Andromeda: Transformation and immortality -- one day left to contribute

What do we, as writers, hope for? Some of us hope to change the world. We may also hope -- is it so much to ask? -- to be remembered.

Just a little change. Just a little immortality.

I attended a great talk recently by Laurie Wolf of the Foraker Group, and she mentioned that no one grows up saying, "I want to be a fundraiser!" I certainly didn't. But a funny thing happens when you have just the right project and an absolute certainty that the time is right, that good things are happening, that history is being made. Suddenly, "selling" that project, and raising money for it, isn't so onerous. It feels pretty comfortable, in fact.

So here I am, an accidental fundraiser, asking you to consider changing the world a little bit, and ensuring that you will be remembered for having acted early and with confidence. I'm not going to make this request all summer long. You'll hear it at this blog for the last time this season, as we near the July 1 deadline for our initial fundraising campaign.

For a $100+ contribution (which also includes your first-year membership), you will make a big difference and be remembered forever as a Founding Donor -- one of the people who helped launch the 49 Alaska Writing Center. If you're interested in contributing more -- or less -- we'd like to hear from you, too. It all helps. As long as you fill in the member/donor form at right and/or send me a note today or tomorrow, we'll make sure your name is entered as having given before the July 1 deadline.

We have raised just over $12,000 since we launched the writing center on April 28. Many of you reading this post are the people who have already contributed -- and for that, we thank you! Our first full-year budget is about $76,000. We have a diversified and innovative model that includes revenue from several sources, but a significant proportion of our operations will be funded by individual contributions, especially during our first three years, which will be the most challenging phase of our existence. That's why donors and members matter so much.

If you're thinking of contributing, know that you'll be joining a great group of folks from all over our state, including many generous Alaska writers and book-lovers, from librarian Charlotte Glover in Ketchikan, to poet Peggy Shumaker in Fairbanks, to writer-musher Debbie Moderow in Denali, to storyteller Brett Dillingham in Juneau. (There are many more names, and I'll be listing them all in an upcoming e-newsletter; thanks again to all of you wonderful people!)

P.S.: Not ready to join or contribute, but have a question or want to be added to our writing center newsletter list? Write to me at lax@alaska.net

On Fact-Checking and Inaccuracies: a guest post by Anne Coray

Anne Coray's poetry collections include Bone Strings and the forthcoming A Measure's Hush. She is coeditor of Crosscurrents North: Alaskans on the Environment, and coauthor of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.

Sometimes we get lucky. Someone points out an inaccuracy in our writing and we come up with a clever way of justifying our mistake. My favorite example of this comes from Ellen Bryant Voigt. This is from an old issue of AWP:

“I can tell you a story about that frog poem. I had a call one day from the editorial staff of The Atlantic—she said, ‘You know, we’re running this poem of yours, and I need to ask you about the end of it. At the end the frog ‘fills her throat with air and sings,’ right? Well, I saw this National Geographic special last night and it said the females don’t sing.’ And I said ‘Yes.’ And she said, ‘Isn’t the frog in this poem female?’ And I said ‘Yes.’ And she said, ‘Then how does she sing at the end?’ and I said, ‘It’s a miracle.’ And then she said, ‘Oh, all right. I was just checking.’”

I’ve been lucky too. When I shared my soon-to-be-published-in-book-form poem “Strand” to my brother Craig he said, “Wolf spiders don’t spin webs.” What? I thought. Panic. Cringe. (The poem had recently appeared in The Southern Review.) Still, what a relief it was to find a reference stating that one genus of wolf spiders does in fact spin webs. Whew.

A couple of other times I’ve been less lucky. In one poem I incorrectly identified a cliff on the west side of Cook Inlet as having a limestone composition. I learned later that it’s composed of siltstone. Another time I mistakenly claimed that botflies had worked their way under caribou hides (I was focused on alteration within the line)—in fact, it is the warble fly, not the botfly that does this. Botflies attack the nose. Fortunately these two poems appeared in journals with an even smaller, most likely, non-Alaskan readership.

Publication in literary journals is somewhat forgiving. Writers can emend these kinds of errors if the poem goes on to appear in book form. But I learned some tough lessons: 1. If you’re not sure about something, ask, and 2. Never assume anything.

Unfortunately, factual errors in books, poems, or essays set in or referencing Alaska appear with such frequency that it has almost become a joke. Well-established writers are not immune. James Dickey’s poem, “For the Last Wolverine” includes a spruce tree dying in the sub-Artic (sic) sun, and the wolverine “with an elk’s heart in his stomach” (perhaps the wolverine just returned from a hunt on Afognak?); T.C. Boyle’s Drop City (Viking: Penguin) set in the Interior, references saloons, a fisher, a rabid skunk. Then I read the 49 Writers May 6 online book club discussion of David Vann’s Legend of a Suicide that mentions Vann’s inclusion of black widows, sheriffs, a lizard, and a chipmunk. (Vann replied that, “re black widows, I know they're not in Alaska, but they actually have been several times, including found alive in Nome, and our neighbor in Fairbanks was bitten by a spider or spiders in the attic in an old shoe and sick for a month, and I was told it was a black widow, so I think it was. I also think it was a lizard on the docks in Ketchikan, brought up by a boat.”)

I’m not convinced. Species should not be portrayed as indigenous to Alaska if they arrived via boat or in someone’s suitcase. My point is not to pick on Vann—as I said, I too have erred, even as a lifelong Alaskan. The thing is, we should try our damnedest to minimize inaccuracies. For a writer, they’re embarrassing. For a reader, they’re annoying. When we run across these mistakes, our pleasure is diminished and we lose confidence in the writing.

Since the only place I’ve lived long-term is Alaska, it’s quite possible that I’ve read books or poems set in places around the world that contain all kinds of factual misinformation. Yet it seems that Alaska is particularly susceptible.

