Weekly Roundup for Literary Alaska | Friday, July 15, 2016

EVENTS and ANNOUNCEMENTS

SOUTHCENTRAL

Northern Renaissance Arts & Sciences Readings Schedule, in conjunction with the UAA MFA Summer Residency
ANCHORAGE | July 10-19 nightly, 8 pm, UAA ARTS Building Room 150

Release celebration for Ilarion Merculieff’s memoir, Wisdom Keeper, One Man’s Journey to Honor the Untold History of the Unangan People
ANCHORAGE | Friday, July 15, 2016, 4-6pm

Ilarion Merculieff is an Unangan, Aleut, raised in a traditional way on St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea. His memoir brings Unangan traditional knowledge, Aleut history, and sacred teachings to light in order to address critical changes throughout the world today. Ilarion Merculieff is co-founder of the Indigenous Peoples’ Council for Marine Mammals, the Alaska Forum on the Environment, the International Bering Sea Forum, and the Alaska Oceans Network. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Buffet Finalist Award for Indigenous Leadership, the Environmental Excellence Award for lifetime achievement from the Alaska Forum on the Environment, Rasmuson Foundation award for Creative Non-Fiction, and the Alaska Native Writers on the Environment Award. In addition, he is co-author of Stop Talking: Indigenous Ways of Teaching and Learning, published by UAA and APU in 2008. Wisdom Keeper is published by Penguin/Random House. Free parking at UAA on Fridays.

Jim Misko Book Signing: author of All My Fathers Were and other novels
TALKEETNA | Sunday, July 17, 5-7pm, Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge

Launch of Cirque, 7.2

ANCHORAGE | July 21st, 7 pm at Great Harvest Bread, located in the Metro Mall. The 14th issue launch includes Cirque readers David McElroy, the Andy Hope Award winner, Tom Begich, Barbara Hood, Cynthia Sims and others. Music by drummer Patrick Minock and guitarist Rick Brooks. The event is also a reception for Minock’s art on display.

Eowyn Ivy: To the Bright Edge of the World book launch party
PALMER | Tuesday, August 2nd, 6:30 pm at the Palmer Depot (610 S Valley Way). Open to the public. One can reserve a copy through Fireside Books at www.goodbooksbadcoffee.com or by calling (907) 745-2665.

Workshop: Writing about Restaurants in Alaska with Julia O’Malley

ANCHORAGE | Interested in writing about food and restaurants in Alaska? This mini-workshop will take participants through the process of writing smart, constructive food criticism that understands Alaska’s dining culture, our cuisines and influences, our unique food supply issues and the expectations of the local reading audience, all while applying the standards of the wider food world. Participants will read and discuss food criticism, eat together, write and give feedback. This mini-workshop is designed for anyone with an interest in dining culture, people working in food and wine, as well as journalists who write about food. Thursday nights, August 11 and August 18, 6 to 8 pm, at Fire Island Bakery, 1343 G St. Cost is $90 + the cost of one meal. Space is limited to 8. Learn more and reserve a spot while they last.

Ashley Sweeney Book Signing

ANCHORAGE | Monday, Aug. 15, 1-3 pm at the Anchorage Museum. Author Ashley Sweeney will sign copies of her new novel, Eliza Waite. The book is part diary, part recipe file, and part Gold Rush. Sweeney did extensive research for this book at the Anchorage Museum. A native New Yorker, Ashley E. Sweeney lives and writes in La Conner, Washington. She is a graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, MA and is an award-winning journalist in Washington State. Included with Museum admission.

INTERIOR

The Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival

FAIRBANKS | July 17-31, 2016. See below or here for info on the creative writing programing. The Festival offers more than 200 workshops and 100 performances in music, dance, visual arts, literary arts, theatre, culinary arts, and healing arts for people who are enthusiastic about the fine arts.

