It’s Time to Talk about Process: A Multi-Genre Panel
November 19 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
It’s Time to Talk about Process: A Multi-Genre Panel
featuring Annie Wenstrup, Dante Medema, Summer AH Christiansen, and Joe Holt
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
6:00-7:30pm
via Zoom
Registration required. Sliding scale options available.
Having a reliable creative process is one of the most important aspects of writing – and yet, conversations about process are often neglected in favor of discussions around craft, or publishing. In this panel, we’ll dive into the mechanics of the creative process: how do you create a regular writing routine (especially if you’re busy)? How do you overcome creative blocks? How do you silence you the voices of your inner critic and imposter syndrome? In short, how do you build a creative life? We’ll hear tips and strategies from four Alaska-based writers from across all genres, and audience members will be encouraged to share their own creative questions and dilemmas.
Registration Information:
Registration fees will be based on a pay-what-you-can sliding-scale model. Registration for this event is open to both members and non-members. Non-member registration will open on October 19, 2024.
- Member Registration: $5-$15/person
- Non-member Registration: $10-$20/person
Not sure if you’re a member? Contact us at info@49writers.org and we’ll confirm your membership status!
About the Panelists:
Summer A.H. Christiansen (she/they) is a queer, neurodivergent educator, writer, & mother living on the unceded land of T’aaḵu Kwáan and A’akw Kwáan. Her work has been published in Bell Anthologies, Silver Rose Magazine, Tidal Echoes, Alaska Women Speak, and Drizzle Review. She is a graduate of the Rainier Writing Workshop and holds an MFA in Creative Writing: Non-Fiction. She teaches regular writing and yoga classes and serves on the board of 49 Writers and SEAGLA.
Joseph Holt is author of the story collection Golden Heart Parade. He grew up in South Dakota and graduated from the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi. Holt has taught at Catapult, the American College of Norway, the University of Minnesota, and elsewhere. He now serves on the MFA faculty at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His writing has appeared in The Sun, Prairie Schooner, The Iowa Review, and has received an AWP Intro Journals Award.
Dante Medema is the author of The Truth Project and Message Not Found. The Truth Project was an Indies Introduce Title as well as an Indie Next Pick and was nominated for the YALSA Quick Pick for reluctant readers in 2021. Message Not Found was the Sequoyah Book Award winner in 2024. A former board member for the Alaska Writers Guild, Dante remains active in her writing community. She’s presented on numerous subjects at The Alaska Writers Conference, sat as the Writer in Residence at Alaska Pacific University, and has participated in several mentorship programs. Passionate about helping other authors reach their goals, she shares her journey across her social media platforms. Dante lives in Anchorage, Alaska with her four daughters, two pups, and a room full of alien memorabilia—and books, of course. When she’s not writing, she dabbles in baking, cake decorating, and reading up on enneagram personality types.
Annie Wenstrup (Dena’ina) is the author of The Museum of Unnatural Histories, forthcoming from Wesleyan University Press (March 2025). Annie is the recipient of the 10th annual New England Review Emerging Writer’s Award, and is the 2024 Stephen Donadio Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Scholar. In 2023, she received the Alaska Literary Award and support from The Rasmusson Foundation. Annie’s held a Museum Sovereignty Fellowship with the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center (Alaska office) supported through a Journey to What Matters grant from The CIRI Foundation, and was an Indigenous Nations Poets Fellow in 2022 and 2023. Her poems have been published in Alaska Quarterly Review, Ecotone, Poetry, and elsewhere. She lives in Fairbanks, Alaska with her family.