Weekly Roundup of News and Events

Are you our next Executive Director? Applications close at 5pm today. 49 Writers is seeking a visionary and detail-oriented executive director to take over from Linda Ketchum when she departs Alaska to travel and write. For the job description and information on how to apply, visit the 49 Writers website or click the logo at the top of the blog sidebar. Flexible hours and working arrangement (we do not have an “office”). We’d love to see your application in the pool.

The 49 Writers annual membership drive ends today–we are two shy of our 2014 goal of 100 new members! Membership starts at a modest $49, and seniors, full-time students and members of the military can join for as little as $25. Whether you support us at the basic level or choose to join our Laureate Circle, your contribution helps to keep this blog going with five week-day posts submitted by more than 100 contributors every year. Click here for more information and to join. Remember too that as a member you qualify for a 15% discount on a subscription to the Alaska Quarterly Review.


49 Writers is accepting course proposals for Spring 2015 in Anchorage and Juneau–deadline Nov. 15If you are a published writer with teaching credentials and a passion for your craft, we want to hear from you

Congratulations to David Stevenson, our September Reading & Craft Talk author, whose Letters from Chamonix has won the Banff Mountain Book Award for Fiction & Poetry! The grand finalist, chosen from all award categories, will be announced on November 6.


Upcoming classes and events at 49 Writers
  • Saturday, Nov. 1, 10am-1pm, 645 W. 3rd Avenue, Anchorage: Complex and Conflicted Characters, creative writing workshop with Don Rearden (The Raven’s Gift). This workshop was popular with writers in Juneau and Soldotna, so sign up now!
  • Thursday, Nov. 13, 7pm, Great Harvest Bread Co., Anchorage: Reading & Craft Talk with Lee Goodman (Indefensible)
  • Saturday, Nov. 22, 9am-12pm, 645 W. 3rd Avenue, Anchorage: Composition by Juxtaposition, creative writing workshop with Caroline Goodwin (Trapline), Alaska-born Caroline moved from Sitka in 1999 to attend Stanford as a Wallace Stegner fellow in poetry. She is currently serving as the first Poet Laureate of San Mateo County, CA and teaching in the MFA Writing program at California College of the Arts in San Francisco.
  • Monday, Dec. 1, 6-9pm, Juneau Arts & Humaities Council: Composition by Juxtaposition, creative writing workshop with Caroline Goodwin. For more information and to register classes, visit our website.
  • Saturday, Dec. 6, 12-2pm, 645 W. 3rd Avenue, Anchorage: 49 Writers Lit Mag Sale! In recent years we have accumulated a library of literary journals through generous donations from members and other writers. Until we secure our own long-term space, we are going to share the wealth with our members rather than hide the journals away in a basement. A second sale will take place in Juneau at the Thursday, Feb. 5 meeting of the Juneau writers group. This is a great opportunity to get your hands on some of the journals that might be interested in publishing your work!
Events in Anchorage

Monday, Nov. 3, 5–7pm, UAA Campus Bookstore (map): Sharon Emmerichs of the UAA English Department presents “The Seven Deadlies: Shakespeare and the Virtue of Sin,” an examination of seven Shakespeare plays in regard to one of the seven deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. Emmerichs received her BA in English literature from the University of Oregon and her MA and Ph.D. from the University of Missouri. Come find yourself in Shakespeare!

Thursday, Nov. 6, 5–7pm, UAA Campus Bookstore: Peter Metcalf presents his new book, Dangerous Idea, in which he tells the overlooked but powerful story of Alaska Natives fighting for their rights under American law which propelled the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, one of the biggest claim settlements in United States history. Peter Metcalfe is the author of several books documenting the history of Alaska Native tribal organizations, most recently Gumboot Determination.

All UAA Campus Bookstore events are informal, free and open to the public. There is free parking for bookstore events in the South Lot, the West Campus Central Lot (behind Rasmuson Hall), the Sports Lot and the Sports NW Lot. For more information call Rachel Epstein at 786-4782 or email repstein2@uaa.alaska.edu. Or see http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/bookstore/events Note: UAA Campus Bookstore podcasts are posted in iTunes or iTunes U–just search UAA or UAA Campus Bookstore. Or see http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/bookstore/events/podcasts.cfm.

Saturday, Nov. 8, 1pm, Barnes & Noble, Anchorage: Author signing by Bill Sherwonit, author of Animal Stories: Encounters with Alaska’s Wildlife.



Events around Alaska 

Tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 1, 1pm, Main Meeting Room of the Downtown Juneau Public Library: NaNoWriMo Kickoff Event and Write-In. Subsequent Saturday Write-Ins will take place on Nov. 8 at the Mendenhall Valley branch and Nov. 15 at the Douglas branch. Please visit the official forums and associated Google Calendar for additional info and check back here often for news, up-to-the-minute updates or just to say “Hi” to your fellow Wrimos! http://nanowrimo.org/regions/usa-alaska-elsewhere. Follow this group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007223686287.

Friday, Nov. 7, 7pm, UAF, Wood Center Ballroom: Reading by Midnight Sun Visiting Writer Adrianne Harun. Harun is the author of a story collection, The King of Limbo, a Sewanee Writers’ Series selection and a Washington State Book Award finalist, and a novel, A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain. Her stories have won awards from Story magazine and the Chicago Tribune and been listed as notable in both Best American Short Stories and Best American Mystery Stories. Most recently, Adrianne was awarded a 2015 fellowship from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Umbria, Italy. Adrianne teaches at the Rainier Writing Workshop, an MFA program at Pacific Lutheran University, and at the Sewanee School of Letters at Sewanee, the University of the South. She lives in Port Townsend, Washington.

Friday, Nov. 7, 7pm, Kachemak Bay Campus, Home: “Moving to Fairbanks: The Writer and Place,” a craft talk and reading with John Morgan. Presentation to include photographs that resulted in the book-length poem, River of Light, recently published by University of Alaska Press.


Saturday, Nov. 8, 10am-1pm, Nov. 9, 1-4pm, Kachemak Bay Campus, Homer: “Forms of Feeling: Poetry in Our Lives,” a creative writing workshop with John Morgan. Workshop fee $60, registration deadline Oct. 30. Go to www.kpc.alaska.edu/kbc or call 907-235-7743 for information.

Seth Kantner (Ordinary Wolves, Shopping for Porcupine) and Beth Hill are gearing up for their author tour of Southeast Alaska to promote their new children’s book, Pup and Pokey, as author and illustrator. Here’s where you can find them:

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 5-7pm, Old Harbor Books, Sitka/ Presentation at 6pm. Contact Ashia Lane: 747.8808. http://www.oldharborbooks.net/

Thursday, Nov. 13, 7pm, 360 North Writers Showcase – Juneau. This episode of 360 North’s Writers’ Showcase will feature several holiday-themed short stories and essays, including a guest performance by Seth Kantner, the award-winning author of “Ordinary Wolves.” Be part of the television studio audience @360 in the 360 North and KTOO building on Thursday, November 13th. Doors open at 6:30 and cameras roll at7 p.m. Admission is free, and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. At the end of the one-hour recording meet the actors and the writers and Kantner will be signing books. Contact Scott Burton: 586.1670. http://www.360north.org/arts360/

Friday, Nov. 14, 6:30pm, Haines Public Library, Haines. Reception followed by 7pm Reading/Book Signing. Contact Jessie Morgan: 766.2545. http://www.haineslibrary.org/

Sunday, Nov. 16, 2-5pm, Hearthside Books, Juneau: Book Signing at the Hearthside Holiday Event. Contact Brenda Weaver: 789.2750. www.hearthsidebooks.com.

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