How to rectify this problem? I proposed to Andromeda and Deb that they add a fact-checking page to their website. Anyone could ask a question and anyone could reply. As a courtesy, questioners might offer a donation to 49 Writers for this service. Heck, maybe Viking: Penguin, and other big publishers could tap into it. (I hear the big guns pay their fact-checkers, sometimes more than their writers.)

I think we’d all be a little happier if our state was represented as realistically as possible. Or we could take a totally tongue-in-cheek approach to the whole business, beginning with lines like: “I’d just returned from Kotzebue, a quaint Tlingit village named for one of the local chiefs, Otter von something or other…”

What are your thoughts? Please share.

The Book Business: A guest post by Charles Wohlforth

I remember thinking if I just got one book published I would be on my way as a writer. After 17 years on my own as a freelancer, I now know that every contract is like the first.

Selling books is not a retail transaction for published authors (except for those who publish their own books and sell them from a card table). Getting into print and to the public requires going through a series of gatekeepers, many of whom are unseen.

First you need an agent who can get your work read by editors. Then you need an editor who will decide not only that your book is good enough to publish, but that it is the best book to publish that he or she has received of late. The editor takes your proposal or manuscript through the house for second reads. They’re likely not to like it as well as your editor; office politics surely play a role, too. Only with a positive verdict do you move to the next square.

Once you’ve got a contract and a manuscript, your editor has to sell the book to the sales staff and marketing department. This may begin before the book is even finished, and certainly before it is between covers.

Now you’re in the market for blurbs for the cover. Important people who can comment on a book are busy and hard to reach—and you are asking them a big favor. Your best chance is through contacts you’ve got through friends of friends of friends. Usually, each person who is a link in the chain to the famous person will also need to read and like the book before agreeing to recommend it. Any who set it aside and forget about it will break the chain and mean you won’t reach that coveted potential blurber.

The blurbs are a critical element in the sales launch meeting, when your editor presents your book amid the competition with all the other books the publisher is bringing out that season. Sales staff have only so much time, and they want to concentrate on the books that promise the most success. Marketing people will allocate their resources as well based on your title, a one-sentence synopsis, the cover, and blurbs.

Now comes the real test. The sales staff takes the book to a few buyers for the massive chains, especially Barnes and Noble, that control the national book market. How long does the meeting last and how many other titles does the salesperson have to pitch? If your book is an afterthought, the pitch is short and half-hearted, the order is small, the print run is small, and you’re finished.

With few books in stores, publicity is ineffective. All your retail work comes to nothing. The book sells few copies. You can try again with another idea, but this time when editors look at your new proposal or manuscript, they’ll know how many copies your last book sold. If it sold poorly, you may be worse off than if you have never published a book before.

This is a crazy way to make a living. But what matters more is that it’s a rotten way to make a culture. Some anonymous book buyer from Barnes and Noble is deciding the shape of our future literary cannon. That brief sales discussion between publisher and buyer makes or breaks books, writers, and the literature.

No wonder books are getting shorter, lighter, and easier to summarize in a sentence.

Deb: 49 Writers weekly round-up

July 1 is a big day at 49 Writers. First, it marks the end of our members-only registration for the 49 Writers Tutka Bay Retreat featuring David Vann. This retreat is an incredible value – two nights at a lodge where rates normally run $800 per night plus four instructional sessions with one of the most highly acclaimed authors to come out of our fair state - all for only $395 plus the cost of a water taxi.

July 1 is also the last day your $100 donation (and membership) will make you one of our esteemed Founding Donors. And it's the date we’ll be raising ad rates here at the blog, so if you haven’t already reserved an ad for $10 per month (what a deal!), you’ve got six more days to do so. After the 1st, they'll still be a great value at $20 per month to reach the perfect target market for your project.

Thanks go out to not only KSKA and APRN for running radio coverage of the 49 Alaska Writing Center, but also the Homer News for spreading the word.

If you’re in Anchorage, be sure to stop by our first Raven Place First Friday book signing on July 2 from 6-8 p.m. Kris Farmen will be signing copies of his new book The Devil’s Share, published by McCoy and Blackburn. Kris has lived in Fairbanks, McCarthy, Ninilchik, and Homer, as well as overseas in Australia. His writing has appeared in The Surfer's Path, Mushing magazine, Cirque, The Ester Republic, and The Anchorage Press. He still lives in Alaska, with no fixed address. His novel tells of a young man's action-filled year in the Wrangell-St. Elias wilderness, where he faces the dangers hidden behind both the smiles of humans and the beauties of the vast country where Canada and Alaska meet.

More good writing news comes from Bill Streever, whose well-acclaimed Cold debuts in paperback next month, and from Fairbanks poet John Morgan, who recently learned that Poetry Daily plans to feature Spear-Fishing on the Chatanika and include a poem from it on Friday, July 2.

Issue # 2 of Cirque is now live online and also on sale at MagCloud. This month Cirque hard copy prices are 25% off the full price: Issue #1, normally $16, is now $12 through June, and Issue #2, normally $24, is now $18 through June.

Last but not least, please welcome our new 49 Writers round-up editor. An 'Alaskan by marriage,' Ela Harrison Gordon came to live in Homer in 2008. She is trained as a Classical scholar, and is primarily a poet. In addition to her own writing, she works as an editor, columnist and translator. Homesteading and the wilderness are also keynotes in her life. Her personal blog is http://ulteriorharmony.blogspot.com/. Next week Ela will start drafting round-up posts, freeing me up to get to work on fall programming concerns. News can still be emailed either to 49writers@gmail.com or to debv@gci.net; I’ll happily forward all of it to her. Thanks to Ela and to all of our fine volunteers – there’s literally no way we could do all of this without you!

eBook Wars (Has Print Been Vanquished?): Guest-post by Ben Summit

The significant digital giants have donned their armor and are preparing for battle with their favorite eBook readers. Amazon boasts Kindle, Barnes and Noble claims Nook, and Apple unveiled iPad with a flourish. Now Google is wielding Editions and Borders is beginning its campaign with Kobo. The eBook wars are upon us and given the stance of the competitors involved, this could be an epic time in history. The publishing industry is changing and when the war is over, traditional publishing will never be the same. It is a very exciting time to be an author because with change comes opportunity.

