Happy New Year, everyone! The Roundup’s back in action after a wee holidays break, and we’re gearing up to announce upcoming 49 Writers programs. Thanks to all who sent holiday notes and membership renewals, and keep us posted on your literary news! Thanks from 49 Writers!
SOUTHCENTRAL
ANCHORAGE | Friday, January 5, from 4 to 6 PM | Ten Poets is holding its First Friday poetry lineup at the Great Harvest Bread Co. Many poets will be reading their original broadsheets, including Marilyn Borell and Sherry Eckrich. This free event will be repeated monthly.
ANCHORAGE | January 3-31, 2018 | Author Lynn Lovegreen is leading an online workshop on Writing Young Adult / New Adult Historical Romance. The course will practice writing romance grounded in historical fact considering setting, character, and plot points, and ensure the language is appropriate for the story. Lynn will provide lectures and short homework assignments, and participants will be encouraged to add to the conversation with their own ideas and knowledge. Learn more at https://www.heartsthroughhistory.com.
ANCHORAGE | January 12, 2018: Kate Troll will be at Barnes and Nobles to sign her book, THE GREAT UNCONFORMITY: REFLECTIONS ON HOPE IN AN IMPERILED WORLD at 6 pm. The book is an adventure memoir wrapped up in the global events of sustainability and climate change. She will also give a short talk on TEN POINTS of HOPE for ADDRESSING SUSTAINABILITY and CLIMATE CHANGE. FB event
ANCHORAGE | Wednesday, January 17, 2018 from 7-8:30 PM | The Alaska Writers Guild presents “Speaking Volumes: Audiobooks & Narration.” Alaska-based audiobook narrators Basil Sands and Suzie Althens will discuss their roles as narrators, and how to turn your own published works into audiobooks available to the public. Located at Barnes and Noble. Free.
ANCHORAGE | The UAA Campus Bookstore is holding multiple literary events through January and February 2018. All events are free and open to the public.
- Tuesday, January 30, 2018 from 5-7 PM | Kim Patterson presentsBecoming Visible: Social Justice by the Hands of Faith-based and Grassroots Organizations. Patterson is former director of UAA Student Support Services and author of Embracing the Homeless Community. He founded Connections Alaska, Inc, with a commitment to renewal initiatives within social and faith-based communities.
- Monday, February 5, 2018 from 5-7 PM | Let Your Memoir Be Your Resistance: How Booker Wright’s granddaughter, Yvette Johnson, turned his story, and her journey to uncover it, into American History. Johnson will discuss her work on Song and Silence which details her journey in learning about her grandfather’s murder and how it changed history. Johnson currently works as the Executive Director of The Booker Wright Project.
- Tuesday, February 6, 2018 from 5-7 PM | On the Frontiers of an Inner Life: Kathleen W. Tarr presents Thomas Merton’s 1968 Journey to Alaska. Tarr discusses her newly released book, We Are All Poets Here(VP&D House, 2018). Part memoir, part biography, she explores his life as a sequestered monastic, which he led for 27 years as he authored many of his own books on spirituality and civil rights. Tarr herself was named a William Shannon Fellow by the International Thomas Merton Society and currently sits on the board of the Alaska Humanities Forum.
- Saturday, February 10, 2018 from 1-3 PM | Camilla Kennedy presents Thinking About Environmental Economics in Alaska. Topics include environmental externalities, Total Economic Value (TEV) of natural resources and ecosystems, and understanding the interactions between our economic system and environment. Kennedy currently teaches Environmental Economics and Policy at UAA and works at the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation on regulatory policy analysis.
- Monday, February 19, 2018 from 5-7 PM | The United States’ Role in the Arctic and What Alaskans Need to Know about Plans and Future Developments. Notable guest speakers Lawson Brigham, Randy “Church” Kee, and Darren Prokop come together to discuss their views about Alaska and the changing Arctic. Brigham is Distinguished Professor of Geography & Arctic Policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He was chair of the Arctic Council’s Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment and previously was a career US Coast Guard officer who commanded four ships, including the polar icebreaker Polar Sea. Kee, Major General USAF (Ret.) had a 30-year career in the U.S. Air Force and is currently a career pilot in possession of three graduate degrees. In 2016, he became the Executive Director of the Arctic Domain Awareness Center. Prokop is Professor of Logistics at UAA. He has published research in leading academic journals. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Manitoba and author of numerous books including GlobalSupply Chain Security and Management: Appraising Programs and Preventing Crimes (2017).
- Monday, February 26, 2018 from 5-7 PM | Shuvajit Bhattacharya presents Fluid Storage and Induced Earthquakes. Dr. Shuvajit Bhattacharya teaches in the Department of Geological Sciences at UAA. His current research areas are in energy geosciences, geophysics, petrophysics, induced seismicity, and predictive data analytics. Prior to joining UAA, he completed multiple projects for energy exploration and fluid storage in North America, Australia, South Africa, and India.
- Tuesday, February 27 from 5-7 PM | Hugh Gunner Deery III presents Buddhist Epistemology, the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and study of knowledge. At this event, types of knowing linked to Buddhist concepts of self,mental cognition, dependent origination, and causation will be explained. Deery III teaches Ancient and Medieval philosophy in the Philosophy Dept. at UAA. He received a BA in philosophy at Grand Valley State University (Grand Rapids, MI) and an MA in philosophy from Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO).
