Please tell your literary/foodie friends about our next-up class: Stirring Words with Kirsten Dixon, starting Jan. 22. Registration for all of our classes is open now.
49 Writers members and volunteers are invited to an Anchorage potluck gathering to share their writing resolutions for 2011 and to visit with writers Don Rearden and Bill Streever about their own resolutions, successes, and challenges. Kent Sturgis from Epicenter Press will also be on hand to chat with guests about editing and trade publishing. Bring comfort food to share (consolations for our 2010 shortcomings) and your own beverage. January 14 from 6:30-8:00pm at the Moderow home: Take Abbott past Service High toward Hilltop Ski Area, right on Homestead, immediate left on Grover, go up one hill and partway up the next, look for Raven Place sign on the right. Call 907-388-9303 or 360-0727 if you need help. RSVP’s would be greatly appreciated, to debbie.moderow@gmail.com.
Another of our Resolve to Write salon-style gatherings kicks off tonight too, in Juneau. Join Therese Harvey and Grace Elliott on Jan. 14th from 6:30 – 7:30 pm at the Rookery Cafe at 111 Seward St. (Only the Anchorage event is restricted to members and volunteers.) And if you’re in Homer, join Miranda Weiss, Nancy Lord, and other local writers on Tuesday, January 18, 6-7:30ish pm, upstairs at Alice’s.
Tuesday, Jan. 25 at 7 pm we’ll be presenting our first new CROSSCURRENTS event: an onstage discussion, “Environmental Writing and Activism,” with Nancy Lord, Marybeth Holleman, and Charles Wohlforth, at Out North Theater. This event is co-sponsored by Cook Inletkeeper and the Alaska Center for the Environment.
Can’t bear to leave the house during this cold spell? Well, okay. For you, we have the upcoming Poets in Winter online discussion, from 2 to 5 pm on Sunday, Jan. 30, moderated by poet and filmmaker Sandy Kleven. More details and a special event website coming soon; mark your calendars now. Last year’s January poetry discussion had an amazing 146 comments. Might be fun to skim in advance of this next online conversation.
LITERARY AWARDS PROGRAM DEADLINE NEARS
Nominations for the 2010 Contributions to Literacy in Alaska (CLIA) Awards are due this Saturday, January 15th. The annual statewide awards, sponsored by Alaska Center for the Book, recognize people and institutions who have made a significant contribution in literacy, the literary arts, or the preservation of the written or spoken word in Alaska. Previous winners include librarians, teachers, writers, tutors, historians, booksellers, reading programs, web sites and others dedicated to making the world a better place through the gift of language. The one-page nomination form and information on past winners is available at www.alaskacenterforthebook.org.
Alaskan crime writer Dana Stabenow will be on KAKM/KSKA Public Broadcasting Stations TV for interview on Saturday January 15th). More information here.
The Alaska Writers Guild’s Monthly Meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 18, 7 p.m. at the Wilda Marston Theater at the Loussac Library The speaker will be Michael Catoggio, Longtime Local Librarian, on The History of E-Books: Pros and Cons, Ways and Means of eBook Publication.
January’s Poetry Parley takes place on Wednesday, January 19, at 7:00pm. Out North, 3800 DeBarr Road, Anchorage, AK 99508-2011. Featured poet for January 2011: Baudelaire, and featured local poet: Susanna Mishler. Poetry Parley is a free poetry event held on the third Wednesday of each month. A different well-known poet is celebrated each month, as well as a local poet who reads his or her own original work. If you are interested in being a reader for Poetry Parley, or if you would like to submit your own work for possible inclusion, please email poetryparley@gmail.com.
On Thursday, January 27, 2011, there will be a Social Media Seminar with Sherrie Simmonds and Aliza Sherman from the AK Professional Communicators Association It will take place at Elim Café, 561 West Dimond Boulevard (Dimond and Arctic), Anchorage.
12–1 p.m. – Lunch and networking.
1–4 p.m. – Seminar
January 19 – Deadline for registration via PayPal: $50 members, $75 non-members
Late registration and/or payment at the door: $60 members, $85 non-members (More detailed information soon at http://www.akprocom.org.