I recently completed my first book, Western Chugach Alpine Guide. Last fall, as I was within striking distance of the finish, I began to research publishing options. As the leaves turned golden and quivered with anticipation of the coming frost, my discontent grew with the choices available to me as an author. My indignation rose as the first flurries of snow dusted the brilliant yellow, broad leaves of devil’s club.

After countless hours of research in the library, late nights of composition, and endless editing of my opus, it was difficult for me to believe that that the marketplace would dictate that I would receive only a tiny fraction of sales and have very little control over the appearance of my final work. I reached the apex of my disillusionment one afternoon in December at dusk, kneeling on the ice with numb fingers fumbling to attach chains to the tires of my old plow truck. It is then that I had what I call my publishing epiphany. I decided that I would take control of my destiny as an author and publish my book myself. But not in print as others had ventured before me. The pitfalls, expense, and hassles of publishing and distributing “on demand” books or negotiating cheap copies delivered on a barge from China were unappealing.

As the weak spring sun began to finally melt the snow from the trees, I took the steps to make my vision a reality and take advantage of the digital publishing revolution. I formed a publishing company, created a website, www.AlaskaeBooks.com, and transformed my manuscript into an eBook. Instead of the book wilting, as traditional print publisher propaganda prophesied, it began to blossom and flourish.

I took advantage of my complete autonomy. I kept all of the photography in color. In fact, I added more photography. And maps. And Photoshopped diagrams that overlay photos of mountain peaks. I converted my writings to PDF format and added bookmarks so that readers could instantly navigate to any section or chapter. In short, I was able to accomplish more than I had every expected. Because my book is a guidebook, adventurers have the ability to print only those pages needed for a particular hike or climb without worrying about their only copy of the book getting wet or damaged. Readers can download the entire guide or just a part of it onto a smart phone and take it with them. Hikers can compare their intended climbing route to a diagram superimposed in full color onto a photograph instead of trying to decipher vague ink blots in a fuzzy black and white photo in an old-school print guidebook.

If I happen to spot an error or desire to re-write a section, I can update my book anytime and instantly post a new version. I can take advantage of niche marketing and post a video “trailer” of my eBook. And, although I have not yet chosen to do so, I can “lock” my eBook with Digital Rights Management. Before I get carried away and digress into digital publishing minutia, I’ll wrap up by noting that digital publishing comes with a myriad of advantages. Perhaps the biggest advantage is the potential monetary return. While sales of eBooks can often run lower than traditional print sales, the rate of return is higher. Most authors consider themselves fortunate to receive 10% of the cover price of a book. As a digital publisher, I have often been able to offer authors about half of the listed cover price as a royalty rate.

As a lifelong, third-generation Alaskan, I have always been interested in promoting Alaska and my vision is to create an Alaskan digital superstore. Expanding into other Alaskan products seems natural. We are in the process of making arrangements to promote and sell an Alaskan-made film about a unique Alaskan adventure and spectacular mountain photography from experienced climbers in the Alaska Range. Other areas of expansion include interactive digital maps, trail reports, and further guidebooks. Buyers will be able to browse, shop and order online. Digital media is downloaded instantly; DVDs or high quality giclee prints are mailed to their doorsteps.

Although I am offering my book exclusively as an eBook at this time, I haven’t completely discounted expanding to Print on Demand publishing so that enthusiastic readers can still embrace that corporeal copy in their hands. I don’t want to ignore the fact that books published in physical format still dominate book sales. However, like many Alaskans I prefer the view of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” This is especially true in the ongoing crusades of the publishing industry.

Ben Summit is the author and publisher of Western Chugach Alpine Guide.

Andromeda and Deb : Raven Place update and potential sale of 415 L Street

Raven Place, our Anchorage writing center/guesthouse, has been up and running for almost a month. By all standards, we feel great about the guesthouse bookings and budget. We’d hoped for 60% occupancy and $8000 in gross income through August, and we’ve almost reached that in bookings – thanks to the hard work of many volunteers who not only helped the place get up and running, but also keep it running as we move guests in and out, earning money toward our winter expenses. If things keep going as they are, summer bookings will net us a couple thousand toward that goal – not bad for a two-month-old nonprofit start-up.

However, there is a possibility that we may end up altering our plan to run a hybrid writing center/guesthouse at L St. this winter -- and we wanted writing center supporters and loyal blog readers to get the news first. Due to unfortunate circumstances quite beyond his control, our landlord has been forced to put the property up for sale. Commercial properties can take years to sell, and a new landlord may be inclined to keep us on, but our lease does include a 90-day notice to quit if a sale goes through and the new owner isn’t interested in taking over the lease.

Rest assured that our programming for writers will continue as planned. We’ve got several options in mind for space, and the seed money we earn from our L St. project, whether it lasts three months or three years, will help pay for instructional and event space at L St. or elsewhere. There may be other properties where we could continue our hybrid writing/center guesthouse venture, or perhaps we’ll establish sufficient financial support to set aside the guesthouse plan; successful as it has been, we’d love the chance to turn our full attention to programming. And we’re grateful to our landlord, who has offered to go beyond the prorated reimbursement of approved L St. improvements we negotiated in the lease to full reimbursement of our L St. improvement costs in the event of a sale sooner rather than later.

So this development, while not exactly welcome, will prove workable. Most young writing centers are forced to move around every few years until they grow and settle into the perfect long-term location, and/or become the beneficiary of some generous gift (philanthropists, you know where to find us!) that enables them to build or purchase a more ideal physical facility. Some Lower 48 writing centers of note have existed in abandoned fairgrounds and former toilet paper factories, for example. We will hope to avoid such indignities, but the lesson seems clear: expect change, and keep a sense of humor.

