Ela: 49 Writers Weekly Round-up

Our entire 49 writers “family” wishes you a great new year – with lots of ways to reach those writing goals we know you’re considering as you write your 2011 resolutions. If this is your year to learn and grow, take a class with us: from Storytelling on Jan. 9, to Stirring Words, a food-writing course, starting Jan. 22, to a very special 8-week Fiction Workshop starting Feb. 17, we have lots to tempt you into greater productivity and creativity. If this is your year to connect with other writers, consider becoming a member. If this is your year to become a more active part of this blog, send a guest-post anytime! If this is your year to get out of the house, we welcome you to two new series of events we’re launching in January. CROSSCURRENTS, an onstage conversation series, and GATHERINGS, a salon-style opportunity for members and volunteers to gather in a more intimate setting to discuss craft issues and the writing life. More event details below.

If you are a member already, start thinking about what writing resolutions you might like to share at our upcoming GATHERING in Anchorage on January 14, "Resolve to Write." Epicenter's Kent Sturgis and authors Don Rearden and Bill Streever will be among the special guests. Official invitations to members and volunteers will be on their way soon. Would you like to host your own satellite version of this event? Contact Deb.

Another date to mark on your calendar: Jan. 25 at 7 p.m., when we'll be inaugurating the first event in our new CROSSCURRENTS conversation series: "Environmental Writing and Activism." Join Alaska writers Nancy Lord, Marybeth Holleman, and Charles Wohlforth for an onstage conversation about environmental writing, writing as a form of activism, and their experiences as writers concerned with global oil-reliance and climate change. Wohlforth will moderate this lively discussion with reference to Lord's new book, Early Warming: Crisis and Response from the Climate-Changed North and the paperback release of Holleman's The Heart of the Sound: Paradise Found and Nearly Lost. A question and answer session and book-signing will follow. Location: Out North on 3800 Debarr Rd., Anchorage.

Next Friday, Jan. 7, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m, for the first 49 Writers First Friday signing of 2011, Kaylene Johnson will sign her books at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art, 427 D. St. in Anchorage.

Kaylene Johnson is a long-time Alaskan who lives in Eagle River, Alaska. She has written several books about Alaska including A Tender Distance: Adventures Raising My Sons in Alaska; Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned the Political Establishment Upside Down, Portrait of the Alaska Railroad and Trails Across Time: History of an Alaska Mountain Corridor. Her award winning articles have appeared in Alaska magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Spirit magazine, Parish Teacher and other publications. She holds a BA from Vermont College and an MFA in Writing from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky.

There will be a 49 Writers Resolve to Write Event in Juneau on Friday, January 14th from 6:30 - 7:30 pm at the Rookery Cafe downtown at 111 Seward St. Grace Elliott and Therese Harvey will cohost.

The Alaska Writers Guild's monthly meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 18, 2011, 7 p.m. at The Wilda Marston Theater at the Loussac Library. The speaker will be Michael Catoggio, Longtime Local Librarian, on The History of E-Books; Pros and Cons, Ways and Means of eBook Publication.

On Thursday, January 27, 2011, there will be a Social Media Seminar with Sherrie Simmonds and Aliza Sherman from the AK Professional Communicators Association It will take place at Elim Café, 561 West Dimond Boulevard (Dimond and Arctic), Anchorage.
12–1 p.m. – Lunch and networking.
1–4 p.m. – Seminar
January 19 – Deadline for registration via PayPal: $50 members, $75 non-members
Late registration and/or payment at the door: $60 members, $85 non-members (More detailed information soon at http://www.akprocom.org

Cinthia Ritchie of Seward was awarded a Hedgebrook Residency to work on her second novel, about death, miscarriage and dogs, in no particular order. She has a trail running, reading and writing blog: http://www.ahahalaska.blogspot.com