ANCHORAGE | 49 Writers Presents a Reading, Book Signing, and Celebration at The Writer’s Block
Sunday, February 9, 2018 | 7 PM FREE
The Writer’s Block Bookstore & Café | 3956 Spenard Rd, Anchorage, Alaska 99517
Please join us for a reading, signing, and celebration of the paperback release of Unpleasantries, a book of essays by former Alaska Writer Laureate Frank Soos. Frank is in Anchorage for his sold-out workshop on the essay.
About the Instructor
Frank Soos has published two volumes of short stories, Early Yet and Unified Field Theory as well as one collection of essays, Bamboo Fly Rod Suite. Unified Field Theory was awarded the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. He is co-editor with Kes Woodward of the anthology Under Northern Lights: Writers and Artists View the Alaskan Landscape. A collaborative work, Double Moon: Constructions and Conversations, combines his mini-essays with the work of his wife the artist Margo Klass. His book of essays, Unpleasantries, was released in summer of 2016 by the University of Washington Press. He served as Alaska State Writer from 2015-16.
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 2019 | The UAA Campus bookstore has two announced literary events coming in February 2019. Both events are free and open to the public.
- Tuesday, February 19, 2019 from 4-6 PM: Translator Andrea Gregovich presents Vladimir Kozlov’s 1987 and Other Stories. The stories in this first translated collection evoke the confusion of coming of age during perestroika (the Soviet Union’s economic restructuring). While Kozlov’s characters are absorbed in their own struggles, their stories are unavoidably political, mirroring their nation’s uncertainties and the existential crisis of their generation’s post-Soviet adulthood. Andrea Gregovich teaches in the Writing Dept. at UAA. She earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from University of Nevada Las Vegas. In addition to 1987, she translated USSR: Diary of a Perestroika Kid. Vladimir Kozlov was born in 1972 in Belorussian Soviet Specialist Republic. His fiction and nonfiction have been long-listed for awards in Russia such as the National Bestseller prize. No prior knowledge of Russian and or Russian history necessary to attend!
- 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.
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.
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
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.
CONFERENCES, RESIDENCIES, AND RETREATS
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.
UAA-ADN Creative Writing Contest deadline Friday, February 8, 2019 at 5 PM. Held by University of Alaska Anchorage and Anchorage Daily News, this 36th annual statewide creative writing contest will give out over $800 in cash prizes and announcement in ADN print & website. Open to all ages, categories include poetry, fiction, non-fiction as well as story writing. See website for rules and entry.
24th Annual Statewide Poetry Contest
Judge: Vivian Faith Prescott
ENTRY DEADLINE: Friday, February 15th • 11:59pm
Fairbanks Arts is excited to announce the 24th Statewide Poetry Contest and invites participation from authors of all ages elementary school and up. As a celebration of National Poetry Writing Month, this contest aims to encourage, publicize and reward the writing of high quality poetry in Alaska.
This year’s judge is Vivian Faith Prescott, author of a full-length poetry collection, The Hide of My Tongue, four poetry chapbooks, Slick, Sludge, Traveling with the Underground People, Our Tents Are Small Volcanoes, and a short story collection, The Dead Go to Seattle. Vivian is a recipient of the Alaska Literary Award (2017), a Rasmuson Fellowship (2015), and the Jason Wenger Award for Literary Excellence.
The winners of the contest will be announced in April and will share their work at a special literary reading hosted by Fairbanks Arts. Winning poems will also be broadcast on KUAC’s radio station FM 89.9 and its sister stations throughout the state. MORE INFORMATION.
Alaska Women Speak Spring 2019: Call for Submissions. Deadline: February 15, 2019. Currently gathering prose, poetry and cover art possibilities for the spring theme: Trajectories. See their website for details and to submit.
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
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