Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming details on the following exciting 49 Writers programs:
- Nicole Stellon O’Donnell will tour to celebrate the release of her newest book, You Are No Longer in Trouble. She’ll teachWriting the In-Between: Hybrid Forms and Generating Formsin Anchorage on April 13, 2019. Registration opens soon; stay tuned for details on other events beyond Anchorage, too.
- Jamey Bradbury, author of the novel, The Wild Inside, will be offering a spring workshop in Anchorage. More details to come.
- Kim Heacox, author of many books about Alaska including the novel Jimmy Bluefeather, will be offering some classes this spring in Southeast.
- Kathleen Tarr, author of We Are All Poets Here, will read and teach in Anchorage and Juneau in March and May respectively. We’ll also present a lecture from Kathleen in Juneau. More details to come.
- Juneau members have begun gathering monthly at the downtown library. Board member Katie Bausler says, “we’ll discuss what we’re reading, what we’re writing (or not), and exercise our writing muscles a bit.” Suggestions for themes and activities welcome, tea and snacks provided. Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, March 19, 6:45-8 p.m.
- Anchorage, save the date for a Mary Oliver tribute evening at The Writer’s Block April 21, 2019.
We’re pleased to announce that Winter Words with Eowyn Ivey has been rescheduled for Sunday, February 24. We have just a handful of tickets left! To learn more, and to join us for this special fundraising event, please visit our event page.
SOUTHCENTRAL
ANCHORAGE | February-March 2019 | The UAA Campus bookstore has announced literary events coming in February and March 2019. All events are free and open to the public.
- Tuesday, February 26, 2019 from 4-6 PM: Ian Hartman and James K. Barnett present Imagining Anchorage: The Making of America’s Northernmost Metropolis. With over 100 full-color images and photographs to accompany historical essays, the book brings together twenty renowned contributors to tell pieces of Anchorage’s story. At this event, Hartman and Barnet discuss how Imagining Anchorage came together and why unveiling Anchorage’s past is important today. Ian Hartman is an Associate Professor of History at UAA and author of In the Shadow of Boone and Crockett: The Politics of Race, Culture, and Representation in the Upland South. James Barnett is an Alaska attorney and author of Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Passage.
- Friday, March 8, 2019 from 4-6 PM: Author Keenan Powell discusses the development of women characters in mysteries and presents her second Maeve Artemis Malloy mystery, Hemlock Needle. From Miss Marple to Vera Stanhope, from the unveiled to the convicted, women in mysteries are examined, with emphasis on Powell’s Maeve Malloy as a 21-Century investigator and sleuth.
- Friday, March 11, 2019 from 4-6 PM: Woman Scream: International Women’s Poetry Movement! Hosted by Itzel Yarger-Zagal, people from all walks of life are encouraged to share their own poetry and/or that of other women poets. Instead of offering bilingual or translated poems, readers will explain the meaning of their poem and then recite it in the poem’s original language. English poems are also welcome. To share a poem, contact Rachel Epstein at 786-4782 or repstein2@alaska.edu. Open mic will be available at the end if time allows.
ANCHORAGE | 49 Writers and The Anchorage Museuem presents | Author Caroline Van Hemert—a talk and book signing| Wednesday, March 20, 2019 from 7-8:30 PM for her newly released book, The Sun is a Compass. The book is a memoir that blends Alaska adventure, natural history and personal narrative. Hear stories about her 4,000-mile wilderness journey from the Pacific rainforest to the Chukchi Sea. Her research and expeditions have been featured by the New York Times and other major media outlets. Event to be held at the Anchorage Museum. Event is free; use the museum’s 7th Ave entrance. Additional details available on the museum’s website here.
ANCHORAGE | Friday, March 22, 2019 at 7 PM | Alaska Quarterly Review celebrates its 70th issue! The evening will feature a staged reading of Rex Shannon’s Come Up Here, a funny and provocative short story about a boy from a deeply religious family who encounters God, who has some unexpected demands. The story will be dramatically presented by prominent Alaskan literary artists Don Rearden (God), Bryan Fiero (father), Amy Meissner (mother), and Shane Castle (the boy). Event will be held at Writer’s Block, it is free and open to public. For more information on AQR, please contact: uaa_aqr@uaa.alaska.edu. 49 Writers is proud to be a Co-Sponsor for this event.
SOUTHEAST
WRANGELL | Flying Island Writers & Artists group meets every other Monday 6:30-8 PM. Contact Vivian Faith Prescott for more information at doctorviv@yahoo.com
CONFERENCES, RESIDENCIES, AND RETREATS
SKAGWAY | May 29 – June 1, 2019| North Words Writers Symposium with keynote speaker Susan Orlean, a previous The New Yorker staff writer and multi-award-winning author. The symposium will include multiple keynotes (including Orlean’s), workshops, and panels with a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Symposium participants enjoy the luxury of small groups and one-on-one access to successful writers. See website for more details.
Alderworks Alaska Writers & Artists Retreat: Deadline February 15, 2019. Now accepting applications for summer residencies of 4-6 weeks. Owners Jeff and Dorothy Bradys’s idea is simple: give writers and artists a quiet, beautiful spot to create or enhance their works, and wonderful things will happen. Residency located in Skagway. For more details and to apply, see their website: http://alderworksalaska.com/apply/
HOMER | June 14-18, 2019 | Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference is back for 2019 and registration is open! This nationally-recognized conference will feature workshops, readings and panel presentations in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and the business of writing. The keynote presenter Diane Ackerman, an award-winning poet, essayist, and naturalist, will be joined by fifteen other writers, poets, and publishing industry professionals. For many more details and to register, see the conference’s website here.
OPPORTUNITIES and AWARDS for WRITERS
Rasmuson Individual Artist Awards: Apply Now
Grants to Alaska artists to support the time, reflection, immersion or experimentation beneficial to the development of their artistry.
Project and Fellowship Award applications opened Jan. 15
Rasmuson Foundation honors the merit and significance of a life dedicated to serious artistic exploration and growth. The Foundation believes an artist’s energy, ideas, and creative drive cannot bear fruit without time devoted to experimentation, education, and personal reflection. We also acknowledge artists need opportunities to explore at various stages of their artistic careers.
Fairbanks Drama Association call for playwrights! Deadline: March 15, 2019. In partnership with The Looking Glass Group Theater, they invite Alaskan playwrights to submit 10-minute plays for the annual 8X10 Festival of New Alaskan Plays. Eight ten-minute plays will be chosen for staged readings at the Festival April 26 & 27, 2019, at FDA’s Hap Ryder Riverfront Theater, Fairbanks, Alaska. Visit the Fairbanks Drama Association for information on hardcopy submission. For electronic, submit to fairbanksdrama8X10@gmail.com. Questions? Same email, or pegferguson@gci.net.
UAS Essay Contest: Deadline March 15, 2019. The University of Alaska Southeast is holding an essay contest for all UAS students. Essays can be expository, persuasive, academic research, and / or scholarly papers written for a UAS class. Financial aid will be given to the essay that best demonstrates the UAS mission of student learning. Submit to Egan Library 105 or via email at uas.writingcenter@alaska.edu
Catamaran Poetry Prize open for submissions, Deadline: April 20, 2019. The Catamaran Poetry Prize encourages the submission of previously unpublished poetry manuscripts across a range of styles, themes, and forms. A prize of $1,000 and publication in book form will be awarded to the poetry collection selected by the judge. See their website for details and to submit. This year, it will be judged by former UAA MFA faculty member Zack Rogow!
What’s missing? Submit your announcement for the next Roundup. Send an email with “Roundup” as the subject to 49blog@gmail.com
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