We love our little Raven Place. There is no need -- yet -- to relocate it. When we do, we hope it is in an even better facility or locale. For now, we just want you to have all the facts, and an opportunity to share your own questions, concerns, or ideas, either publicly (at the blog) or privately (via email to 49writers@gmail.com). And if you happen to know investors interested in acquiring some prime downtown real estate with great tenants in place ($1823 per month plus 18 parking spots leased at $125 per month each), spread the word!

News too good to wait: Eowyn Ivey's debut novel sells to Little, Brown imprint

Publisher's Weekly has broken the news, and our own Eowyn Ivey (blog contributor, 49 Alaska Writing Center volunteer, bookseller, and all-around wonderful person) has confirmed the deal:

"Frontiersman reporter who now works at Fireside Books, an independent bookstore in Palmer, Alaska Eowyn Ivey's THE SNOW CHILD, a saga set in 1920s Alaska, where one evening a childless couple build a child out of snow, then awake the next morning to find a mysterious little girl running into the woods, to Andrea Walker at Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown, in a pre-empt, by Jeff Kleinman at Folio Literary Management (world). German rights to Rowohlt, in a pre-empt, by Sebastian Ritscher at Mohrbooks on behalf of Reagan Arthur Books, and Italian rights in a pre-empt, to Einaudi, by Luigi Bernabo at Bernabo Associates also on behalf of Reagan Arthur Books."

Wow. Wow. Wow. Let's hear it for Eowyn!

Deb: 49 Writers Interview with John Morgan - Spear-Fishing on the Chatanika

How did you decide which poems to gather in this collection?

When Jessie Lendennie asked if I had a book to submit to Salmon, I said do you want to see the long version or the short one? She said the long version. That was the "new and selected poems." Choosing poems was pretty intuitive. I wanted a balance between new and old and I wanted to give each of my earlier books roughly equal space. Essentially, I just went through and picked the poems I felt were the strongest, the ones I tend to include in readings. There were a couple of surprises in the new section, poems that I'd published in magazines but had forgotten about.

How did you settle on the book title “Spear-Fishing on the Chatanika,” echoing the poem title “Scouts Spear-Fishing on the Chatanika”?

I wanted a title that made a connection to Alaska and that had an element of drama. That poem is a war poem, reflecting back on Viet Nam, and also a father and son poem, and both of those themes run through the book.

There’s so much to savor in this book. Let’s start with poems gathered in groups: “Cape Prince of Wales Alaska: a Suite”; “Six Poems from Above the Tanana”; and “Spells and Auguries.” Tell us about your process of creating poems in groups. Do you set out with that intention, or do you discover the collective energy over time?

Each sequence came about differently. "Cape Prince of Wales: A Suite" came from a notebook I kept during a three day visit to the village of Wales at the tip of the Seward Peninsula. I modeled it on some poems written in numbered free verse sections by John Logan and I knew roughly what it would look like from the start. The poems in "Above the Tanana" are all set at the same location, a ledge overlooking the river with a long view south to the Alaska Range. I wrote one per month for a year, and when I'd written two or three of them I realized what form the sequence would take. Since then I've continued to write poems set at that spot which aren't officially part of the sequence. "Spells and Auguries" took longer to work out. When my son Ben went into the hospital in a coma, I tried to write about it but it was mainly for my own sanity, to keep a grip on who I was. He was in the coma for five days and it changed him quite a bit and changed our lives. I thought I might write a memoir about the experience and went back to the original poems to see what I could draw from them. As I suspected, they weren't very good, but they brought the experience back to me and instead of a memoir I wrote a sequence of 24 sonnets.

Among your new poems, “Poet Charged in Scrape” is one of my favorites. In it, you turn unfortunate Daniel Poet’s mishap (“The Coast Guard charged Poet with negligence in the accident,” says AP) into a remarkable poem, from “the moon was low and each ripple had tiny sickles darting its peak” to “only a little meaning spilled through the crack in the hull.” When did you know this news snippet had to be a poem, and how did it come together?

As soon as I saw the article in the News-Miner, with a guy actually named "Poet" screwing up and causing the accident, I figured there was a poem in it. I kept the subject in my head for a week or so and when I sat down to write it, it came pretty easily. It's playful and lyrical in contrast to some of the darker poems in the collection.

In the new poem “Kindling: For Ben,” you’ve written yet another powerful piece generated from the long-term consequences of your son’s childhood illness, a poem that builds on the collection in “Spell and Auguries.” How important is it for poets to probe painful and personal experiences?

"Kindling: for Ben" describes a grand mal seizure and I wrote it because I feel writers need to face their experiences head-on, no matter how painful. Robert Frost called poetry "a momentary stay against confusion." And the poet Greg Orr tried to spell this out in more detail in an essay he published a few years ago in APR: “Our day-to-day consciousness can be characterized as an endlessly-shifting, back-and-forth awareness of the power and presence of disorder in our lives and our desire or need for a sense of order." Lyric poetry takes on the disorder and tries to give it a shape. You confront it and then, through the writing, you manage to get some control over it. In this case, though, the control is only at the margin. There's a breakdown of form in the middle of the poem as the horror of the seizure takes over, and then at the end the form creeps back in in the last couple of stanzas. It's one of the bleakest poems in the book and I wondered about including it, but I feel the poem that follows, "An Easy Dayhike, Mt. Rainier," which views Ben's seizures in a more accepting way, helps to redeem it.

Why books are better than blogs: A guest post by Charles Wohlforth

The media is the message in new media even more than old. How we read helps define how we think. If what you read is short and superficial, you’re not likely to have deep thoughts as a result. Blogs are not only that, but they are heavy on irony, outrage or dogmatism, which are not deeply enlightening forms of expression.