Coming up at the UAA Bookstore this month: on Tuesday January 25 from 5:00pm-7:00pm, Alaskan Author Sean Schubert presents his book, Infection
The eighth (free!) Dear Lucky Agent contest offered through the Guide to Literary Agents is open through January 23. Writers with unpublished, book-length manuscripts in the category of literary fiction are invited to send the first 150-200 words of their work. The top three winners all get: 1) A critique of the first ten pages of their work by agent judge Lindsey Clemons at Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents in San Francisco, and 2) A free one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com
On Thursday January 27 from 5:00pm-7:00pm, Randol Bruns and Mike Burwell present Chulitna: A Conversation in Poems. Bruns and Burwell (Cartography of Water, editor of Cirque), collaborated on this beautiful book of poetry and art. For further information about Chulitna see http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/140882
And on Monday January 31 from 5:00pm-7:00pm, Mary Alice Cook discusses “An Intentional Community”: An Orthodox Christian Church in Eagle River and her book Community of Grace: An Orthodox Christian Year in Alaska. After their marriage in 1976, Mary Alice and her husband drove from Texas to Anchorage where their three sons were born and raised. In 1992, after a life-changing event, the whole family converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church and a year later decided to make their home near St. John’s Cathedral in Eagle River, which is the unique “intentional community” that Mary Alice has written about in Community of Grace.
Sarah Gonzales, producer of Kids These Days! on KSKA, reports that she is always looking for more contributors, and 2011 has a wealth of show topics lined up on: Foster Care, Love and Family Relations, The Value of Music Education, Choosing the Right School, The Man Show (modern fatherhood), and the Part-Time Single Parent (Alaskan spouses who care for the kids while the other spouse works on the slope, fishing, mining, etc). If these topics inspire you, they’d love to hear. Also, they are always looking for more guest bloggers. cell: 907-315-0006, show: 888-KTD-RADIO
Rasmuson Foundation continues its commitment to Alaskan artists by offering grants to artists of all disciplines and career stages. If you have not received an Individual Artist Award from Rasmuson Foundation in the last three years, then you may eligible to apply for one of three awards.
Project Awards of up to $5,000 will be awarded to support short-term projects that have a clear benefit to the artist and development of their work. Fellowship Awards of $12,000 are available to mid-career and mature artists working in choreography, folk/traditional arts, crafts, literary arts/scriptworks or performance art. One distinguished artist award of $25,000 will be given to a mature Alaska artist.
First, starting January 17, artists will be able to apply online at http://www.rasmuson.org/. Online applications must be filed by 11:59 p.m. on March 1. Paper applications will still be accepted, and the postmark deadline is March 1.
Second, Presentation/Interpretation has been added as an eligible artistic discipline for artists who make use of existing work for the purpose of presentation or performance. This expands eligibility to dancers, actors, musicians, vocalists and others who are primarily performing artists.
Want to learn more about the grant application process, or ask questions about how you can improve a past grant application that did not receiving funding? Join us for one of three, free informational teleconferences. The teleconferences will be organized by artistic discipline:
Jan. 18, 2011 (6 – 7 p.m.): Literary Arts, Scriptworks and Music Composition
Jan 19, 2011 (6 – 7 p.m.): Performance Art, Multi-Discipline, Choreography, Media Arts, Presentation/Interpretation
Jan 20, 2011 (6 – 7 p.m.): Visual Arts, Crafts, Folk/Traditional
The teleconference coordinates will be the same on each night:
Number: 1 (877) 615-4339, Passcode: 6117 516#
Guidelines and application materials are available here, answers to frequently asked questions can be found here, a list of past award-winners can be found here. For more information, please contact Jayson Smart at (907) 297-2882.
Lori Evans, editor and publisher of the Homer News, writes to say that thanks to 49 Writers, they have all the judges they need for the Kenai Peninsula Writers Contest. Lori says she can’t thank enough those who volunteered; the response to our member email was immediate. The volunteers are very much appreciated… and there will be another contest next year!