FAIRBANKS | Fairbanks Arts Association hosts the oldest literary reading series in the state. Every month, writers reading their own work publicly at a community meet-up where people can connect with other lovers of literature. Readings are held on the day after First Friday, usually the first Saturday of the month at 7 pm. Most reading are held in the Bear Gallery in Pioneer Park, although occasionally in the summer (June, July, and August) the weather is beautiful reading are held outside to another spot in Pioneer Park. Upcoming:

July 21: Fairbanks Summer Arts Fest Creative Writing Faculty, featuring Jeanne E. Clark, Daryl Farmer, Don Rearden, and Sarah Pape.
August 6: Paul Greci

September: UAF Faculty Reading

October: TBA

November: TBA

December: Rosemary McGuire

Additional readings and events may be held, but the First Saturday Literary Reading Series is monthly at 7 pm the day after First Friday (except February).

SOUTHEAST

Woosh Kinaadeiyi Poetry Slam

JUNEAU | Friday, July 15th at 6:30pm, Perseverance Theatre in Douglas, Alaska. Hosted by Showcase performers Ryan Carillo and Dee Jay DeRego. Sign up starts at 6:30, show starts at 7, and as usual, it is all ages and free.

SOUTHWEST

ARCTIC

CONFERENCES, RETREATS, and RESIDENCIES

Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Creative Writing Class

July 18-29th, 2016, M-F 9:00-4:20

FAIRBANKS | This class is open to people with all levels of writing skills. The focus is on generating new work. Students will write every day under the guidance of the Festival staff. Each day will offer directed writing activities and close readings of literature from a writer’s perspective. We will discuss poetry and prose, and students may write either or both. The class will focus on generating new writing. Students will practice several stages of the writing process: beginning, drafting and revising. 1 week $210, two weeks $395 | University credit is available, with separate registration.

2016 Tutka Bay Writers Retreat

September 9-11th, 2016

TUTKA BAY LODGE | This 49 Writers program takes place at the fantastic Tutka Bay Lodge. Faculty instructor award-winning writer Debra Magpie Earling will lead fiction writers in an in-depth writing workshop. Emphasizing in-class writing supportiveness, collegiality, and a constructive atmosphere, the engaged student will emerge with improved techniques for further work. Registration is $600 for members and $650 for nonmembers. Learn more and register.

2016 Alaska Writers Guild Annual Conference for Writers & Illustrators

September 24th plus optional intensives and roundtables on Sept. 23rd.

ANCHORAGE | This year’s conference is a partnership between Alaska Writers Guild, 49 Writers, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. This all-day event takes place at the BP Energy + Conference Center and includes keynotes and panels, as well as writing craft, marketing, traditional publishing, self publishing, children’s literature, illustration tracks. Sign up for optional Intensives or Roundtable Critiques, or take advantage of One-on-One Manuscript Excerpt Reviews. Early bird discount is available until July 15th at only $95 for AWG/49 Writers/SCBWI members or $145 for non-members. More info and registration here.

OPPORTUNITIES and AWARDS for WRITERS

Rasmuson Foundation Artist Residency Program application period is open until August 15, 2016. Eligible creative writers or media artists are invited to apply for fully-funded, two-month-long writing residencies in 2017 at Djerassi Resident Artists Program in the Santa Cruz Mountains near San Francisco. Alaska writers who have received the award in prior years include Arlitia Jones, Christine Byl, Ernestine Saankalaxt’ Hayes, and Rosemary McGuire. Artists of other disciplines are eligible to apply for residencies elsewhere, too. Learn more and apply.

Alaska Women Speak, a journal devoted to the expression of ideas, literature and art of Alaska’s women, is releasing its summer issue, themed Things Lost (and Found). The Summer Issue features a diverse selection of poetry and prose from Alaskan women, along with book reviews of Jewel Kilcher’s Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story and Deb Vanasse’s Wealth Woman: Kate Carmack and the Klondike Race for Gold. To become involved with Alaska Women Speak:

•   Subscribe at www.alaskawomenspeak.org
•   Submit work by following submission guidelines posted on the journal’s website
•   Volunteer by contacting alaskawomenspeak@yahoo.com

The Alaska Literary Awards are open to poets, playwrights, screenwriters, writers of fiction and literary nonfiction, writers of multi-genre, cross-genre, or genre-defying work. Any Alaska writer over 18 who is not a full-time student is eligible to apply. Quality of the work is the primary consideration in determining who receives the awards. $5,000 awards will be given, all from privately donated funds. Apply at www.callforentry.org by Sept. 1, 2016 at 9:59 AKDT.

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