In my book The Fate of Nature, I wrote this about being outdoors in Prince William Sound:

Anchored in a tiny cove on an island in the southwest Sound, we paddled ashore in miniature plastic kayaks to pick blueberries. The drowsy green woods were fully enclosed from the sky except for big drops of gathered rainwater that clattered down from the long, sagging bows. The silence of deep moss rendered hypnotic the repetitive process of grasping one bright blue orb and then another and the gradual increase of the blueness in a plastic bag—the only contrast from universal green. The Sound erases the rest of the world in a few days. Being is different here. Time smoothes, pulsing slowly with the tide, losing the quantized, mechanical tick it has in the city. Decisions in the Sound are creations, not selections from a menu of choices. Cognition, or thought, is different here, too. It’s continuous, not suited to boxes. Whole ideas grow up, long thoughts leading to unexpected destinations—unlike the flitting of city thinking, which is mostly reactions to questions, messages, lines and squares. From this perspective, that city life, if remembered at all, looks like a mechanical complex of herky-jerky activity, as incoherent as a hazily remembered dream. Both mental frames are real—urban or outdoor—but the continuity that arises in this environment makes it is easier to feel connected to other living things.

That one paragraph is way too long for a blog post! (Oops, there’s a little new media irony.) But it gets to my point: there’s much more to saving nature than our practices as consumers and disposers. It matters how we think. We won’t transform the world if we’re flitting from one idea to the next.

I’ve been struggling to figure out how I can write meaningfully online when my topic is one that takes a lot of thought, a slower mode of thought, and some commitment from readers. And to do it when I don’t really have time for a lot of uncompensated writing.

In the exchange of meaning between writer and reader there is no substitute for effort–if readers don’t want to dig in and understand what I have to say, they just won’t get it. Likewise, most good writing is hard work, and blog posts dashed off the top of the head are no more valuable than casual comments made the same way. Laziness has a cost. I’m hoping online writing evolves beyond it.

Deb: 49 Writers weekly round-up

Thanks, writing news world, for going easy on us while I'm in Oregon celebrating my daughter's brand new master's degree, and while Andromeda is off starting on hers. If you're a member at 49 Writers - even if you sign up by July 1 - you'll get priority registration at our great member rates for our 49 Writers Tutka Bay Retreat featuring acclaimed novelist David Vann. The retreat offers an amazing opportunity to pamper yourself at a world-class Alaska lodge while learning craft from a novelist whose work is being lauded around the world.

Speaking of great writing events, thanks to Jeff Brady of the North Words Writers Symposium for sending links to photos and stories from that new Alaska event.

In Anchorage on Friday, June 25th, the Alaska Poetry League is celebrating the journal Curque and honoring its founding editor, Michael Burwell, with a "We Love Cirque" barbeque fundraiser hosted by Lila Vogt and Jim Sweeney at 2104 Lincoln Avenue starting at 7 p.m. Suggested donations are $20; bring your own beverage. Call 248-1016 if you need directions or have questions.

Finally, you can save $25 if you register for the Alaska Writers Guild Conference in Anchorage by June 30. Go to www.alaskawritersguild.com for all the details.

You want to do what?: Guest-post by Rich Chiappone

Man, I have to say I was really startled by Andromeda’s announcement that she is about to enter the Low Residency MFA program at Antioch. Andromeda Romano Lax is everything that most of the writing students I’ve taught say they are striving to become: a skilled, published and respected writer; a serious writer who got a serious advance for her first novel ---with neither vampires, zombies, nor three inch Manola Blautniks anywhere in it! That is not easy to do. What could she possibly want to go back to college for now?

And as soon as I formed those words, I got to thinking about this: Who wouldn’t want to go to grad school for writing? Whether you need it or not? Man, If I had been smarter I would have stayed a student for the rest of my life. So, I’d like to thank Andromeda for generating some fond memories of my own decision to go back to college relatively late in life. The big difference being that I had none of Andromeda’s skills, accomplishments or credentials when I did it. None.

In the fall of 1986 I walked into the English Department of UAA, then located the College of Arts and Sciences Building. I was 38 years old and this was the first time I had set foot on a college campus since I had flunked out of my freshman year at University of Buffalo --in 1967. I had spent those intervening twenty years painting houses and factories in Upstate NY, and wallpapering hotels and casinos in Las Vegas; I had married and divorced and remarried, and moved to Alaska. What I had not done in all those years was write anything, or read very much. For a long time there, the only “literature” I saw was what the Jehova’s Witnesses left with my first wife while I was out sandblasting chemical tanks.

I told Professor Ronald Spatz that I wanted to learn to write. He did what any good teacher would do: he put me in a workshop. Fortunately for me, although I was re-entering college with only a few credits from my disastrous first attempt, UAA had no lower level writing classes to offer that fall. So he put me in the 600 level, upper division Graduate Fiction Writing Workshop. Monday nights, 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm, I think. I had not been in a classroom in almost two decades; I had not read any of the Great Books (or even very many of the Not So Great Books). I knew less than nothing. I had no idea what I was doing, or even what I was getting myself into. The graduate level workshop? This is where grown women run out of the room in tears, and grown men vomit into the toilet in the lavatory during the workshop break. I’ve seen a student’s head spin all the way around like Beetlejuice, and it wasn’t even his story being critiqued. Well, almost all the way around.

Stupidly I volunteered to hand in my story for the very first discussion. I don’t actually remember that night at all. Thank god. Let’s say my first story displayed my total ignorance (and I use that in its basic definition: lacking knowledge) with “vividness and great clarity” as I’ve since learned to say. Just to put it into perspective: when I came up the stairs to the second floor apartment that my wife and I were living in then, she took one look at my face and said, “Oh my god. You’ve crashed the truck!” It was all I could do to talk her out taking me to the emergency room. It was an emergency all right: I needed to learn a few things, and preferably before the next Monday night. I should have had her rush me to the library.

