time to sign up for classes that start in February and March!!!!! And don’t miss February 5th’s CrossCurrents Event: Who Owns the Story? More details below.
Class Schedule
for 2016 classes and workshops has started. Description, details, and
registration on our website.
Feel free to contact us at 49writers@gmail.com if you have any questions.
from Historical Research taught by Kate Partridge
13 and 27, 9am-noon
Memoirs: Let’s Do Some Writing! taught by Judith Conte
20-21 and 27-28, 1-3pm
Women Want taught by Martha Amore
3, 6-9pm
END!” Writing Good Endings and Achieving Closure taught by Alyse Knorr
5, 6-9pm
with Anna Akhmatova taught by Olga Livshin and Kathleen Tarr
12 and 19, 9am-1pm
of Poetry taught by Alyse Knorr
6, 13, 20, and 27, 6-9pm
Use Microsoft Word to Publish your Book to Kindle taught by Lara Madden
7, 6-9pm
Your Fiction on Fire taught by Kim Heacox
13, 6-9pm
the Censor: Nurturing Receptive Mind taught by Peter Kaufmann and Wendy Erd
8 6:30-8:30pm, April 9 9am-noon & 1-4pm
the Line by Susanna Mishler
30, 9am-noon
I Can Teach You About Humor Writing in 3 Hours by Geoff Kirsch
4, 6-9pm
Your Fiction on Fire taught by Kim Heacox
18, 6-9pm
Fiction taught by Katey Schultz
week asynchronous (12 hours minimum) – one optional video chat – fiction
29-April 3
Without Whiplash: Managing Time in Fiction by Andromeda Romano-Lax
online class
4-25
EVENTS
IN ANCHORAGE
CrossCurrents: Who Owns the Story?
February 5 at 7pm at Anchorage Museum
From the National Book Award-winning short story collection Redeployment by Marine Corps veteran Phil Klay, to acclaimed novels written by civilians like Ben Fountain’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk; writers are tackling the difficult topic of war and doing it well. But does war as a topic of literature “belong” to veterans any more than it does non-veterans? Is there room for depictions outside of combat? What defines “the experience?”
Join us, to hear and be heard, for a discussion with Sherry Simpson (The Dominion of Bears), Benjamin Busch (Dust to Dust), Elliott Ackerman (Green on Blue) and Lea Carpenter (Eleven Days). These four distinguished authors from both military and civilian backgrounds will share thoughts and answer questions in a Crosscurrents event that will kick off “Danger Close: Alaska,” the state’s first writing workshop aimed at uniting veteran and civilian writers in the production of high-quality literature.
of JazzFest, will be performing to poetry with that mix of music and
movement for which they are known – but more than that, a collection of
creatives are transforming the peep show booths of the former Adults Only
establishment. This event is the first to occupy the premises bringing it
into the light with work that will arouse deeper urges celebrating love, lust
and literature.
the Occupation! Doors open at 5
pm. 3956 Spenard Road. Anchorage.
Details: Broadly defined, a poetry broadside combines the words of a poem with visual imagery. Though often printed on a letterpress or in other printmaking media, for purposes of this exhibit we will include any presentation that combines original poetry and original artwork (including photos) on thick paper (at least cardstock weight) no greater than 14” x 18” in size. Collaborative poet/artist pieces and collage pieces are welcome as long as they do not exceed the size limit.
Deadline: Monday, March 28, 2016. Submissions should be well wrapped in an envelope or paper and mailed or delivered by this date to the following address:
SAVOR THE RISING WORDS
Great Harvest Bread Co. Attn: Barbara Hood
570 East Benson, Suite 22 Anchorage, AK 99503
Please make sure your name(s) appear on the piece and include a completed Entry Form with your submission. All entrants will receive a coupon for a free loaf of bread and heartfelt gratitude. Don’t miss this opportunity to share your creative work and support a great cause!
Questions?
Please contact Barbara at middlerockraven@gmail.com or 907-301-5362. Thanks!
Events
at the UAA Bookstore
January 29 from 6:00pm-8:00pm at UAA/APU Consortium Library room 307
Charlie’s Mike Gordon: Learning the Ropes
Gordon, of Chilkoot Charlie’s fame, shares stories about his life, Alaska,
mountain climbing and personal challenges. From arriving in Seward in
1953, to creating an internationally known nightclub, to summiting the highest
mountains on six continents, to finishing a Master’s degree at Alaska Pacific
University, to keeping a marriage of thirty-two years, Mike Gordon life seems
idyllic. However, underneath his quite public successes are stories that
acknowledge the many low places in his life and include how he ultimately
manages to face his personal demons and put his priorities in order.
is free parking at UAA on Fridays.
