It’s May…vember? Snowing this morning across several parts of the state as reported via complaints on social media. You may be dreaming of writing retreat and conference season which is right around the corner. Lots of opportunities below, including 49 Writers own Tutka Bay Writers Retreat in September, with guest author Hannah Tinti, which only has room for 16 attendees, so apply now!
SOUTHCENTRAL
ANCHORAGE | Friday-Sunday, May 4-6, 2018 | Book sale & Local author Fair at Loussac Library. Event listed on Anchorage Library Foundation website.
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- Friday, May 4, 6-8 PM: Friends of the Library members only sale (memberships available at the door).
- Saturday, May 5, 10-4 PM: Book Sale and Local Author Fair. Authors and illustrators will be featured in the atrium of the library for this one-day local author sale.
- Sunday, May 6, 12-4 PM: Half price day.
ANCHORAGE | On Saturday, May 5, 2018 in conjunction with the Spring Friends of the Library book sale, Z. J. Loussac Library will host their first ever Local Author book fair. Authors and illustrators will be featured in the atrium of the library for this one-day local author sale. Authors can begin registering on Monday, February 12 at 10 am. Spots will be on a first come, first reserved basis. Learn more and register here.
PALMER | Monday, May 7, 2018 at 4 PM and 6:30 PM | Author signing and dinner with Nancy Pfeiffer. Signing for Pfieffer’s book Riding Into the Heart of Patagonia will be at 4 PM, held at Fireside Books, 720 S Alaska St. Later, a Meet-n-Greet dinner with Patagonian theme will be at 6:30 PM, held at Turkey Red Banquet Room, 550 S Alaska St. Dinner tickets $25, sold at Fireside Books and the Venue. Original event website here.
ANCHORAGE | Tuesday, May 8, 2018 from 7-8 PM | Author Kathleen Tarr (We Are All Poets Here) and publisher Vered Mares (VP&D House, owner) will speak at the May meeting of Alaska Writer’s Guild. Located at Writer’s Block, 3956 Spenard Rd.
ANCHORAGE | May 11-13, 2018 | Passage Writes: Stories from Alaska Birth-Moms. Passage Writes is hosting an adoption-themed writing workshop. The group is looking for women to fill 20 spots in order to ensure a wide range of voices. The workshop is open to all of Alaska’s birth-moms, regardless of writing ability. Click here for details and here for Facebook page.
ANCHORAGE | Wednesday, May 16, 2018 at 7 PM | Poetry Parley: M.C.MoHagani Magnetek will be reading works from poet Maya Angelou. A veteran of the US Coast Guard, Magnetek has a variety of degrees and is working on her MFA in Creative Writing and Literary Arts at UAA. She has published in anthologies such as Building Fires in Snow and Queer Magic: Power Beyond Boundaries.
ANCHORAGE | Thursday, May 17, 2018 from 6:30 – 8 PM | Reflections on Attu: Art Show and Reception at Anchorage Public Library. Join USFWS Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge for a slideshow and talk by author Nancy Lord followed by a reception and art show opening.
ANCHORAGE | Wednesday, May 23, Danger Close Alaska with Don Rearden We’re proud to present the 2018 offering of Danger Close Alaska, the third year of joint 49 Writers and Alaska Humanities Forum programming meant to build a literary community of civilians and veterans. Everyone is welcome to attend. This year, Danger Close Alaska takes place one night a month for six consecutive months. Advanced registration is open for each session; participants need not have attended prior sessions to participate. Fee includes gourmet pizza.
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
HOONAH | June 30 – July 6, 2018 | Environmental Rhetoric: A 3-credit course through University of Alaska Southeast. Join professor Dan Henry at Inian Islands institute for this intensive course on environmental Rhetoric and become a stronger, more persuasive environmental leader. 12 participants. Fee: $400. Meals, lodging, and transport from Juneau provided. For more info please contact professor Dan Henry at mudbase@gmail.com and include a short paragraph on what the class could do for you.
CONFERENCES, RETREATS, and RESIDENCIES
PALMER | May 11-13, 2018 SCBWI Alaska’s 2nd Annual Alaska Big Thaw Retreat For all Authors: picture book, middle grade, young adult, adult literature, and illustrators at the Knik River Lodge. Workshops by Stephen Barr of Writers House Lit. Agency, optional critique groups and loads of quiet writing and illustrating time, optional professional critique, AK cuisine, a cabin, a classroom yurt with a wood burning stove, and amazing views, and more. Register
SKAGWAY | May 30 – June 2, 2018 | North Words Writers Symposium in Skagway is now taking registrations for its 2018. Pico Iyer 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, click here.
HOMER | June 8-12, 2018 | Registration is open now for the seventeenth annual Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference. Held in Homer, Alaska, this nationally recognized writing conference features workshops, readings and panel presentations in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and the business of writing. Keynote presenter Anthony Doerr, Pulitzer Prize winner and National Book Award finalist, will be joined by fifteen other writers, poets, and publishing industry professionals. Optional manuscript reviews, agent/editor meetings, post-conference workshop at Tutka Bay Lodge and boat cruise. Scholarships available. All information and faculty bios at our website: http://sites.kpc.alaska.edu/writersconf/. The deadline for “early-bird” registration rate is May 1st.
TUTKA BAY LODGE | The 9th Annual 49 Writers Tutka Bay Writers Retreat with Hannah Tinti will take place September 7-9, 2018.
This generative writers retreat blends craft talks, in-class writing, readings, and discussion with unstructured time to experience the immersive natural environment or concentrate further on writing.
Your weekend of instruction and inspiration will take place at Tutka Bay Lodge, named by Fodor in 2012 as one of the World’s Top 100 places to stay. Tutka Bay is a remote and rugged fjord characterized by soaring mountains, secluded beaches, old growth forest, and dramatic tidal fluctuations. To get there you fly or drive to the fishing community of Homer on the Kenai Peninsula (225 miles south of Anchorage) then take a 20-minute water taxi ride across Kachemak Bay. On the way you will observe a variety of shore and water birds, and there is always the possibility of sighting sea otters, orcas, and humpbacks.
Hannah Tinti is the author of three books of fiction. Her short story collection, Animal Crackers, has sold in sixteen countries and was a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway award. Her best-selling novel, The Good Thief, is a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, recipient of the American Library Association’s Alex Award, winner of the The Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, and winner of the Quality Paperback Book Club’s New Voices Award. Her new novel, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley, was published in March 2017 by The Dial Press (U.S.A.) and Tinder Press (U.K.), and has been optioned by director Matt Reeves/6th & Idaho, producer Michael Costigan/Cota Films & Endemol Shine. It has been nominated for an Edgar Award, and was named a Best Book of 2017 by NPR, The Washington Post and Paste Magazine.
Applications are being accepted now; don’t delay!
NEW RELEASES
McRoy & Blackburn Publishers of Ester has recently released a new novella by Eric Forrer of Juneau, Colors of the Morning Sky, to excellent reviews in Alaska newspapers. The Southeastern-set tale has illustrations by Lue Isaac of Seattle and Juneau.
What’s missing? Submit your announcement for the next Roundup. Send an email with “Roundup” as the subject to 49blog@gmail.com
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