Round Up of News and Events

Back in Anchorage, Great Harvest Bread Company and 49 Writers celebrate National Poetry Month with Savor the Rising Words: Poetry Broadside Invitational. Members of 49 Writers and past or present participants in 49 Writers workshops are invited to submit poetry broadsides for display at Great Harvest Bread Co. throughout the month of April 2015. Featured poets will be encouraged to read their works during a public event at the bakery at a date and time to be determined. Broadsides in the exhibit will be available for sale and proceeds will be donated to 49 Writers. Deadline: Friday, March 20, 2015.Click here for details and the entry form.

Happy Writing!

Morgan

EVENTS IN ANCHORAGE

49 Writers Spring Classes: Anchorage. You can still register for classes starting this week! Find full information on the 49 Writers website.

• “What Chu Talk’n ‘Bout Willis?”: Developing Original Dialogue with Bryan Fierro. Saturday, February 21, 9am-4pm at 161 E. 1st Ave., Door 15 (Alaska Humanities Forum). $95 member/$115 nonmember.
• Writing the Three Dimensional Novel or Memoir with Rachel Weaver. Saturday, February 28, 9am-4pm at 161 E. 1st Ave., Door 15. $95 member/$115 nonmember.
• Joining the Conversation: Engaging with Poets Past with Sandra Kleven. Thursdays, March 5, 12 & 19 and April 2, 9 & 16, 6-8pm at 161 E. 1st Ave., Door 15. $190 member/$230 nonmember

Reading and Craft Talk with Rachel Weaver: Revising Efficiently: Some Techniques to Save Time. February 26, 7-8:30pm at Great Harvest Bread Company, 570 E. Benson Blvd. Rachel writes, “You’ve been writing furiously for months (or years) and that glorious day comes when you write the last sentence. You’ve finished your first draft, you go out to celebrate, the next day comes and you begin to wonder, now what? Often for writers, what follows is a lot of years of inefficient cutting and pasting and rewriting and moving around and moving back. It’s easy to get caught in addressing surface problems rather than evaluating the backbone of the story from a crafting point of view. In this craft talk, we will discuss some solid techniques to make your revisions as efficient and effective as possible to get your book ready to go out the door in fewer drafts.”

UAA Bookstore events in February. All events at the UAA Campus Bookstore. Click here for details.

• February 16, 5:30-7pm: Health Disparities and Urban & Regional Economics
• February 17, 5-7om: Secrets, Sex, Shame, and Blame: What Hidden Stories of 1960s Women Can Teach Us
• February 19, 5-7pm: G.W. Steller’s Trek Through the Wilds of Siberia
• February 23, 5-7pm: Writing About Climate Change
• February 24, 1-3pm: Climate Change Impacts on Access to Health Care

Haiku at Poetry Parley: February 19 at 7:00 pm, Hugi-Lewis Studio, 1008 W. Northern Lights Blvd. Send a note to sign up to read your own Haiku or the Haiku of another poet. (There will be an opportunity to write new Haiku, too.) poetryparley@gmail.com.

Be a part of Anchorage Reads 2015! Kicking off February 20th and running through March 20th, Anchorage Reads is a one-book/one community reading program promoting literacy, love of reading and facilitating community discussions. The Raven’s Gift by local author Don Rearden is this year’s selection. Events include 

• Book Discussion with Don Readen, Loussac Library, February 21, 3pm and Muldoon Branch Library, March 7, 3 pm.
• The Raven’s Gift Reader’s Theatre, Loussac Library-Wilda Marston, March 12, 7pm
• Book & Brew Rondy, Anchorage Community Works, March 13, 8pm
• Author Talk, Loussac Library-Wilda Marston, Thursday, March 19, 7pm

“What Do We Do When the Lifeboats are Burning?” Songs and Stories about Climate, Community and Courage. Libby Roderick and Kathleen Dean Moore in concert and conversation. February 22, 2 pm, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2824 E. 18th (18th & Sunrise, Airport Heights). $20 suggested donation. 50% of proceeds go to Alaskan climate organizations. Co-sponsored by UU Fellowship, 49 Writers, and UAA Office of Sustainability.

EVENTS AROUND ALASKA

Interior & Fairbanks

Writing in the Dark: Annual One Day Writers Retreat. Saturday, February 14, 9am-4pm, Bear Gallery, 3rd Floor, Pioneer Park Centennial Center for the Arts.
Treat yourself, or your Valentine, to an all day literary workshop with Homer author Erin Hollowell. Generate new work, gather ideas, and consider new projects. Feel free to bring work in progress (poetry or prose) that you’d like to look at with new eyes. A full day retreat with breakfast and lunch for $40. Come write with us!

