Crosscurrents Southeast, featuring Alaskan authors Sherry Simpson (right) and Ernestine Hayes, is coming your way! Combining our popular Crosscurrents on-stage conversation with a creative writing workshop, 49 Writers is pleased to be bringing this program to Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Craig in September 2014. In Juneau, Sherry Simpson will also give a reading at Douglas Public Library. The local partners who are collaborating on this project are the University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau Public Libraries, The Island Institute, Ketchikan Public Library, and Craig Public Library. All events are free and open to the public and online registration for the writing workshops is now open. Visit our website for more details. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the Alaska Humanities Forum and the National Endowment for the Arts–thank you!
We’re delighted to share the exciting news that 49 Writers instructor and guest author Katey Schultz has been awarded an IndieFab Book of the Year Award from Foreword Reviews! She received the Gold Medal for Adult Fiction in the Military/War category. The IndieFab awards, judged by a select group of librarians and booksellers from around the country, were announced at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Foreword Reviews created this awards program in order to help readers discover distinctive books from the indie publishing community.
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| Jo-Ann Mapson |
Today, Friday, July 11, 5pm, Barnes & Noble: Jo-Ann Mapson, in town for the UAA MFA residency, will sign copies of her latest novel, Owen’s Daughter. Look for an interview with Jo-Ann on this blog soon.
Sunday, July 13, 8pm, UAA Arts Building, Room 150: Northern Renaissance Arts & Sciences Reading Series, in conjunction with UAA MFA Summer Residency, presents Rebecca Solnit, keynote writer for this year’s residency and author of The Faraway Nearby, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, and Wanderlust: A History of Walking. Click here for the pdf of the full reading schedule.
Monday, July 14, 4-6pm, UAA Campus Bookstore: Award-winning author Melinda Moustakis will read from her story collection and discuss her writing. Born in Fairbanks, Melinda captures the sense of Alaska in her acclaimed book Bear Down Bear North: Alaska Stories, which won the Flannery O’ Connor Award and the Maurice Prize.
Monday, July 14, 8pm, Northern Renaissance Arts & Sciences Readings Series, in conjunction with UAA MFA Summer Residency, presents readings by Ed Allen, Eva Saulitis, and Valerie Miner.
Tuesday, July 15, 8pm, UAA Arts Building, Room 150: Contributions to Literacy in Alaska (CLIA) Awards followed by a staged a staged reading of Zack Rogow’s “Tangled Love: The Life and Work of Yosano Akiko,” part of the Northern Renaissance Arts and Sciences Reading Series of UAA’s summer low-residency MFA program. Rogow, an associate faculty member of the MFA program, is the author, editor or translator of 20 books and plays. Steven Hunt, director of the performance, is a director, playwright, and assistant professor of theater at UAA. Free and open to the public.
Wednesday, July 16, 7pm, Loussac Library Innovations Lab: The monthly Alaska Writers Guild program features Dr. Tom Wiltsey talking about Historical Research. Dr. Wiltsey is an adjunct professor of American History at UAA who served more than three decades in the National Archives and Records Administration. Come out to listen, to learn, and to be inspired.
Wednesday, July 16, 8pm, UAA Arts Building, Room 150: Northern Renaissance Arts & Sciences Readings Series, in conjunction with UAA MFA Summer Residency, presents readings by this year’s graduating students.
Thursday, July 17, 4-6pm, UAA Campus Bookstore: Jennifer Schell of UAF discusses how mythic Alaska is portrayed in American literature, highlighting whaling. Her book A Bold and Hardy Race of Men: The Lives and Literature of American Whalemen was recently published by University of Massachusetts Press.
Thursday, July 17, 8pm, UAA Arts Building, Room 150: Northern Renaissance Arts & Sciences Readings Series, in conjunction with UAA MFA Summer Residency, presents readings by Guest Poet Susanna Mishler, Andromeda Romano-Lax, and Linda McCarriston.
Saturday, July 19, 8pm, UAA Arts Building, Room 150: Northern Renaissance Arts & Sciences Readings Series, in conjunction with UAA MFA Summer Residency, presents readings by Elizabeth Bradfield, Carolyn Turgeon, and Sherry Simpson.
