 |
| The Governor’s Official Proclamation of Alaska Book Week |
Remember, too, that we’re recruiting instructors for our WYAK Write Young Alaska effort. If you’re a writer who’d like to help kids get excited about writing, we want to hear from you by October 1 . We’re working to secure funding so that we can offer payment to workshop instructors.
Have you made your Alaska Book Week plans yet? Alaska Governor Sean Parnell has made our Alaska Book Week official. Beginning in only 8 days (October 8), Alaska readers, writers, librarians, booksellers, publishers, and teachers are joining in a statewide celebration of Alaska’s authors and books. Panel discussions, book displays, author visits, and book club events are among the activities planned from Barrow to Sitka. (Here’s a tip: if you check the Authors Page, you’ll find that acclaimed author Heather Lende is available for electronic Alaska Book Week appearances.)
Communities throughout the state are encouraged to come up with their own unique Alaska Book Week events, all featured on the Alaska Book Week website, thanks to incredible Alaska Book Week volunteer Cheryl Lovegreen. Time’s running out to order free Alaska Book Week posters and bookmarks; the last shipment will be October 4. From October 8-15 we’re offering giveaways of Alaska books to those who comment on our posts at www.alaskabookweek.com .
In Anchorage, Alaska Book Week festivities include a 49 Writers Crosscurrents onstage conversation on “Fictional Truth” featuring Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction winners Melinda Moustakis (Bear Down Bear North) and Frank Soos (Double Moon, Under Northern Lights) on Oct. 14 at 7 pm in the Anchorage Museum of Rasmuson Auditorium. A question and answer session and book-signing will follow. Copies of the Alaska Quarterly Review featuring a story by Moustakis will also be available. There is no charge for 49 Writers and museum members; a $5 donation is suggested for non-members.
To wrap up the week, on Oct. 15 Moustakis, whose work has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Kenyon Review, and the New England Review among other journals, will teach a three-hour course “Writing and the Creative Spark” at the 49 Alaska Writing Center. Registration is required at www.49writingcenter.org. Don’t wait too long to register: Andromeda’s Time in Narration course that begins Oct. 4 is already full, though we’re still taking registrations for other courses, including Leslie Hsu Oh’s Truth or Dare Nonfiction Workshop that begins Oct. 7.
If you’re a 49 Writers member, there’s a good chance your membership expires tomorrow (Oct. 1) unless you’re among those who answered last week’s call to renew. And remember that thanks to Barb Hood of the Great Harvest Bread Company, the first 100 people who activate or renew a 49 Writers membership between Sept. 23 and Nov. 1 will receive a coupon for a free loaf of delicious Great Harvest Bread along with their membership cards.
In addition, if you bring your membership card (yes – we now have membership cards) to our new 49 Writers Café at Out North for our first open studio session on Sunday, Oct. 9, 1-4 pm, you’ll receive a free cup of Raven’s Brew coffee. So don’t delay – join or renew today. Even if you’re renewing, please fill out the membership form so we can make sure our contact information is current. Membership is a great way to support all of our work at 49 Writers – plus you get discounts and invitations to special members-only events.
Congratulations to C. Wehde and Kailey Witrosky, winners of the WYAK Zombies Invade Alaska contest. We’re thrilled to have had so many wonderful entries, including many from outside of Anchorage. Our awesome WYAK volunteer contest coordinator Jen Walker has already teamed us with Kids These Days to offer a new contest for young writers. Aspiring writers ages 10-20 from anywhere in Alaska are invited to write about what it means to be a kid these days. Two winners (one from each age group) will get to read their work aloud on the air. The entry deadline is Oct. 21. Details are at www.wyakcontests.com.