EVENTS ACROSS ALASKA
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
McKibben Jackinsky presents her book Too Close to Home? Living with ‘Drill, Baby’ on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula
ANCHORAGE | July 11 from 4:00-6:00pm at the UAA Campus Bookstore
The book includes accounts from Alaska residents who have sold, leased or rented their property to oil industry companies and from businesses that are dependent on a fossil fuel economy. According to Bill McKibben, “This engrossing account of what it means to ordinary Alaskans when the oil industry shows up on their doorsteps is a good reminder that the damage from fossil fuels can hit hard locally on its way to the atmosphere and the climate.” And according to Adam Briggle, (A Field Philosopher’s Guide to Fracking) , “With an all-too-rare open-mindedness, Jackinsky adeptly turns a kaleidoscope of perspectives around the defining issue of our times.” Author McKibben Jackinsky is a life-long Alaskan and award-winning journalist who has worked in and written about Alaska’s oil and gas industry from numerous perspectives. Free parking in the South Lot, Sports Complex NW Lot, West Campus Central Lot, Sports Campus West Lot.
Poet Stephen D. Bolen and author-artist Mary Lochner will discuss new works
ANCHORAGE | Wednesday, July 13 from 4-6 pm at the UAA Bookstore.
Bolen, a gifted Inupiaq poet from Kotzebue, will introduce a new collection of poems; Lochner will introduce the living novel, “Stories From the Book of Life: A place-based storytelling artwork about America’s Subarctic City.” Free event.
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
Poet Stephen D. Bolen and author-artist Mary Lochner will discuss new works
ANCHORAGE | Wednesday, July 13 from 4-6 pm at the UAA Bookstore.
Bolen, a gifted Inupiaq poet from Kotzebue, will introduce a new collection of poems; Lochner will introduce the living novel, “Stories From the Book of Life: A place-based storytelling artwork about America’s Subarctic City.” Free event.
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.
There is free parking at UAA on Fridays.
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.
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:
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
NA
ARCTIC
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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.
Wrangell Mountains Writing Workshop’s Riversong float trip
July 20-26, 2016
McCARTHY and WRANGELL-ST. ELIAS NATIONAL PARK | In beautiful McCarthy, Alaska and the surrounding Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve. This year’s workshop features a dynamic staff including poet, essayist and singer/songwriter David Lynn Grimes; professional singer/songwriter Michelle McAfee; visual artist, writer, and songwriter Robin Child; and longstanding workshop director, poet, and essayist Nancy Cook. The workshop will include two nights and a full day of craft sessions at the Wrangell Mountains Center in McCarthy, followed by a four night educational float trip along the Kennicott, Nizina, Chitina, and Copper Rivers of Southcentral Alaska. $975 includes all meals, instruction, and guided river trip with McCarthy River Tours & Outfitters. Check out the smiles in last year’s Riversong album and register here. Workshop limited to eight student writers/songwriters.
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
Conference for Writers & Illustrators
September 24th plus
optional intensives and roundtables on Sept. 23rd.
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.
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 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. 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.• Donate or Underwrite. AWS depends on donations or other contributions from individuals, organizations, and businesses.
Alaska State Council on the Arts accepts some grant applications from individual artists, including writers, on a rolling basis. Learn more.
Thank You for Your Support!
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Have news or events you’d like to see listed here? Email details to 49roundup (at) gmail.com. Your message must be received by noon on the Thursday before the roundup is scheduled to run. Unless your event falls in the “Opportunities” category, it should occur no more than 30 days from when we receive your email.