Luckily, I grew up in a neighborhood where advice was generally delivered with a fist or the toe of a boot. So, for the next eight years I continued to work on construction during the day and attended that writing workshop, or the nonfiction workshop, or a poetry writing workshop at night, as I completed first a BA and then an MFA degree. There may have been one or two semesters in there when I was busy taking lit classes and so forth. But mostly, I lived in those workshops, a world to me as strange and wondrous as anything out of Jules Verne. I had to learn the language from scratch (we don’t talk about metaphor or metonymy a lot on the job site). I remember the night when Professor Spatz referred to something in a student’s story as “a good example of showing instead of telling.” I bolted upright and scrawled those fabulous words in my notebook: Show, Don’t Tell! I think I muttered them out loud as I wrote them down. The students on each side of me looked at me like I had lost my mind. But it was such an important thing, and I had never heard anyone say that before. I was almost forty years old. I’m not making this up.

OK, that’s my story. Maybe I understand Andromeda now. True: obviously she does not need to learn to write –not the way I needed to. But today I read an interesting thing in the AARP newsletter. (Quit snickering and do the math: I was 40 in 1988). All of us sub-geezers are worried about losing our minds in reality. That’s why news about brain science is popular with us --at least the reassuring news. This article said that we have to get beyond crossword puzzles to exercise our gray matter. It suggests doing something new and different to present our brains with “disorienting dilemmas”. Maybe for Andromeda, shifting her focus from writing to teaching writing is a good change. Who cares? Grad school! Yippee!

Myself, I just e-mailed the tech support people at UAA. I’m going to learn how to work on the university Blackboard system. Talk about “disorienting dilemmas”. Once again, I’m going in about as ignorant as possible. I’d better warn my wife.

Rich Chiappone will be returning with more guest-posts as Featured Author for July.

Andromeda: Insults and Celebrations

First, this shout-out to Alaska writers who have had recent good news and will be needing to prepare for a book launch in the next year or two. You know who you are! Read this helpful post from my blogging friend Moonrat about how to plan your awesome book launch event, and make sure you invite us when the time is right.

Now, if I can get personal for the first time in a while: It's been an amazingly crazy, productive, exhausting and fulfilling few months around here thanks to our new writing center and guesthouse, and I'm going to be enjoying a creative change of pace for about 10 days in Los Angeles, where I am beginning a low-res program at Antioch University. I blame readers and commenters of this blog for convincing me of the MFA's merits, and I'll be carrying a little bit of you inside my caffeinated heart as I fly south. Tomorrow, I'll post a great piece written by Rich Chiappone about his own MFA memories, which I read with much pleasure.

My own author's life has had its requisite ups and downs in the last few months, of which I offer just this one goofy example.

First, the down. Not too many weeks ago, I had a novel manuscript rejected by a publisher with which I had worked -- ahem -- fairly recently. The rejection letter was kind, detailed, and appropriate. Except for one thing: the editor referred to me as "Andrea." This publisher had me on their catalog cover not so long ago, but they didn't get my name right in an email! Perhaps I shouldn't be talking about this here, but I can't imagine that said editor, recently hired, will locate this post, given that she isn't aware of my name. And if she does? Ah well. Fifteen minutes of fame, expired. It's a humbling business, isn't it?

The very same day of that email rejection, an unexpected box arrived at my door. Inside were translated copies of my first novel, THE SPANISH BOW, which just came out in China. The edition is epecially beautiful. I have to admit I've flipped through it more than once, even though I can't read it, just to marvel at the opportunity of having one's work printed in unfamiliar characters. Enjoy the moments where you find them.

Coincidentally, my own mother has just been hired to teach English in China (congrats, Mom!), and I rather like the idea that she might happen to walk past a Beijing bookstore and see my book on display.

49 Writers Interview: Judy Ferri, Alaska State Literacy Association

As part of our ongoing series of interviews featuring organizations that support and promote Alaska writers and writing, we bring you this interview with Judy Ferri of the Alaska State Literacy Association.

Tell us about your membership – who, how many, and what benefits they discover in joining ASLA.

The Alaska State Literacy Association (ASLA) is a professional education association in Alaska, affiliated with the International Reading Association. We provide professional education, leadership training, grants and awards and offer a network of support to our approximately 500 members. We advocate for public policy to enhance and support the quality of reading education in our state and nation.

One concern we hear among Alaskan authors is that there aren’t enough books by and about Alaskans used in classrooms across the state. Do you feel students would benefit from an effort to change that? Given the adoption of packaged reading curricula, how could we get teachers to use more Alaskan books?

Well written books will be read and used by Alaskan teachers and students. School districts have always adopted core reading/literacy programs with “packaged curricula” and teachers and librarians have always found ways to read and share good quality books about Alaska and by Alaskan authors.

In your view, what are some of the best ways Alaska’s authors could partner with teachers and schools to advance literacy and promote Alaskan books?

It’s not a new idea, but I think author visits to schools and libraries where authors read their books, share their writing ideas and how their books are designed and illustrated, and interact with children about writing is the best way to engage children to read books. In addition, when an author has their books available for purchase where they are speaking it is a plus for getting their books in the hands of children.

To what extent do Alaskan organizations work together, and to what extent does each have its own niche? What is ASLA’s niche?

The Alaska State Literacy Association sponsors the Alaska State Literacy Conference each year in different locations around the state. At the conference, an author event is always a popular feature. Authors from around the state are invited to either a brunch, luncheon, or evening with authors where conference attendees get to meet authors whose books are available for sale during the event. In addition, at every other year, ASLA sponsors a literacy conference which includes call for proposals for sectional presentations. Authors often submit proposals for presentations on their books with ideas for classroom use.

What else would you like our readers to know about ASLA?

