If I were asked to choose (hypothetically) one book to take with me into solitary exile on an island, I’d ask if I could bring my fishing tackle instead. But if that wasn’t allowed, I would choose the heaviest anthology of short stories I could find. Maybe The Story and its Writer edited by Ann […]
Guest Blogger Rich Chiappone | On Becoming a Short Story Junkie Read More »
That title is borrowed from an essay by venerable writer and publisher Nick Lyons that appeared in the New York Times Book Review some years ago. Lyons himself borrowed the title from a 1935 animated short film starring Betty Boop. In the cartoon, Betty wails those words to a villain trying to seduce her. But
Guest Blogger Rich Chiappone | No! No! A Thousand Times, No! Read More »
Being Fishermen, my friends and I were all great liars. We fibbed about the monster perch we caught at the end of our street when none of the other kids were around. We jacked up the number of bullheads or sunnies hauled in on family vacations, far from the neighborhood. Fish that got away ballooned with each telling, like the river’s
Spotlight on Alaska Books | Liar’s Code by Richard Chiappone Read More »
I actually tried, like a fool, not to attend the Kachemak Bay Writers Conference this year. McCarthy, Alaska is a long way from Homer. Fourteen hours of driving each way, barring calamity, distraction, or accident. Too far, I told myself, too much time away from my summer habitat, too many books I would buy, I
Jeremy Pataky | Notes After the ’16 Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference Read More »
CHAZ PULLED HIS mother’s Outback into the snowed-over parking lot and parked it under the Alaska Recreational Area sign, gaping through the windshield at the three bodies clad in snowmobile suits lying face down on the still-frozen surface of the lake. Another meth deal gone sideways? Maybe. The locals in the jacked-up school buses and
Alaska Shorts: “Special,” by Richard Chiappone Read More »
Have you enjoyed reading this blog over the last year? Do you look forward to this weekly compilation of literary news and events from around the state? More than 100 Alaskan authors have contributed content in the form of monthly guest blogger stints, opinion pieces on topical issues, interviews, and more. The 49 Writers blog
Linda: 49 Writers Weekly Roundup Read More »
As the year approaches its close, we have been reviewing program activities undertaken by 49 Writers in 2013 in pursuit of our mission: supporting the artistic development of writers throughout Alaska, fostering a writing community, and building an audience for literature. The blog is where it all started in 2008, and it remains a keystone
Linda: 49 Writers Weekly Roundup Read More »
These days it seems there are Alaska author successes to report every week, a most encouraging trend that we hope is here to stay. Read Michael Dirda’s glowing review of Don Rearden’s The Raven’s Gift in Wednesday’s Washington Post, and then stop by the DeBarr Costco tomorrow, Saturday, Aug. 17, 1-3pm to buy a copy or just
49 Writers Weekly Roundup Read More »
Thank you to the twenty-five wonderful writers and readers who joined us at our inaugural reading and craft talk at Great Harvest Bread Company on Tuesday, on what turned out the be the perfect spring evening. Writer Mary Albanese read from her memoir, Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon, and entertained and informed us with her story of writing the book
Ela: 49 Writers Weekly Round-up Read More »
Last week, several “Resolve to Write” events were held around the State. The event held at the Homer Public Library had a particularly lively turnout. Use of blogs was one of many topics discussed, and here are three different takes on the evening from blog posts by writers who were present. Here is Erin Hollowell’s,
Ela: 49 Writers Weekly Round-up Read More »