INTERIOR
FAIRBANKS | January 20, 2018 at 7 PM Launch reading with many Alaskan writers who contributed to the latest issue of The Northern Review at the Bear Gallery, sponsored by the Fairbanks Arts Association. TNR is a multidisciplinary journal exploring human experience in the Circumpolar North. This issue is guest edited by Maureen Long, Eric Heyne, Andrew Richardson & Jamella Hagen. More about the issue: http://journals.sfu.ca/nr/index.php/nr/issue/view/46
SOUTHEAST
WRANGELL | Flying Island Writers & Artists group meets every other Monday 6:30-8 PM. Contact Vivian Faith Prescott for more information doctorviv@yahoo.com.
JUNEAU | January 9, 2018, 7-9 PM | 49 Writers Resolve to Write: A gathering of all lovers of literature to learn more about memberships, programs, and opportunities at 49 Writers. Potluck: please bring a dish to share. Held at the personal residence of Amy Houck. For questions call Amy Houck at 907-988-8000 or Katie Bausler at 907-321-2755. FB event.
PETERSBURG | Ernestine Hayes, current Alaska Writer Laureate, is holding two public events at the Petersburg Public Library. Hayes, a member of the Tlingit nation, is best known for award-winning Blonde Indian, an Alaska Native Memoir. Her latest book, The Tao of Raven, weaves narratives and reflection in the context of the story Raven and the Box of Daylight.
- Thursday, January 11, 2018 at 6:30 PM | Author event: An opportunity to meet Hayes, hear from her, and experience her writing.
- Friday, January 12, 2018 from 1-3 PM | Workshop: Writing Our Lives. Through exercises and discussion, participants will draw on their own life experiences to explore personal and cultural histories. Hayes will offer her own insights into writing and the publishing process. Open to any writing level. Free, but registration is required.
SOUTHWEST
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CONFERENCES, RETREATS, and RESIDENCIES
TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST | March 1: Deadline for applications for THE VOICES OF THE WILDERNESS ARTIST RESIDENCY PROGRAM for the TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST. Participating artists are paired with a wilderness specialist and actively engaged in research, monitoring, and education stewardship projects. The idea is to give artists a sense of the stewardship behind America’s public lands, fostering an artistic exploration of natural and cultural treasures. As a volunteer, each artist will assist with some basic ranger duties, which may include boarding a tour boat to provide education, participating in research projects, walking a beach to remove litter, or other generally light duties. However, the emphasis for the artist will be experiencing the wilderness and exploring how to communicate its inspirational qualities through their artwork. The Tongass National Forest has five participating Wilderness Areas: · Kootznoowoo Wilderness, Admiralty Island National Monument near Juneau · Misty Fjords National Monument Wilderness near Ketchikan · South Baranof or West Chichagof-Yakobi Wilderness near Sitka · Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness near Juneau · Tebenkof Bay Wilderness near Petersburg. Residencies are open to art professionals in all media: visual (two and three-dimensional: photographers, sculptors, painters, etc.), audio (musicians, singers, composers), film (video/filmmakers), performance artists, and writers (poets, fiction, essays, storytellers). More information and application information is available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/
WASHINGTON | Friday and Saturday, March 2-3, 2018 | Artsmith is presenting Writer Island: Generosity and Joy with Peggy Shumaker. The workshop will focus on language that opposes hatred and fear, using curiosity and pleasure as a way to heal trauma and pain. Held on Orcas Island, Washington. Visit www.orcasartsmith.org for more information and to register.
SKAGWAY | May 30 – June 2, 2018 | North Words Writers Symposium in Skagway is now taking registrations for its 2018. Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief, is the keynote writer. Other faculty include Juneau Writer Laureate and Ernestine Hayes, Portland novelist Willy Vlautin, Juneau poet Emily Wall, Ketchikan writer-artist Ray Troll, Washington writer Colleen Mondor, and Fairbanks writer Frank Soos. Features include author panels, writing workshops, and outdoor activities. Limited to 40 participants. Organizers include Buckwheat Donahue, Jeff Brady, Daniel Henry, and John Straley. For more information, see http://nwwriterss.com.
OPPORTUNITIES and AWARDS for WRITERS
JUNEAU and more | Baby Raven Reads is a project by Sealaska Heritage intended for Alaska Native kindergarteners to improve early literacy skills. The project is looking for Community Liaisons to be points of contact in each community. Liaisons will attend annual professional development training, collect data, and participate in monthly classroom-modeled activities. Resumes can be sent to cara.gilbert@sealaska.com or faxed to 907-586-9293 Attn: Cara Gilbert.
What’s missing? Submit your event or announcement to appear in the next Roundup. Send an email with “Roundup” as the subject to info@49Writers.org. Deadline Wednesday prior at the latest.
Thank You for Your Support! 49 Writers members and donors make this blog, our workshops, Crosscurrents events, Readings and Craft Talk series, and other special programs and activities possible. Not a member yet? Join Us
49 Writers, Inc. is supported, in part, by a grant from the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.