Sunday, July 20, 8pm, UAA Arts Building, Room 150: Northern Renaissance Arts & Sciences Readings Series, in conjunction with UAA MFA Summer Residency, presents readings by Rich Chiappone, Nancy Lord, and Jo-Ann Mapson.
Monday, July 21, 8pm, UAA Arts Building, Room 150: Northern Renaissance Arts & Sciences Readings Series, in conjunction with UAA MFA Summer Residency, presents readings by Distinguised Guest Fiction Writer Padgett Powell and Craig Childs.
Tuesday, July 22, 8pm, UAA Arts Building, Room 150: Northern Renaissance Arts & Sciences Readings Series, in conjunction with UAA MFA Summer Residency, presents readings by David Stevenson, John P. O’Grady, and Anne Caston.
Tonight, July 11, 6:30pm, Auke Rec covered shelter, Juneau: Join this month’s Woosh Kinaadeiyí open mic and poetry slam. The event, open to poets and performers of all ages and all abilities, will be hosted by Christy NaMee Eriksen and Jacque Boucher. Sign up to read at 6pm. Suggested donation is $5. A potluck barbecue will take place at 5:30 pm. Attendees are encouraged to bring a dish to share. Woosh Kinaadeiyí is a local nonprofit committed to diversity, inclusive community, and empowering voice. The organization hosts monthly poetry slams and open mics throughout the community. For more information, visit facebook.com/wooshpoetry, or email juneaupoetryslam@gmail.com with questions.
Opportunities for Alaskan Writers
Today, Friday, July 11 is the deadline to sign up for manuscript reviews at the Alaska Writers Guild Annual Conference, Sept. 13 & 14. Click here for more information on faculty manuscript critiques. Still can’t decide whether or not to attend? Click here to check out the new detailed conference schedule! Conference scholarships are available for college students and non-college students alike! College students: please email Barry Dearborn for information on the Doris Dearborn scholarship application. Non-college students: please email Jim Misko or Brooke Hartman for information on scholarship opportunities.
Rasmuson Foundation is now accepting its next round of applications from all previous Rasmuson Individual Artist Award Recipients for its Artist Residency Program. Online applications for 2015 residencies will be accepted now through August 15, 2014. Questions about the program can be directed to Program Coordinator Jeremy Pataky at jeremy.pataky (at) gmail.com or 907-244-7717.
The Alaska Literary Awards, established in 2014 by the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation through a generous gift from Peggy Shumaker and Joe Usibelli, are accepting applications. The Alaska Literary Awards recognize and support writers of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting, and mixed genres. Any Alaska writer over the age of 18 who is not a full-time student is eligible to apply. Quality of the work submitted is the primary consideration in determining who receives the awards. There are no restrictions on the writer’s use of the award and no formal report is required. Application deadline is Tuesday, September 2, 2014, 9:59pm (AKDT).
July 20-26: The Island Institute hosts the Sitka Symposium at Sheldon Jackson Campus in Sitka. This year’s theme, “Radical Imagining: Changing the Story With Stories of Change” will explore dominant narratives of our culture in relation to the challenges of our time, and consider empowering stories of transformative change initiated by people in communities large and small. Leading the Symposium will be Winona LaDuke, Luis Alberto Urrea, Alan Weisman, and Molly Sturges.
July 22-28: The Wrangell Mountain Writing Workshop in McCarthy presents: True Story, with Tom Kizzia, Frank Soos, and Nancy Cook. During this five-day workshop, writers will explore the craft of creative nonfiction: drafting compelling narratives that tell true stories. Click here for more information.
August 22-24, Center for Alaska Coastal Studies‘ Peterson Bay Field Station (across Kachemak Bay from Homer): Line by Line in Kachemak Bay: a writer and artist retreat led by Marilyn Sigman and Marilyn Kirkham. Registration $225, including water taxi transportation, food, two nights lodging, and a journal. For more information and to sign up, contact info@akcoastalstudies.org or 907-235-6667.