Mat-Su

SOWSEAR comic artists B. Hutton and Chad Meyer will be sitting in at Fireside Books showing off issues of the entire run so far of SOWSEAR,drawing comics and giving tips for publication in the Spring issue. February 14 at 11:30 am, 720 S. Alaska St, Palmer.

B. Hutton is a writer, performer, workshop facilitator, and cartoonist. His cartoons have appeared in a variety of publications and galleries, and on a number of refrigerator doors. He has been visiting Palmer and the Mat-Su Valley for over a decade, facilitating Poetry Slam Workshops in the school system. When he’s not looking for a book to take back to Anchorage from Fireside Books, he’s usually down the block, having a good cup of coffee, maybe reading the book.

Fireside Books invites you to an afternoon of poetry and music with Cirque Magazine on February 15 at 2:00 pm. Featured readers are Sandra Kleven, Jeremy Pataki, Elizabeth Thompson, Eowyn Ivey, Monica Devine, Julie LeMay, Steve Rubinstein, Egan Millard, Jerry McDonnell, David Cheezem, Cynthia Sims, Tonja Woelber, Kathleen Witkowska Tarr, with special guest musician Lulu Small.

Juneau & Southeast

49 Writers Events

• Literary Happy Hour with Rachel Weaver. March 1, 4:30-6pm at Coho’s 51 Egan Drive, Juneau. Reading, craft talk, and libations. Rachel discuss “Revising Efficiently: Some Techniques to Save Time.” 
• Writing the Three Dimensional Novel or Memoir: Essential ingredients to Capture Your Reader and Engage an Audience: A 49 Writers Class with Rachel Weaver. March 2-3, 6-9pm at UAS Egan Classroom 221. Free to current UAS students; $95 members of 49 Writers/$115 nonmembers. Registration and Full info on the 49 Writers website.

Jeremy Pataky Book Tour to celebrate publication of his book of poetry Overwinter, March 19-23. Events in Juneau, Haines, and Skagway. Details next week.

West

Christine Byl, author of Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods, will give reading at the library in Unalaska, Thursday, February 19 at 7 pm. Dirt Work was a Top Pick for Spring 2013 by Amazon, Christian Science Monitor, and O Magazine.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR WRITERS

Volunteer Blog Coordinator needed at 49 Writers, training provided: This is a great opportunity to have contact with with a wide range of writers. The volunteer blog coordinator makes sure a post runs each weekday on the 49 Writers blog, along with updating the featured author sidebar and promoting the blog on the 49 Writers Facebook page. There’s a nice system in place, with some regular items like the Friday round-up and the monthly featured author.
On average, it takes ten hours a month to keep the blog up to date, a little more if you end up writing an original post here or there to fill in. If you’re reliable, responsible, pay attention to detail, know (or can readily learn) the Blogger platform, and communicate well, 49 Writers needs you! Before Deb Vanasse, our longtime Blog-ess, moves on to new projects. she will train you! What more could a fledgling (or experienced) blogger want?
So come have a turn at keeping us connected via the 49 Writers blog. Fill out a volunteer form today, and in the “tell us about you” spot, mention your interest in the blog coordinator position.

Publication & Production Opportunities

Writers’ Showcase at 360 North, KTOO, Juneau is accepting submissions for their March show. The theme is Journeys. Deadline is February 27.

Cirque was founded to give writers (and artists) of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest more places to publish their work – and as a vehicle to bring the best writing of the region to the world. The next Cirque deadline is March 21st (the equinox). The submission address is cirque.submits@gmail.com.

Fairbanks Drama Association and The Looking Glass Group Theatre invite Alaskan residents to send their best 10-minute plays to be considered for the 15th Annual 8X10 Festival of New Alaskan Plays. Eight ten-minute plays will be given rehearsed staged readings at the Festival, which will be held April 24 & 25, 2015, at FDA’s Hap Ryder Riverfront Theater in Fairbanks. Submission deadline: March 15.
Whitefish Review Mythic Beasts and Monsters: Submissions for Whitefish Review’s summer 2015 issue are accepted in art, photography, fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Editors want you to dig into supernatural history. Nessie, Sasquatch, and cousin Yeti-the Brontosaurus still rumbling somewhere deep in the Congo’s swamps. Fairies, Trolls, Dragons, Gods ‘n’ Demons. Montana’s own Flathead Lake Monster. What natural models are these beasts based on? What human hopes and fears? Why do we seem to wish that those creatures are really out there? Dig deep. What monsters lurk inside us? Submission deadline March 15, 2015.

