Linda: 49 Writers Weekly Roundup



FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 6-10:30pm. It’s Write-a-thon time! Save the date and get the details here. This is our premiere fundraising event of the year and a great way to show your support for the literary arts in Alaska, while working on your own contribution to the state’s growing body of literature!

It was such a treat to attend last night’s Reading & Craft Talk by Katey Schultz, and to learn what it is about Alaska that inspires her. She wrote half of her award-winning book Flashes of War here, and shared that the sense of being on the cusp of discovery exhilarates her. As a writer, you have to believe in possibility – that’s what makes you feel brave. Here, the constant awareness of being connected to something bigger give her the courage to push forward and take risks.

There is still some space in her class tomorrow, “Flash Fiction in a Flash” – don’t miss this chance to immerse yourself for a day in this fascinating genre. Click here for more information and to register. Katey is making other appearances in Alaska too: see below for details.

Early registration for this year’s Tutka Bay Writers Retreat with poet and memoirist Carolyn Forché is open to 49 Writers members at the Kobuk level and above until Monday, Mar. 10, when we open general registration. We encourage eligible members to take advantage of this opportunity to secure your spot at a lower rate!

Our next Crosscurrents on-stage conversation on Wednesday, Mar. 12, 7pm at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center (W. 7th Avenue entrance) features local author Sherry Simpson (Dominion of Bears: Living with Wildlife in Alaska) and Healy writer Christine Byl (Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods). 


They will talk about “Essaying Alaska: Beyond Images of the Last Frontier.” Alaska is a complex state whose people and landscapes are rife with nuance. But writing about Alaska is full of potential pitfalls; we’ve all read the cliches, the simplifications, the overused tropes. Luckily, an essay is a complex, diverse form and Alaskan author Sherry Simpson (Dominion of Bears) wields it for all its power. Join this accomplished essayist in conversation with Christine Byl (Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods) as they discuss what’s beyond the known perimeter of our initial hunches about place, wildness, animals, and how we make our selves on the page and in the world.

Other March classes and events at 49 Writers:

  • Wednesday, Mar. 12, 6-7pm, Sitka Library: Don Rearden Reading and book signing
  • Thursday, Mar. 13, 7-9pm, Coppa: Don Rearden Meet-the-Author event in Juneau for 49 Writers members.
  • Thursday, Mar. 13, 7-9pm, blue.hollomon gallery, Anchorage: Brendan Jones Meet-the-Author event for 49 Writers members.
  • Friday, Mar. 14-Sunday, Mar. 16: “Submitting Your Book: The First 20 Pages,” a weekend intensive with Brendan Jones
  • Friday, Mar. 14, 4-6pm, Haines Library: Don Rearden reading and book signing
  • Saturday, Mar. 15, 1-4pm, Egan Library, UAS Juneau Campus: “Complex and Conflicted Characters” with Don Rearden

Coming in April:

  • Monday Apr. 7, 7pm, Loussac Library Wilda Marston Theatre: “Universal Border: From Tijuana to the World,” a Crosscurrents events featuring Luis Alberto Urrea and Bryan Allen Fierro.
  • Thursday, Apr. 24, 7pm, Great Harvest Bread Co., Anchorage: “Self Publishing and Why,” Reading & Craft Talk with Elise Patkotak.
  • Saturday, Apr. 26, 9am-12pm, 645 W. Third Avenue: “Digital Tools for the Creative Writer” with Larry Weiss. Click here for more information and to register.

Tonight, Friday, Mar. 7, 6pm, Gerrish Branch Public Library, Girdwood: Katey Schultz (Flashes of War) will give a reading and discussion.

Tonight, Friday, Mar. 7, 6:30pm, Juneau Downtown Library: Reading by visiting author J. Torres. Torres is an award-winning, Filipino-born Canadian comic book writer, who has written for DC, Marvel, and Archie Comics, in addition to his independent writing, and animation and television credits.

Tonight, Friday Mar. 7, 7pm, UAF Wood Center, The Midnight Sun Visiting Writers Series presents: Louise Mathias and Jeff Griffin. Please join us for what promises to be one of the most exciting events of the year! “(Louise) Mathias works to turn the weeds of language into exotic bouquets.”–Dan Pinkerton. “Jeff Griffin scours the deserts of California and Nevada for artifacts—poems, photos, letters—discarded by lost souls who live in desolation. With Lost and, he arranges these sad, exhilarating, heavy voices into a stunning chorus, and he makes poetry out of pain. I’ve never read anything like Lost and. This is a wildly ingenious debut collection from an artist who has found a way to turn damaged lives into objects of wonder and beauty.”—Don Waters, author, Desert Gothic.

Saturday, Mar. 8-Saturday, Mar. 15, Juneau Public Library: Bard-a-thon 2014 is a free community reading of the complete works of Shakespeare. Everyone is invited to participate by listening or reading aloud. Find the Bard-a-thon schedule at any of the Juneau libraries or check out their website or Facebook page for more information.

Tomorrow, Saturday Mar. 8, 3pm, Fireside Books in Palmer (in conjunction with Palmer’s festive “Second Saturday” events): Marybeth Holleman (The Heart of the Sound – An Alaskan Paradise Found and Nearly Lost) and Mei Mei Evans (Oil and Water) will give a reading and sign books.

Sunday, Mar. 9, 2pm, Fireside Books in Palmer: Katey Schultz (Flashes of War) will give a reading and sign books.

The Living Room: Eagle River Writers Read needs two more readers for Friday, March 14! If you are interested, please contact us at tlrwritersread@gmail.com.

Saturday, Mar. 22, 1-4pm, Barnes & Noble Anchorage: Marybeth Holleman (The Heart of the Sound – An Alaskan Paradise Found and Nearly Lost) and Mei Mei Evans (Oil and Water) will give a reading and sign books.

Friday, Mar. 28, 7-9pm, APU Carr-Gottstein Building, CMH2Hill Boardroom: Meet some of Alaska’s finest fiction writers and enjoy an opening talk by Martha Amore, APU’s Spring 2014 Writer-in-Residence. Featured authors include Don Rearden, Mei Mei Evans, Deb Vanasse, Lee Goodman, and Kris Farmen. Publisher Vered Mares of BP&D House will also be available for questions.

Kim Heacox has another book coming in April that you won’t want to miss! So far, Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews have given it starred reviews. John Muir and the Ice That Started a Fire is a biography of the famed Scottish naturalist and early advocate of wilderness preservation.

Congratulations to Kathleen Tarr, whose essay, “The Comeback Monk,” will be published in a forthcoming anthology by Fons Vitae Press. We Are Already One: Thomas Merton’s Message of Hope is a volume of reflections by prominent spiritual teachers and Merton scholars to honor the 100th anniversary of his birth in 2015. Other contributors include such prominent religion writers as Parker Palmer, Thomas Moore, Joan Chittister, Cynthia Beaugeault, Richard Rohr, Matthew Fox, Huston Smith, and James Forest. The volume is being edited by preeminent Merton scholar, Jonathan Montaldo.

1 thought on “Linda: 49 Writers Weekly Roundup”

  1. Thanks Linda and 49 Writers! It was a joy to read to your audience again and we had fun in class on Saturday!

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