Our Reading & Craft Talk season winds up on Thursday, Dec. 5, 7pm at Great Harvest Bread Company, with “How a Book Found Me,” a presentation by Anchorage author Marybeth Holleman about the experience of writing Among Wolves: Gordon Haber’s Insights into Alaska’s Most Misunderstood Animal. Marybeth will discuss the process of crafting what one reviewer called ‘a new kind of biography’–one whose structure mirrors the book’s essential message–a craft talk not to be missed! See you there for fascinating insights, writerly conversation, and great holiday cookies.
- Tuesday, Dec. 3, 7pm, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center: Join Marybeth, Deb Vanesse and Sherry Simpson for “Wild Dominion: Three Authors on Wolves, Bears, and Humans,” a presentation and signing.
- Saturday Dec. 14, 4-6pm: Book signing at Fireside Books in Palmer.
- Sunday Dec. 15, 2pm: One-hour presentation and book signing at Eagle River Nature Center. This will be the same full presentation as at the October book launch.
Meanwhile, planning for our spring season is going full speed ahead! We have some great instructors lined up for an interesting selection of workshops, and a full slate of events featuring established and upcoming Alaskan writers, as well as some exciting visiting authors. Look for more news in December of the upcoming program of classes, readings, and on-stage conversations.
Monday, Dec. 2, 5-7pm, UAA Campus Bookstore: Kaylene Johnson presents Canyons and Ice: The Wilderness Travels of Dick Griffith. In this book she recounts the adventures of Dick Griffith who, in the course of six decades, journeyed across Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and the American West. According to Jon Krakauer, “Griffith is simply afflicted with an irresistible inclination to attempt what others say can’t be done. When asked what possesses a man to repeatedly strike out alone across hundreds of miles of rugged, lonely country, he replies, Every so often, it’s just time to walk.” Kaylene Johnson is author of five books about Alaska including her memoir A Tender Distance: Adventures Raising My Son in Alaska.
The December 16 deadline for entries to the Alaska Statewide Youth Art & Writing Competition run by F Magazine is coming up fast! This competition works as a great tool in classrooms to motivate youth to express themselves, work toward an end goal, create their best, and to experience what their peers around the state are doing. The top two ASYAWC finalists will be awarded a full scholarship to Sitka Fine Arts Camp, a two-week summer arts intensive.
January 6-10, 2014, 6-8pm, UAF Fairbanks Campus: Publish your ebook on Kindle and Nook. Fairbanks author David Marusek is offering another non-credit course on self-publishing ebooks as part of the 2014 WINTERmester. Do you have a manuscript you’d like to publish as an ebook for sale but you don’t want to pay someone hundreds of dollars to design and distribute it for you? We’ll cover the basics of file conversion, cover design, proofing, and uploading to major online booksellers. Come with words and an image idea for a cover and learn how to turn them into a published ebook. CRN: 39057, classes held on Monday-Wednesday-Friday.
The Friends of the Library and Anchorage Library Foundation would like to thank everyone who expressed their appreciation for the library recently: thanks to your support the Library received an additional $260K for technology and materials in next year’s budget. This will help the Library improve technology and educational opportunities in support of initiatives like 90% by 2020 and Live Work Play. Additionally, the Anchorage Assembly increased the Municipality’s state capital request for the Loussac Entrance Renovation to $10M. This money, along with a bond next spring, would allow the Library to begin the project by spring 2015. They are now one step closer to making that happen. If you’d like to thank the Assembly for their strong show of support, you can send them a message at wwmas@muni.org.
UAA Campus Bookstore events are now available at iTunes U and are organized into four categories:–Literary Events, Alaska Connections, Faculty Amplified, and Guest Collections–with 12 collections. To access, click here or simply search “UAA” or “UAA Campus Bookstore” in the iTunes store. More than 100 events have been posted. You may be surprised to see what is there, representing the best of Alaska.
In the year-end roundup of “best books,” Alaska’s authors are attracting well-deserved recognition:
- Tom Kizzia‘s Pilgrims’s Wilderness sits at #5 on Amazon’s 2013 Best Books of the Year.
- The Washington Post has included Don Rearden‘s The Raven’s Gift in their list of Notable Fiction of 2013,
Congratulations to both authors–and also to Cinthia Ritchie, who has just been nominated for a Pushcart Prize for her essay “Communion.”