An ex-cop that I know once said, “Never admit to anything.” I’m not sure, though, if he was referring to the cop’s or the criminal’s perspective. Anyhow, there’s no excuse for what I’m about to say: I’ve never read Andromeda Romano-Lax’s The Spanish Bow or Deb Vanasse’s Lucy’s Dance.
There I admitted it.
I’ve also never read Seth Kantner’s Shopping for Porcupine or John Straley’s The Music is What Happens, or Leslie Leyland Field’s Surviving the Island of Grace. Shall I go on?
When I entered the low residency program at the University of Alaska Anchorage as a part of their inaugural class, I hadn’t read Sherry Simpson, Nancy Lord, Rich Chiappone, Anne Caston, or Derick Burleson. Nope. Nada. Nilch.
Why haven’t you? Well, I’m not sure. I could give you an excuse: I’m lazy. I’m poor. I’m busy. I’m preoccupied. I’m lazy. I really don’t know.
I’m not saying that I’m not an avid reader. I am. Like Stephen King, I sometimes read fifty books a year. I read Jodi Picoult, James Patterson, Sherman Alexie, John Grisham, and more. I’ve recently read Water for Elephants, The Help, Sh*t My Dad Says, The Night Circus, and Hunger Games. But where are the Alaskan authors in that mix? Well, that’s my New Year’s resolution: read as many Alaskan authors as I can and furthermore, to promote Alaskan authors. I want to be well read in Alaskan literature.
Now that I’ve made my resolution, let me ask if you’ve read my digital poetry chapbook Slick? Have you read my middle-grade novel Keeper of Directions? Will you read my first full length poetry collection The Hide of My Tongue when it’s available next month?
I believe that Alaskan writers have a duty to support and encourage other Alaskan writers. We can do this by reading one another’s work. At the beginning of this year I decided to start my daily writing process by reading. Right now I’m reading Don Rearden’s Raven’s Gift. Yes, it’s been hard to put it down and go about my own writing. I want to finish the book in one sitting. But I feel like I’m doing something good for my spirit and I’m reading an Alaskan author.
I challenge you, dear writer, to do the same thing: read Alaskan. Even if you don’t read poetry you’ll enjoy Derick Burleson’s award winning poetry collection Ejo, which chronicles his experience teaching and living in Rwanda prior to the genocide. Even if you don’t read non-fiction you’ll enjoy Ernestine Hayes’s The Blonde Indian. Read poetry. Read a young adult novel or a children’s book for fun. Read an Alaskan murder mystery. This year I want you to get out of your reading comfort zone and read a different genre that you write in.
One of the best places to look for Alaskan writers is 49 Writers, and also the newly formed Alaskan Writers Directory started by current Alaska writer laureate Peggy Shumaker.
My list of upcoming reads: Emily Wall’s and Jerah Chadwick’s poetry; Deb Vanasse’s Lucy’s Dance; Andromeda Romano-Lax’s The Spanish Bow; Heart of the Sound by Marybeth Holleman; and Eowyn Ivey’s Snow Child. And that’s just the beginning.
At the end of this year I want to be well read in Alaskan literature. Will I have read everything? No way. But I want to be able to have a conversation about Sherry Simpson’s The Accidental Explorer and Peggy Shumaker’s The Circle of Totems. I want to recommend their books to others.
I’m proud to say that I’m an Alaskan writer and that I’m a part of a growing assemblage of very creative Alaskan authors. Are you reading your fellow Alaskans’ books? If not, what’s your excuse? Crack open that book or turn on your Kindle or Nook and read.
Vivian Faith Prescott is a fifth generation Alaskan living in Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska. She recently received an MFA from the University of Alaska. Vivian’s poetry has appeared in Yellow Medicine Review, Tidal Echoes, Cirque and elsewhere. She’s a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee and was recently awarded the Jason Wenger Award for Literary Excellence. Vivian’s first book of poetry, The Hide of My Tongue, will be published by Plain View Press in the spring of 2012. She also writes young adult and middle-grade fiction under the name L.K. Mitchell. Keeper of Directions, a middle-grade fantasy novel, will be published by Euterpe on January 6th, 2012. She blogs here and here, and she also tweets (@poet_tweet and @planet_alaska).
The local bookshop has a section dedicated to books by Alaskan writers. I wonder if the libraries have a section like that?
At any rate, the easier it is to find Alaska's authors the more readers they'll have.
Thanks, Vivian. Like you I haven't read many current Alaskan authors, and hope to do so this year. I have read one lately: My Name is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson. Fantastic book–I recommend it highly!
I think some libraries do have sections where you can find Alaskan authors.
And Lynn, thanks for reminding me about Debby's book. It is on my reading list for sure.
There are, absolutely, sections on Alaska and Alaskana. There are sometimes sections by Alaska writers. Good to recognize, too, that all Alaska writers are not writing "Alaskana." (Is that a word? Meet my daughter, Alaskana?) I have read Slick, Spanish Bow, Blonde Indian, Raising Ourselves, Kid's from Nowhere, Seth Kantner, Nick Jans (not mentioned, so far), Raven's Gift,Legend of a Suicide, Lucy's Dance,The Devil's Share. More poets: I've read, Caston, Burleson, Burwell, Tom Sexton, Shumaker, Olena Davis, Liz Bradfield, John Haines. On my "to read" list: Liz Keeper of Directions, My Name is Not Easy (thanks for the reminder of that one). I am reading Habecker's poetry collection, Hollow Out, right now. Several years ago, I cobbled together two pieces that had been published in journals as a small book titled, Holy Land. A few weeks back, it became available on Amazon.