Earlier this month, on returning home from a trip to Denali National Park, I got some exciting news: one of my stories, “Of Waxwings and Goshawks and Standing Up to Power,” has been named a “Notable Essay” in this year’s Best American Essays anthology (joining two other 2014 Alaskan notables, Eva Saulitis and David Stevenson). …
The early stages of turning my “Animal Stories” idea into a book went remarkably smoothly. Two decades of writing wildlife essays had given me plenty of material to choose from. Though there are some iconic Alaskan animals I haven’t yet encountered and/or examined in story, I had more than enough diversity in the species, locales, …
Bill Sherwonit: Getting Tense While Moving from the Present to the Past Read More »
By the time you read this I’ll be in Homer, waiting to meet up with the very diverse and accomplished group of poets and memoirists who will be participating in this year’s Tutka Bay Writers Retreat led by distinguished poet Carolyn Forché. We’ll bring you a full report next week, and post a photo album …
Bill and Denali along Turnagain Trail In opening up my month’s worth of guest author postings, I’ll briefly reference an earlier 49 Writers contribution I made way back in September 2010, titled “Some Musings on the Essay.” To quote myself from that piece: “When people ask what I do, or how I make …
Bill Sherwonit When talking about the writing life, I like to tell a story from my geology days, about a boss who absolutely loved the work we did. As I recount in Changing Paths: Travels and Meditations in Alaska’s Arctic Wilderness (2009, University of Alaska Press), “Inwardly I cringed when a crew leader named Joe talked about …
From our Archives: The Long and Winding Road to the Writing Life, by Bill Sherwonit Read More »
Photo courtesy of Christina Whiting First of all, we’d like to express our appreciation to everyone who participated in last Friday’s Write-a-thon – a great time was had by all at Snow City Café as you created new work and raised money for 49 Writers! We’ll have a full report for you next week. Special thanks go to …
Lael Morgan and Deb Vanasse share publishing advice What a wonderful turnout at last night’s Resolve to Write event in Anchorage, despite the dodgy weather. It was a pleasure to meet so many new members–membership has been growing in leaps and bounds with 14 new members since the first of the year (more than half …
Ken Post entertains us with a story about Scrabblewith an Alaskan twist What a great turnout at last night’s Resolve to Write gathering in Juneau—the energy and enthusiasm in the room were palpable! Member Sarah Isto provided the perfect setting and we thank her for welcoming Juneau’s writers to her home. Thanks too to 49 …
What a wonderful turnout for Joan Naviyuk Kane’s reading on New Year’s Eve! Thank you to all the poetry lovers who chose to see the old year out in this way, who were also treated to some fine music by local musician Michael Howard. Host Olena Davis provided the perfect setting for the event, and …
Don’t miss the very last 49 Writers event of 2013: a New Year’s Eve poetry reading by Joan Naviyuk Kane on Tuesday Dec. 31, 8pm, 120 West 11th Avenue, to mark the release of Hyperboreal, her second award-winning book. Joan will read selections from this new collection after we enjoy music from Alaskan songwriter Michael Howard. Doors open at 7pm. …
