with writing classes starting January 9. If you need a dose of inspiration before then, we still have room in our December 22 micro-editing clinic, “Writer v. Grinch,” with Cindy Dyson.  Note, too, that we’ve just added a Fairbanks section of “An Agent’s Perspective:  The 3 R’s of Writing for Children” with instructor Kendra Marcus on Feb. 22.  For details and registration for all our Spring classes, visit our website.

Our 49 Alaska Writing Center Board has two new Directors: Karen Benning and Eric Larson. Both have been active volunteers for much of 2010 in the areas of fundraising and financial management. Kirsten Dixon and Don Rearden also joined the board earlier this fall. We appreciate all of their combined expertise in  matters fiduciary and literary and will have a better 2011 because of their willingness to serve.

As mentioned earlier this week, we’re taking requests from authors who want to be featured in 49 Writers First Friday book signings at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art in 2011.  Email 49writers@gmail.com with your name, book title(s), and the month you’d prefer, with a second choice if you have one.  Authors are asked to donate 25% of proceeds to 49 Writers for hosting the signings.

Tomorrow, Saturday December 11th, at 1.pm there will be a book signing at the Homer Bookstore, 332 E. Pioneer Ave, Homer, with George Harbeson Jr. and Serge Lecomte.

Back in Anchorage, also on Saturday December 11th at 1pm, the Pulpwood Queens Book Club share a storytime at the fireplace at Barnes and Noble, 200 E. Northern Lights Blvd.

On Wednesday December 15, at 7 pm, Poetry Parley will be celebrating the works of Frank O’Hara. Out North, 3800 DeBarr Rd, Anchorage.

Early warnings: 

Join F Magazine and La Bodega for a Beer Tasting and Haiku Party at Taproot on Friday December 18th, 7.30-10pm. $15 limited seating; live music all night. Bring your own ‘Beer Haiku’ to be performed and judged. A portion of event proceeds will be donated to the Scholastic Writing Competition. 

Mike Burwell of Cirque will be teaching a Writers’ Workshop in Poetry at UAA next (Spring 2011) semester. Currently, four more enrollments are necessary to ensure that the class goes ahead: please consider joining in!  The course will be held on Thursdays from 5:30 -8:15 p.m. beginning January 13. 

Nancy Lord’s new book Early Warming: Crisis and Response in the Climate-Changed North will be out in January from Counterpoint Press and can be pre-ordered now from bookstores or a link at her website.

An op-ed by Nancy Lord that draws from the book and is a response to the Alaska being portrayed on the Sarah Palin TV show was distributed this week by OtherWords, an organization that provides editorial material to 1700 newspapers.  The link is

http://www.otherwords.org/articles/this_isnt_sarah_palins_alaska.

Mark your calendars: Wednesday April 20 from 5:00pm-7:00pm at the UAA Campus Bookstore: 

The Influence of Theodore Roethke: “I Teach out of Love” plus the short film  “To the Moon: A Tribute to Theodore Roethke,” by Sandra Kleven author of Holy Land.

Description:

 Theodore Roethke taught poetry at the University of Washington from 1947 until his untimely death in 1963, at the age of 55.  His classes were open to the public resulting in a “wonderful mix, from kids to grandparents” .  Although he was a drinker, a charmer and, occasionally, quite mad –being hospitalized many times during bouts of mania– his teaching methods in the classroom brought forth new poets; Richard Hugo, David Wagoner, James Wright, Jack Gilbert, and Carolyn Kizer, among them. 

This special presentation includes readings of poems written by his former students; a segment from a play by David Wagoner called First Class that shows Roethke holding forth in the classroom; and the short film, “To the Moon: A Tribute to Theodore Roethke,” by MFA candidate, Sandra Kleven.