Inspired by a friend who applied for, and received, a three-month internship at a honeybee sanctuary during the pandemic, in early 2021 I applied for more than a dozen writing residencies. Like so many other submissions, this was mostly met with rejection. But also like so much of this work, putting in an initial effort […]
Residency? by Ken Waldman Read More »
If you’re reading this and have published books, you know the challenges of planning even a single book release event. Coordinating a tour is exponentially tougher. From the end of April through the first week of June, I appeared in Skagway, Haines, Juneau, Talkeetna, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Homer, Soldotna, Talkeetna (again), Denali Park, and Anchorage (again).
2022 Alaska Book Tour by Ken Waldman Read More »
REPORT FROM THE SIXTH ANNUAL LIGHTHOUSE LIT FEST, JUNE 3-JUNE 18, 2011, DENVER In the late 1990s, as I expanded my touring, and started traveling further east from my Anchorage base, I twice attended the Colorado Book Festival in Denver. There I met a couple, Mike Henry, a poet, and his wife, Andrea Dupree, a
Ken Waldman: Lighthouse Lit Fest Report Read More »
These days when people ask me where I’m from, I answer by telling a story. The quick version: officially an Anchorage resident, I left in 2001 to go on tour. For five years I was completely itinerant, traveling from job to job, returning to Alaska as often as I could. Then I spent close to
My Alaska Home: A Guest Post by Ken Waldman Read More »
During my fiddling poet performances, I sometimes mention I’m a quintessential late-bloomer, and ask if anybody in the audience can relate. Invariably a few hands shoot up. I explain how a few years earlier, as a visiting writer at a small Catholic college, I went to dinner with the poet on campus, and one of
LATE-BLOOMER, ARE YOU?: A Guest Post by Ken Waldman Read More »
Occasionally, people congratulate me for beating the odds and making my living as a writer. It used to be that I’d try to explain that while I indeed wrote, and have had some success, earning money was more complicated than that, and I wasn’t exactly “making my living as a writer.” Now, when people congratulate
How One Alaskan Has Made a Living as a Writer: A Guest Post by Ken Waldman Read More »
Early August 1985, soon to turn thirty, I arrived in Fairbanks to begin the MFA program in Creative Writing at UAF. I didn’t know anyone in Fairbanks, knew virtually nothing about the program. But earlier that year, in Seattle, amidst a failing relationship, I’d written a short story which seemed so much better than anything
How One Alaskan Started Writing Poems: A Guest Post by Ken Waldman Read More »
When I left Anchorage in June, 2001 to head on tour, I had a book of poetry and two CDs. Nine years later, I still work full-time as a touring artist, and am fortunate to have several more books and CDs. The past year I’ve spent most of my time in New York City—long story!—which
BookExpo 2010, New York City: A Guest Post by Ken Waldman Read More »
Ah, the holidays. After all the rush, it’s good to relax and enjoy the company of those we love. So we’ll keep the news short and to the point. But do read to the end, where you’ll find our little gift to you. The new year will bring several exciting developments here at 49 Writers.
49 Writers Weekly Round-Up Read More »
Anyone who knows me—-and I assume there are a few of you in that category reading 49 Writers—-also knows that for most of the past decade I’ve been an absentee Alaska resident. When I started freelancing out of Juneau in 1995, I rarely worked in town, which meant that for virtually every job I’d board
In Defense of Self-Promotion, Part 4: A guest post by Ken Waldman Read More »
