Linda: 49 Writers Weekly Roundup

Have you enjoyed reading this blog over the last year? Do you look forward to this weekly compilation of literary news and events from around the state? More than 100 Alaskan authors have contributed content in the form of monthly guest blogger stints, opinion pieces on topical issues, interviews, and more. The 49 Writers blog also offers you the opportunity to publish your work in our regular feature Alaska Shorts or promote your new publication in Spotlight on Alaska Books. If you value the blog–many of you have our Monday-Friday posts delivered daily to your inbox–and are not yet a member of 49 Writers, do consider joining to help us continue the work we do to support the artistic development of writers throughout Alaska, foster a writing community, and build an audience for literature. Our fall membership drive kicks off this weekend and runs through the end of the month. Since January we have welcomed 75 new members from around Alaska, and we would love to meet and exceed the 100 mark for 2014! Membership starts at $49, and seniors, full-time students, and members of the military can join for as little as $25. You can also become a Sustaining Member by signing up to make monthly payments in the amount of your choice. Click here for more information and to become a member.

As I write this, I’m listening to the steady drum of rain on the roof of the oceanside home where I’m staying for the duration of the Juneau segment of our Crosscurrents Southeast program (see below). Tonight at 7pm, Ernestine Hayes will join Sherry Simpson for an onstage conversation as part of the Evening at Egan series at University of Alaska Southeast, “Learning to Listen, Listening to Learn: Cultural Appropriation in Alaskan Writing.” Tomorrow, Sherry teaches a creative writing workshop at UAS, Autogeography. Registration is now closed due to the overwhelming interest from Juneau-area writers! We look forward to seeing 49 Writers members there and to meeting new friends. Finally, on Sunday, Sherry will give a 3pm reading at Douglas Library, “The Unseen Bear.”

We are pleased to announce the addition to our fall lineup of three events at Kenai Peninsula College. Thank you to 49 Writers member Dave Acheson (Dead Reckoning) for reaching out to make this happen. Friday, Oct. 10, 7pm, in the McLain Commons, Deb Vanasse and Don Rearden will feature in a reading and book talk entitled “Fact and Fiction: Life Into Story.” On Saturday, Oct. 11, each will offer a three-hour creative writing workshop. Don will teach “Complex and Conflicted Characters : What’s in Your Character’s Pocket” from 9am to noon, and you can take “Perspective and Viewpoints: Exploring Point of View” with Deb, 1-4pm. Both take place in Room 132 at KPC. These workshops were both well-received by our membership in Juneau this spring, and you won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn from two excellent, long-term faculty of 49 Writers.

Have you signed up yet for Alaska Book Week? This year it falls October 4-11 and preparations are taking place around the state for this celebration of Alaska’s writers and their books. Visit the website at www.alaskabookweek.com and click here to complete a participation form. You can contact ABW coordinator Jathan Day with questions at akbookweek (at) gmail (dot) com.

In Anchorage, the week-long celebration will culminate in The Great Alaska Book Fair on Saturday, Oct. 11, 10am to 5pm in the Loussac Library lower level (Outside the Wilda Marston Theater). All published Alaskan authors in the realm of creative writing are invited to participate. Don’t miss the chance to sell your books and meet new readers.The fee for a Book Fair table is $20 for a half-table and $35 for a full table. Table set-up will take place the morning of Saturday, Oct. 11, from 8:30-10am. Authors must be residents of Alaska, but your books do not need to be about or take place in Alaska. You will be responsible for selling your own books, and either the author or your representative must be present at all times. This event will be free and open to the public. Registration deadline is Oct. 6. Register today at www.AlaskaWritersGuild.com. For more information, email Brooke Hartman at bahartman@me.com or visit the Alaska Book Week

From Sandra Kleven, editor (with Michael Burwell, founding editor): Sept. 21 is the submission deadline for the Winter Solstice Issue of Cirque (#11). At this time, we have on hand about half the funds needed for the issue, so once again we turn to our readers and writers for support. In terms of bucks, we need $800. Find out more about Cirque and how to contribute at www.cirquejournal.com.

September events at 49 Writers

Click here for full details of the Crosscurrents Southeast program featuring Sherry Simpson and Ernestine Hayes, funded in part by the Alaska Humanities Forum and National Endowment for the Arts. They’ll be in Juneau, Sept. 19-21, then traveling to Sitka (Sept 22-23), Ketchikan (Sept. 24-25), with a grand finale in Craig (Sept. 26-27) with a creative writing workshop–“The Story and the Music: Fresh Approaches to Familiar Places”–and a Crosscurrents onstage conversation called “Learning to Listen, Listening to Learn: Cultural Appropriation in Alaskan Writing.” All activities are free but pre-registration is required for the workshops.
Sept. 30, 6pm, 645 W. 3rd Avenue, Anchorage: Exploring the Possibilities of Publishing with a University Press. 49 Writers hosts Regan Huff, Senior Acquisitions Editor at University of Washington Press, who will gave a talk and answer questions from writers with a nonfiction project that might be of interest to the Press. To pre-register for this free event, please click the link to sign up. Ms Huff is also scheduling one-on-one appointments with potential authors who have a book-length nonfiction project about the Northwest, including Alaska. Contact rhuff(at)uw(dot)edu to schedule. If you have a proposal and sample chapter to share, she would love to see it; otherwise, a short description would be fine to start.