Each year the Alaska State Literacy Association sponsors the Forget-Me-Not Book Award which honors an Alaskan author whose published work about Alaska, either fiction or nonfiction, makes an outstanding contribution to children’s literature. The award provides travel expenses to the ASLA Conference and conference fees to the author for the event where the Forget-Me-Not Award is awarded.

Why do all this work?: A guest post by Charles Wohlforth

Writing a book that’s worth reading is hard enough. Doing it without going broke is harder. Selling what you’ve written to the public is the hardest part of all.

I’ve been making my living as a freelance writer and author for 17 years. I know how to make money at it. But the work is always hard, enough so that you soon need more motivation than the thrill of seeing your words in print.

Most of the writing that people get paid for is stuff they would never write otherwise. One of my steady assignments for the last 15 years has been travel books, of which I’ve written four. I wish I never had to describe another hotel room.

But by keeping in the game with unglamorous work, I’ve carved out a lifestyle that allows me to do work that is more important to me. The real satisfaction comes from writing material that is larger than yourself, either for its enduring literary merit, or, more importantly, because it changes how readers perceive and act in the world for the better.

Writing my books on the environment, The Fate of Nature, and the previous book, The Whale and the Supercomputer, have fulfilled my need for meaning in my professional life for the last decade, although they’re the hardest to write and definitely the hardest to sell of all the work I do.

Right now I’m on the road, doing publicity for my new book. It’s a lot like running for office, except the election never comes—you just have to keep on campaigning. There are an awful lot of easier ways to make money.

But I feel incredibly lucky. Because I got to say what I needed to say, and I have readers who are entering into the world of my book and being moved by it.

Ultimately, it’s all about that connection, the simplest thing a writer does, and the most rare and difficult.

On the radio tonight: Alaska News Nightly at 6 pm

If you've got your radio on tonight at 6 pm, or if you check out this link, you will hear a brief interview on KSKA (and possibly other statewide stations) about 49 Writers and our new Writing Center and Raven Place guesthouse. Thanks APRN!

Deb: 49 Writers weekly round-up

New items have joined our sidebar. Yes, we've opened registration to members for our 49 Writers Tutka Bay Retreat featuring David Vann. Join us Sept. 3-5 for a weekend of inspiration, relaxation, camaraderie, and instruction at one of Alaska's most pristine wilderness lodges. If you're not already a member of 49 Writers, you can join at the time of registration - or wait until registration opens to the general public on July 1. We're limited to 14 participants, so don't delay!

Our 49 Writers volunteers continue to amaze us with their commitment and initiative: building our bookkeeping and budget systems; organizing our book nook and First Friday events; updating our sidebar calendar; taking care of Raven Place maintenance and grounds; and tackling a host of other functions - too many to name here. We're thrilled to report that we've nearly reached 50% occupancy for this summer at Raven Place. Keep sending guests our way - the more we earn this summer, the less we'll need to earn through rentals this winter, and the more use we'll be able to use our little house for writing programs.

This month we welcome June featured author Charles Wohlforth, with thanks to Heather Lende for her wonderful posts in May. Welcome, too, to several new advertisers: Peggy Shumaker, Mary Mullen, Epicenter, and Epicenter Press. By the way, we're still looking for a volunteer ad coordinator. If you're comfortable with the Blogger platform and willing to spend a few hours at the beginning of each month posting new ads and deleting old ones, this is the job for you. You'll get the benefit of knowing you're helping Alaskan authors get the word out about their books while facilitating an ongoing revenue stream for our writing programs.

Alaska's Sandra Kleven ran a sneak preview this week of "To the Moon! A Tribute To Theodore Roethke" at the Blue Moon Tavern in Seattle, bringing Roethke back to his favorite haunt past (and perhaps present). For those of us who weren't there to celebrate in person, the film's actual debut will be held at this summer's residency of the Creative Writing program at UAA. When the new issue of CIRQUE is out, Kleven's essay "The Canny Invention" will serve as a companion piece -- something to read from, rounding out the program, when the ten minute film is done.

Writers of all genres are invited to join the creative writing class at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, July 19-30. Participants will enjoy two weeks devoted to generating new writing, talking with other writers, and trying out new ideas. More info? Check out the website at http://www.fsaf.org/class.php?id=76

Also in Fairbanks, the Alaska Book Festival is hosting the 1st Annual New & Used Books Sale
Friday, June 25th, 2010 at Pioneer Park, Exhibition Hall, the Centennial Center for the Arts.
Authors and non-profits are invited to reserve tables for $25 each by June 18. Contact Melanie Wells at Todd Communications (melanie@toddcom.com) for more information or to reserve.

"Writing About The Wild" is the theme of the Alaska Writers Guild meeting on June 15 at 7 pm at Barnes & Noble. The event is free and open to the public. The featured speaker will be Evan Swensen, an Alaska resident since 1957 who served as the publisher and editor of Alaska Outdoors magazine, producer of Alaska Outdoors television show and Alaska outdoor recreation videos, host of the Outdoor Show television program and Alaska Outdoor Radio Magazine. Swensen has been published in many national magazines and is the author of three books - One Last Cast, Fishing Alaska, and Hiker’s Guide to Alaska. Publisher of more than 200 books by other authors, he will be signing One Last Cast from 5-7 pm. Also speaking is Tom Robertson, an expert fisherman who is frequently quoted in fishing publications.

In Anchorage, Out North's mission is "...to raise up creative space where people of all cultures, generations and abilities gather and learn..." Incoming Artistic Director of VSA Alaska/Out North Scott Turner Schofield wants to meet with artists of all disciplines to find out how Out North can support them. To that end, there's an Artist Open House - snacks, drinks, discussion and networking - at VSA Alaska at Out North, 3800 DeBarr Road, on June 15 at 7 pm. Questions? Email scott@outnorth.org.

