Ela: 49 Writers Weekly Round-up

The holidays for the kids at McLaughlin Youth Detention Center were brightened by the efforts of 49 Writers volunteers and other community volunteers who came together to Bring the Outside In. This mini-conference, planned by 49 Writers volunteers Lizbeth Meredith and Lee Post, was designed to introduce detained youth to creative opportunities accessible to them upon their release. Workshops on drawing, the spoken word, Scottish country dancing, and cooking connected the youth with adult presenters, reminding them they will soon re-enter a community that cares.

Thank you to Trey Josey and Kima Hamilton of Brave New Alaskan Voices, Lee Post (who also taught a well-attended 49 Writers Comics workshop at Teen Underground this week), Barry Yabyabin of KLT Diner in Wasilla, and Amber Rose and Anne Freitag for generously donating their time and talents to make a difference in the lives of troubled teens. The kids and the staff at McLaughlin were truly grateful.

On January 1, online registration officially opens for our spring term, though faithful round-up readers can secure their spots beginning today.  From our “Publish and Promote” series to plot, poetry, submissions, and more, we’ve got something for pretty much everyone.  Make 2012 the year you get serious about writing!  Courses are posted on our website.  

January 1 is also the day we rush to register for our Permanent Fund Dividend checks.  It’s a great time to support your favorite nonprofits.  49 Writers has to wait one more year to be eligible for Alaska’s Pick-Click-Give program, but don’t despair: you can pledge here to support us when your dividend check comes in. We’ll remind you on or about October 15, 2012 that your pledge is due. Thanks so much for supporting 49 Writers/49 Alaska Writing Center, a 501c3 nonprofit. 

Keep in mind our first events of 2012:  January 11, the first 49 Writers Synergies Event of the year, “Poemgrass: a Poet and a Banjo” featuring poet Peggy Shumaker and musician Robin Child at the Anchorage Museum, Brian E. Davies Chugach Gallery (4^th Floor) from 7-8:30pm and our statewide Resolve to Write events on January 20, when you’re invited to gather with other writers to share your writing resolve.  Scheduling is already underway in Anchorage (one gathering for adults, one for young writers), Homer, and Eagle River – details to follow soon.  If you’d like to host a Resolve to Write event in your community, email us at 49writers@gmail.com.

On January 25, 49 Writers Executive Director Linda Ketchum will participate in the Anchorage Association for Volunteer Administration (AAVA) annual training event. This event is attended by a number of representatives from the Anchorage nonprofit community and professionals in the volunteer management field.  Linda will participate in a panel discussion titled “A Few Excellent Volunteer Programs,” a lively conversation amongst three to four representatives from the local nonprofit community. In extending the invitation, AAVA wrote, “49 Writers is doing a fantastic job engaging Alaskan volunteers and we would be honored to hear more about your success.”

In case you haven’t yet seen the delightful Quinhagak Alleulia chorus, 49 Writers board member sends this link:  http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/2011/12/so-you-thought-you-knew-this-one.html.  For a comprehensive calendar of literary events throughout Alaska, visit http://www.alaskalitevents.com/.

Anne Coray’s poem “The Art of Being,” from her recent collection A Measure’s Hush (Boreal Books 2011) is currently featured on the American Life in Poetry website. The column, selected and introduced by Ted Kooser, has a current readership of about 4,000,000 per week from all over the world, and is featured on the New York Times education blog, “The Learning Network,” with commentary by a Times writer. Click here to see the column (through Monday).

Next Saturday, January 7, at 7pm, come out for 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! Bear Gallery, Centennial Center, Pioneer Park.

Congratulations to 49 Writers member and instructor Sandy Kleven. Her poem, “Orestes,” was nominated for a PushCart Prize by Stoneboat Journal in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Kleven says, “The poem is a lament over the suicide of Sylvia Plath’s son Nicholas Hughes, who hanged himself in Fairbanks in 2009. It was written in the Fairbanks Airport because I was traveling this route to remote villages just about every week. My brother died the same way the previous summer.” Another of her poems, “Remnants,” was nominated by F Magazine of Anchorage. Kleven describes it as “a tale of desire and hope, set in memory’s fragile sanctuary.” Here is the Skyped reading of “Orestes” at the launch of Stoneboat. 

Issue #5 (Vol. 3, No.1) of Cirque is now live online at http://www.cirquejournal.com/index.php