Events in Anchorage

Tuesday, Sept. 23, 5-7pm, UAA Campus Bookstore: Exploring the World of What If? (that question, again): A Discussion with Speculative and Science Fiction Authors Sean Schubert, G.M. Whitley and Don Rearden. Author Sean Schubert discusses his zombie 4 books– “Infection”, “Containment”, “Mitigation” and just released “Resolution”. Author G.M. Whitley discusses her futuristic 4 books –“Basic Living”, “Peace Out”, “Sanctuar”, and just released “Essentia”. And author Don Rearden discusses his speculative fiction books—”Raven’s Gift” and the yet to be printed “Moving Salmon Bay” (currently published in France).

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 7-9pm, Anchorage Museum: Coming to Alaska is part of the Telling Your Alaska Stories series. Free but Space is limited; RSVP in advance at sennis@anchoragemuseum.org or 929-9287 with your name, contact information and the program you wish to attend.

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 7pm, Loussac Library Innovations Lab (4th floor): the Alaska Writers Guild monthly program will be a Writers Roundtable. They look forward to welcoming new members and discussing the inspiration and lessons gleaned from last weekend’s successful Writers Conference. Join them to talk about what’s next, find writing partners and enjoy a few hours of good discussion with people like you! AWG is an organization supporting published and unpublished writers in Alaska. Members gain information and skills in which they may form a plan of action and a system of working with editors, agents, public relations people, printers, publishers, bookstores, and marketing people. And, frequently, by listening to authors who have done it. The people in the writing industry offer valuable information and contacts in the monthly meetings and workshops.

Events around Alaska

Tonight, Sept. 19, 8pm, UAS Housing Lodge: Woosh Kinaadeiyí present an open mic and poetry slam hosted by Dee Jay DeRego and Conor Lendrum, open to poets and performers of all ages and abilities. Sign up to perform opens at 8pm and show starts at 8:15 pm. Event is pay-as-you-can. This is slam is the last chance for poets to qualify for entry in the Grand Slam. 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. Learn more at www.facebook.com/wooshpoetry. Contact: Christy NaMee Eriksen, Woosh Kinaadeiyí President, christynamee@gmail.com

Saturday, Oct. 4, 3pm, Fireside Books in Palmer: Come and meet authors Deb Vanasse and Seth Kantner. Deb Vanasse will be signing copies of her latest book, Cold Spell, the story of a mother who risks everything to start over and a daughter whose longings threaten to undo them both. Seth Kantner will be there for his adorable children’s book, Pup and Pokey.

Oct. 8-Nov. 12, Wednesdays, 12-2:15pm, Rich Chiappone will teach a class on writing personal esssays at KPC’s Kachemak Bay Campus. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn with a writer “whose rich humor has been a critical ingredient in an alchemy that turned subjects like squirrels and handmade road signs into cultural maps for early 21st century Alaska” (Krestia DeGeorge, Anchorage Press). Register online or stop by the campus off Pioneer Avenue in Homer.

Opportunities for Alaskan Writers

Saturday, Nov. 8, 9am-2pm, Anchorage School District Young Writers Conference: Inspire the next generation of published authors by volunteering to share your craft and passion with students in grades 6-12. Showcase and sell your (age appropriate) books. Interested? Fill out this brief proposal form: http://tinyurl.com/n7wsgze.

Authors do not need to be on site for the whole conference, but they are welcome to eat a pizza lunch with students, listen to keynote speaker Debbie Miller, and visit with students and fellow authors in a “Meet the Authors” space. Questions or concern? Contact Lisa Weight, Language Arts Curriculum and Instruction, ASD ED Center, at 907-742-4476.

The Denali Park Writer-in-Residence application period closes the end of this month. 2014 summer writers included Tom Sexton and Angela Morales. Apply now for winter or summer residencies. Visit http://www.nps.gov/dena/historyculture/arts-program.htm to learn more.

Nominations for the 2015 Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities are now open. Learn more at the Alaska State Council on the Arts website. The categories are: Arts Education, Native Arts, Arts Organization and Individual Artist. In addition, the Alaska State Council on the Arts’ Literary Advisory Committee will accept nominations for the State Writer Laureate, who will be appointed by the Governor to a two year term (2015-2016). Deadline for both is October 1.

The registration deadline for Alaska Poetry Out Loud is October 15! Complete information and registration for the program is available at the Alaska Poetry Out Loud website. Not sure you’re ready to register, but interested in discussing the program? We will host two, informational teleconferences on Sept. 23 & 30, 3:30pm. You can RSVP for one of these teleconferences here.

After a successful pilot season of Writers’ Showcase, 360 North statewide public television and KTOO News would like to invite Alaska writers to participate in this next season. We’re looking for short stories and creative non-fiction around the following themes: Holidays (Nov. 13); Journeys (Mar. 5); and Writer’s Pick (June 4). Click here for more information.