Soap Stone Creek Literary Journal: a Bi-monthly Print Journal for Children of all Ages debuts May 2015. They are looking for fiction, essays, poetry, artwork, and photos. No deadlines given; check the website for details.

The April issue of Cyclamens and Swords Publishing will be a general issue for poetry and short stories on any subject. Humorous and controversial submissions are welcomed. Submission deadline March 15.

Contests & Grants

Rasmuson Foundation: The 2015 Individual Artist Award application deadline is March 1.

Statewide Poetry Contest 2015: Deadline is March 2, 2015 at 6 pm.

2015 Public Invitation for a Poem in Place: For the third and final project year, Poems in Place 2015 seeks one poem to place in Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park in Kodiak, and one poem for Caines Head State Recreation Area in Seward. Submissions accepted Feb. 1 – April 1.

It’s Always Something Teen Writing Contest deadline is March 20, 2015. More information on the contest and the submission form at www.gildasclubseattle.org.

Cahaba River Literary Journal Home for the Holidays Poetry Competition: Call for submissions from new and seasoned writers: stories, poems, essays, and color and black and white photography on all subjects, in any form. Submission deadline October 31, 2015.

Conferences, Retreats & Residencies

Wrangell Mountain Meg Hunt Residency Program Application Deadline: March 5, 2015
Artists and writers of all genres and at all stages in their career are encouraged to apply for one of several two-week residencies. Selections will be made through a competitive admissions process. They encourage emerging and mid-level career voices as well as mature professionals. Selected artists will receive room and board for their entire stay in exchange for community outreach or the donation of artwork as a result of the residency. During the residency, the artist will be asked to share their experience with the public by demonstration, talk, or other means.

North Words Writers Symposium, May 27-30, Skagway. Keynote speaker is Mary Roach, plus a bevvy of Alaska’s best authors. North Words Symposium offers a unique opportunity for writers to nurture interrelationships with other writers and thinkers in a spectacular place. They aspire to build upon a tradition of literature that reflects language and life on the frontier.

Ketchikan Teaching Artist Academy:The Ketchikan Area Arts & Humanities Council is offering a Teaching Artist Academy via the OWL Network. Sessions will be held on Saturday, March 7th from 10am to 6pm at OWL sites in Ketchikan, Craig, Thorne Bay, Petersburg, Wrangell, Cordova, Metlakatla and Hollis. This workshop is meant to support the professional development of currently working teaching artists, and professional artists exploring the addition of teaching artist work to their art practices. Participants may also seek UAS credit.
Artists in dance, media and Alaska Native arts, music, theatre, literature, writers, weavers and other visual artists are encouraged to register. The workshop features expert teachers, administrators, and consultants who will demonstrate:

• Current brain-based teaching strategies and how they tap into brain functioning like no other discipline
• How to prepare a lesson plan and integrate it with the school’s curriculum and the Alaska Education Standards
• How to engage and manage a classroom full of students during a two or three week residency

Additional pre and post work requires: guided observation in a school classroom, development of a residency project, teaching a component to a group of students and a post-workshop phone conference.
For complete information, and registration, visit the Ketchikan Area Arts and Humanities Council website athttp://ketchikanarts.org/events-programs/arts-education. If you have any questions about the Teaching Artist Academy or the Artist in the Schools program, contact Christa Bruce, Education Director atchristab@ketchikanarts.org or 907.225.2211.

Mineral School Summer 2015 artist residency application deadline is February 25, 2015 (Midnight, EST) for the 2015 summer residencies.

Left Coast Crime: Crimelandia? Portland, March 12-15.

Win $500 to Attend a Writer’s Conference, Festival, Center, Retreat, or Residency
AWP offers three scholarships of $500 each to emerging writers who wish to attend a writers’ conference, center, retreat, festival, or residency. Enter via Submittable by March 30, 2015 deadline.

Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference: Minneapolis, April 8-11. Imagine 12,000 writers in one place!

The Muse & the Marketplace 2015 May 1st – 3rd, 2015, sponsored by Grubstreet in Boston.

Minnesota Northwoods Writers Conference, June 20-26, 2015. Scholarship deadline: March 15. 49 Writers just received a bunch of brochures for this conference. Contact Morgan if you want some.