February 6 from 1:00pm-3:00pm at UAA/APU Consortium Library room 307
Ian Hartman presents his book In the Shadow of Boone and Crockett: Race,
Culture, and the Politics of Representation in the Upland South, where he
explores American race theories concerning people of the upland South (southern
Appalachia to the Ozarks).
describes how the eugenics movement “sought to regenerate and purify a once
proud but now impoverished and degraded people through policies that included forced
sterilization.” He also explores how the contradictory identity of the
upland South affected national debates about imperialism, poverty and
inequality,
C. Hartman is an assistant professor of History at UAA.
is free parking at UAA on Saturdays.
February 8 from 5:00pm-7:00pm at the UAA/APU Consortium Library room 307
Saankalaxt’ Hayes presents “Writing, Rewriting, and Publication: Before
and After Blonde Indian
Saankalaxt’ Hayes belongs to the Kaagwaantaan clan of the Eagle side of the
Lingit nation. Her memoir Blonde Indian: an Alaska Native Memoir received
the American Book Award in 2007 and is the 2016 Alaska Reads selection.
to Jonas Lamb (Juneau Empire), Blonde
Indian “ celebrates Tlingit culture, the strong connection between the
people, this magnificent land, the animals and the spirits, it also brings to
light the historic and contemporary fallout of colonialism and racism.
The structure of the book will challenge many and the content will
confront others, but all readers will find they are changed by the experience.”
Saankalaxt’ Hayes received her MFA in Creative Writing and Literary Arts from
UAA and is an assistant professor of English at UAS.
event is sponsored by the Alaska Center for the Book and the UAA Campus
Bookstore.
is free parking for this event in the Library Lot, Library NE Lot and the East
Parking Garage.
a look at future events see https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/bookstore/events/special-events-calendar.cfm
Library Events
Signings
AROUND ALASKA
MAT-SU, KENAI PENINSULA
the writing experience from solitary to social.
7pm to 9pm, February 4 to March 10 in Homer
Champagne Palace, upstairs
critiquing, exercises, lectures, ego, competition or feeling guilty, just a
place to show up, shut up, and work on your writing projects in the company of
other writers.
fees or registration, just fun!
the Alaska
Marine Conservation Council and writers Tele Aadsen and Miranda Weiss for a
storytelling workshop for young fishermen! The best spokespeople for Alaska’s
fisheries are those that live in the thick of it — those that know
the rhythm of a North Pacific ground swell and the joy of bringing
wild fish from ocean to table. Come and learn more about how you can speak for
the way of life and the fisheries you love. Learn how to use your voice to
shape a strong future for our coastal communities and the fish they depend on,
listen to others’ stories, and leave impassioned to speak for Alaska’s next
generation of fishermen.
is a free 3-hour workshop, taking place in Juneau at 9
a.m. January 30, the Saturday morning following the Alaska Young
Fishermen’s Summit. We will meet at the Catholic Church in downtown
Juneau (416 5th Street). Coffee, snacks and writing materials
provided.
check out more on the awesome workshop leaders visit their blogs and links to
their work below!
Miranda Weiss: http://mirandaweiss.com/
Tele Aadsen: “One woman at sea, trolling for the truth” http://www.teleaadsen.com/
via the Facebook Event at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1531786377131370/
FOR WRITERS
AWARDS, RETREATS & RESIDENCIES
fifteenth Kachemak
Bay Writers’ Conference will
be held on June 10-14 in Homer. This year’s keynote
is Pulitzer Prize winning, National Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, who will
be joined by Miriam Altshuler (agent), Dan Beachy-Quick, Richard
Chiappone, Jennine Capó Crucet, Alison Hawthorne Deming, Forrest Gander, Lee
Goodman, Richard Hoffman, Erin Coughlin Hollowell, Sarah Leavitt, Nancy
Lord, Jane Rosenman (editor), Peggy Shumaker, Sherry Simpson, Frank Soos,
and David Stevenson. For more information and to register go to
the website
2016 Tutka
Bay Writers Retreat, which will take place on September 9-11, 2016 at
the Tutka Bay Lodge. Faculty instructor award-winning novelist and short story
writer Rick Moody will lead fiction writers in a workshop will focus on
experiment, imagination, and revision, techniques for each, with an emphasis on
writing prompts, close reading of sentences, and ideas about structure. There
will be much in-class writing, and the overall atmosphere will stick close to
supportiveness, collegiality, and constructive improvement. The engaged student
will emerge with improved techniques for further work. Early registration fee
is $600 for members and $650 for nonmembers. For more information or to
register, go to: http://www.49writingcenter.org/Retreats%26Events/retreats.php.
Statewide Poetry Contest
February 1, 2016, 6:00 pm
Arts Association (FAA) is now accepting entries for the 22nd Annual Statewide
Poetry Contest, judged by James Engelhardt. The purpose of the contest is to
encourage, publicize and reward the writing of high-quality poetry.
year, FAA and KUAC are partnering to bring the poetry of the contest’s winners
to a larger audience; winners will be asked to record their poems for broadcast
on KUAC’s radio station FM 89.9 in celebration of Alaska’s own poetry during
National Poetry Month in April. The winners of the Statewide Poetry Contest
will also be invited to read their poems alongside judge James Engelhardt at a
special literary reading on Saturday, April 9 at 7pm at Fairbanks Arts
Association’s Bear Gallery (3rd Floor Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts,
Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way).
