Linda Ketchum and I have been working all month on our transition in the executive director position here at 49 Writers. Linda’s worked diligently to orient me to the responsibilities of the job and the incredible amount of work she does behind the scenes. I’m trying to keep up and keep track of the details. The official hand-off is January 1. In the meantime, I’m gradually taking on projects, and am exited to offer my first Round Up.
I look forward to meeting you in the coming months!
-Morgan Grey
Pick.Click.Give. to 49 Writers! PFD application time is right around the corner, and that’s your opportunity to Pick.Click.Give.! Your Pick.Click.Give donations support 49 Writers programs around the state. We received almost $2,500 in our first year as a Pick.Click.Give organization. You can help us double that in 2015. Plus, Pick.Click.Give.rs have a chance to double their dividends. It’s good for all of us.
To show our appreciation, 49 Writers is offering incentive gifts to donors:
- $75 donors will receive an original Alaskan art card from Shorefast Editions in Juneau
- $150 donors will receive an autographed book by an Alaskan author.
Looking for the perfect gift for a writer friend? Why not surprise them with a 49 Writers membership? A Matanuska membership costs only $49 for 12 months! Click here to purchase a gift voucher.
Events in Anchorage
Nature and Travel Writing Class
Poetry Parley
Reading & Craft Talk with Deb Vanasse
49 Writers Spring Classes: Anchorage
Registration Opens Monday, Dec. 29. Find full information on the 49 Writers website.
- The Spiritual in Writing: Across Faith, Genres, and Time with Kathleen Tarr: January 21, 6-8:30pm; January 30, 6-8:30pm; January 31, 9am-12pm; February 4, 6-8:30pm; February 7, 9am-12pm; February 11, 6-8:30pm. $255 members/$305 non-members. Do consider taking this class while Kathleen’s still in Anchorage, she’s a writer on the move!
- ‘What Chu Talk’n ‘Bout Willis?” with Bryan Fierro: Saturday, February 21, 9am-4pm. $95 members/$115 non-members.
- Writing the Three Dimensional Novel or Memoir: The Essential Ingredients to Capture Your Reader and Engage an Audience with Rachel Weaver: Saturday, February 28, 9am-4pm, $95 members/$115 non-members.
- Joining the Conversation: Engaging with Poets Past with Sandra Kleven: Thursdays, March 5, 12 & 19 and April 2, 9 & 16, 6-8pm. $190 members/$230 non-members.
- Historical Research Sources for Writers with Lawrence Weiss: Saturday, March 21, 9am-12pm. $50 members/$60 non-members.
- How to Publish Your Book on Kindle with Lawrence Weiss: Saturday, March 28, 9am-12pm. $50 members/$60 non-members.
Andromeda Romano-Lax will be offering three online courses this spring, expanding our offerings to writers across Alaska. These classes are asynchronous: that is, there are no scheduled meeting times but there will be weekly assignments and expectations, and everyone will complete the work on their own time. Interaction will utilize text-based formats such as discussion boards.
- Point of View Intensive with Andromeda Romano-Lax: Sunday, February 8–Saturday, March 7, online, asynchronous. $195 members/$250 non-members.
- Anatomy of Scene with Andromeda Romano-Lax: Sunday, March 8–Saturday, April 4, online, asynchronous. $195 members/$250 non-members.
- Revision Intensive with Andromeda Romano-Lax: Sunday, April 5–Saturday, May 30. online, asynchronous. $295 members/$350 non-members.
Events around Alaska
49 Writers classes in Juneau: We are still pinning down dates but can tell you that Rachel Weaver will reprise her class there on March 2-3, and poet Jeremy Pataky will be teaching for us in Juneau at the end of March.
Opportunities for Writers
AWP has a new mentorship program, Writer to Writer. The program works to pair emerging writers with published authors over a 3-month series. The program is free for AWP members, and mentors volunteer their time. They want to reach the segments of their membership who have never been associated with an MFA program and those writing from regions, backgrounds, cultures, and experiences that are not well represented in the literary world. They are looking for new writers who could use this kind of one-on-one mentorship, as well as published poets, fiction and creative nonfiction writers, or playwrights who are ready to be the mentor they always wished they had. Participants must be AWP members–and for potential mentors to have at least one published book. The application deadline for the winter session is January 5. More information is available at their website.
The Alaska Sampler is an annual ebook anthology of prose by Alaska’s finest contemporary authors. It’s free to the reader. For the author, it’s a proven discovery tool for increasing readership. Running Fox Books is currently seeking fresh fiction and non-fiction by Alaskan authors that reveal the unscripted, everyday Alaska. Works may be original or already published, whole or excerpted. Illustrations and photos for the cover are also being considered. Submissions must be received by Jan. 10, 2015. To learn more, visit http://www.runningfoxbooks.com/submit.html.
Ooligan Press is proud to announce their seventh Write to Publish conference, to be held Jan. 31, 2015, at the Smith Memorial Student Union located at 1825 SW Broadway, Portland, Oregon. Panel topics include how to write about difficult subjects, straight talk about contracts and rights, and how to create a professional platform. Workshops will feature editing and design tips. Authors will be able to sign up to pitch story ideas to publishers and agents.
The deadline for this year’s UAA/Alaska Dispatch Creative Writing Contest is fast approaching. Go to adn.com/content/creative-writing-contest-rules for complete rules, list of prizes, and submission guidelines and send us your best fiction, nonfiction or poetry. Deadline is Feb. 20, 2015, 5:30pm. Winners will be announced in mid-May.
Fairbanks Arts Association will begin accepting entries for the 2015 Statewide Poetry Contest on Jan. 1, 2015, Deadline is Mar. 1, 2015, 6pm (hand delivered or postmarked). Hand deliver entries to Fairbanks Arts Association, Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts, Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way. This year’s judge is Joan Naviyuk Kane, author of The Cormorant Hunter’s Wife and Hyperboreal. A 2014 recipient of the American Book Award, and Whiting Writers’ Award recipient, she’s on the faculty for the graduate creative writing program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Visit www.fairbanksarts.org for more information.
Cirque was founded to give writers (and artists) of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest more places to publish their work – and as a vehicle to bring the best writing of the region to the world. The next Cirque deadline is March 21st (the equinox). The submission address is cirque.submits at gmail.com.
Dreaming of your own literary website? Larry Motschenbacher, owner of the website Alaska Books – Alaska Writers, let the site expire after moving out of state. He’d like to pass it along to someone who wants to take it over. He writes that he enjoyed the contact with and helping support Alaska authors. He states that he still has “all the ‘code’ and information that was formerly on that site. The site used very basic html and only requires very basic skills.” If interested, contact him at LarryNM at gmail.com, and put Alaska Books Alaska Writers in the email subject.