Awards:
– 1st Place $150 | 2nd Place $100 | 3rd Place $50
School – 1st Place $100 | 2nd Place $50 | 3rd Place $25
& Middle School – 1st Place $50 | 2nd Place $30 | 3rd Place $15
Fee: Grade, Middle and High School: $3 per poem or $10/four poems.
$4 per poem or $13/four poems.
more information about the poetry contest, click here, visit www.fairbanksarts.org,
or call 907-456-6485 ext.226.
for 10-Minute Plays for 2016 8X10 Festival
Drama Association and The Looking Glass Group Theatre invite Alaskan residents
to send their best 10-minute plays to be considered for our Annual 8X10
Festival of New Alaskan Plays.
ten-minute plays will be given staged readings at the Festival, which will be
held April 22 & 23, 2016, at FDA’s Hap Ryder Riverfront Theater in
Fairbanks.
for entering scripts: Alaskan residents only. One entry per
playwright. One author per play. No musicals or children’s plays. Submit 5
(five) copies of each script. Staple or paper-clip the play. DO NOT use binders
or folders of any kind. Plays cannot be returned. Put playwright’s name
and contact info, including phone and e-mail, on the cover (title) page. This
is the only place the author’s name should appear. “Cast of Characters”
page with brief character descriptions and time & place should follow cover
page. Number pages beginning with the first page of dialogue. Plays should
be between 8 & 12 minutes, based on one minute of playing time per page of
script, 12 pt. font size, and be written in standard playwriting
format. Cast size should be no more than eight actors. No electronic
submissions or Express mail.
must be postmarked or hand-delivered no later than March 15, 2016 to:
Festival
Drama Association/ Looking Glass Group Theatre
Second Avenue
Alaska 99701
more information, contact: Peggy MacDonald Ferguson, Executive
Director, pegferguson@gci.net
Critique
professional feedback on your writing for ADULTS, teens, or children! How
does it work? Register and send your material in by due date (January; they
send it to a professional literary agent who critiques and sends it back.
Optional workshop to discuss critiques. Brought to you by The Society
of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, SCBWI, Alaska Chapter, but this
critique is for writers of any content.
sixth annual North Words Writers Symposium will be held May 25-28 in
Skagway. Novelist/essayist/editor and storyteller supreme Brian Doyle of
Portland, Oregon (Mink River, The Plover, Martin
Marten, and the forthcoming Chicago) will be the 2016
keynote author. He will be joined by Alaskan authors Kim Heacox, Eowyn Ivey,
Heather Lende, Lynn Schooler, John Straley, and Emily Wall. For more
information and to register go to http://nwwriterss.com/
North will
start the 2015-16 season of Writers’ Showcase. All Alaska writers are invited
to submit fiction and nonfiction pieces. Stories are read before a live studio
audience by professional actors, and later broadcast throughout Alaska on
statewide public TV and radio. Stories should be about 10 minutes long when
read aloud. Profanity will need to be edited for broadcast.
DEADLINE
RECORDING DATE
25, 2016
June 2, 2016
to arts [at] ktoo [dot] org.
questions contact Scott Burton Arts, Culture and Music Producer at 907.463.6473
Statewide Arts and Culture Conference will take place in Anchorage, Thursday, April
28th through Saturday, April 30th. We are in the process of
exploring compelling themes, topics and national speakers for the convening.
Like our last conference, we will be engaging Alaskan artists in the planning
and production of the event. Be on the lookout for the opportunity to apply to
be a conference Partner Artist, which will open in the fall. If you have any
ideas to share with us, please send them our way by emailing aksca.info@alaska.gov
magazine is
seeking pitches from new and established writers. We are a publication for Alaska
enthusiasts and need a wide variety of articles. The best section to break into
the magazine is KtoB (formerly Ketchikan to Barrow), and includes everything
from cool job profiles to End of the Trail obituaries to a short write up about
an Alaska-made product. We’d also like to see queries about culture, history,
nature, interviews with Alaskans and feature articles ideas. Review recent hard
copy issues of Alaska magazine and visit www.alaskamagazine.com for
more about us, and then send short, descriptive pitches to freelance
contributing editor Susan Sommer at sbsommer@mtaonline.net.
Chairs Literary Journal, a new literary journal publishing short stories and poetry
from new and emerging authors, seeks submissions and volunteers. They are
currently composing their flagship issue, straight out of JBER, AK. To learn
more, and to submit, email info@13chairs.com or visit 13chairs.com.
Alaska Writers and Artists Retreat will
be accepting residency applications November 15, 2015 – February15, 2016 (EXTENDED). For more information
visit http://alderworksalaska.com
You for Your Support!
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CrossCurrents events, readings, blog posts, and craft talks. Won’t you join
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