Join F Magazine on June 25 at 6 pm at MTS Gallery in Mt. View for an evening of live music by The Moon Knights, In the Belfry and whole lot more. There will also be spoken word, poetry slamming, and lots of art. And it's all free.

Coming this September is a graphic novel telling Alaska history as narrated by Benny Benson. Sara Hurst wrote this first as a play performed at Tatitlek Community School in January 2010. Ten different Alaskan artists contributed to the book and tell 17 stories from Alaska history. All of it was funded with grants from the Alaska Humanities Forum. Wholesale discounts will be available to schools and bookstores. Bosco’s has more information and a copy of the introduction.


If you're looking for a full-fledged creative adventure, check out A Writer’s Journey in Bhutan: Stories from the Heart of the World, Jan. 26- Feb. 4, 2011. In a journey that combines nature, travel, culture and writing, this small group of writers will immerse mind, body and heart in a world where peaceful morning prayers and daily rhythms take them far from the rush of the 21st century.

Traveling in company with Kim Stafford, Director of the Northwest Writing Institute in Oregon, and Wendy Erd, writer and film-maker from Alaska and Hanoi, participants in this writing journey will receive gentle instruction in the arts of writing about place, about illuminating moments, about the images that have shaped each of us. The journey into the heart of Bhutan will culminate in a writing retreat at Ogyen Choling, a remote monastery/palace, where, with a small group of fellow writers from Bhutan, the group will experience cross-cultural writing and sharing of stories, the universal passport. Kunzang Chodren, beloved Bhutanese novelist, will join Kim and Wendy to share her insight and encouragements. Contact Wendy with questions or for reservations: wendy@sacredhimalayatravel.com.

Andromeda: North Words Symposium Report from Skagway

What do we expect from a writing conference?

That question kept running through my mind as I enjoyed several days at the new North Words Symposium in Skagway, which ended on Sunday. Modeled on a symposium -- more about ideas than about extremely specific issues of craft or the business of writing or writing workshops, per se -- the Skagway conference defies easy description. (Comparisons might be made to the now defunct Sitka Symposium.) The highlights for me were those moments a conference organizer can't engineer -- exactly -- but can only facilitate.

For several sunny days in historic Skagway, I had the pleasure of taking part in, or listening to, one interesting conversation after another -- occasionally during panel discussions, but just as often on field trips, like the railroad trip to Lake Bennett or the short hike and float on the Chilkoot Trail. What wasn't discussed on a field trip ended up fodder for dinner or casual bar talk. We ate well and mixed freely. The faculty-participant ratio was 1:1. Everyone had access to everyone else, which I've never experienced at any other conference.

I listened to Dan Henry and Kim Heacox -- great writers and also history lovers extraordinaire -- bring history to life as they energetically discussed key moments from the Tlingit/European contact past. This was on the train to Lake Bennett. Overhead, a guide was trying to tell us about the area, but it couldn't compare with Dan's and Kim's feverish retellings of negotiation, battles, and other human moments of passion and change.

At a panel discussion, park historian Karl Gurcke convinced me that someone should write a history of the U.S. as discovered through excavations of outhouses. Really. Super interesting stuff falls into those holes. (And if such a history is written, I know the Skagway bookstore that will sell it -- thanks to Jeff Brady, the publisher and bookstore owner who helped support North Words.)

At the Red Onion Saloon, I went on a brothel tour with Peggy Shumaker and several other participants. We were astonished by the historic details that helped us envision what a Gold Rush prostitute's life was really like. Peggy's empathy about Gold Rush life was akin to her empathy in other areas. At one panel after another, she was a good listener, adept at creating bridges between participants and faculty.

Over dinner and on the Chilkoot Trail, I took part in several discussions with Nick Jans and others about which Alaska books will last, and why, and how Alaska writing has changed over 30 years. Since I first read Nick close to 15 years ago, but had never met him, the discussions had a special resonance for me. I felt like I was encountering someone from my own coming-to-Alaska past, when I first started reading the essayists who shaped my idea of what Alaska is.

I listened to Kaylene Johnson read a beautiful essay about her family and the ambivalence she felt when her husband and sons went on a trip to hunt brown bears. No mention of Palin in that essay, but plenty of moments that made me teary. I look forward to reading more by her.

With Tim Woody of Alaska Magazine, I discussed other bear stories he has covered, and learned more about the magazine's focus and audience. Good things to know. Great opportunity to meet an editor face-to-face.

With participants Leslie and Lisa -- both sci-fi writers -- we talked about the challenges of writing in the near future and how to define and test for sentiency (in animals or robots), and other subjects that reminded me that I do want to try to write sci-fi someday. (Manuscript in a file, waiting to be reawakened.)

With participant Art, I discussed Civil War and World War II history. And a lot more. Everyone had interesting conversations with Art.

With screenwriter Dave Hunsaker, I talked about the current state of Hollywood. At panel discussions, I never tired of hearing him describe how he does research, frames stories, and brings ideas to the screen. All inspiring. Hollywood, here I come! (Meeting any screenwriter inflames one's screenwriting ambitions.)

With Sherry Simpson, I laughed often (no surprise ) and discussed what we read, and how we're influenced by what we read, among other things. (Note to self -- read more. Expand one's sights.)

I didn't talk about marketing with Dana Stabenow -- I just listened. Her keynote address was about how to market one's book online, what works and what doesn't, and she forced me to take a good look at whether I do enough. The answer: I don't. More on this later. Dana is going to be teaching a 49 Alaska Writing Center workshop this fall on the subject and I will twist the arm of every writer I know to encourage them to attend. She has info to impart. Don't miss it.

But didn't I say the symposium wasn't about the business of writing? Yes. So why did Dana's keynote work? I'm not sure, but it did. Maybe because it came from a deep place in Dana's heart. As with every other conversation in Skagway, she was sharing something she had struggled to master, something she deeply felt was essential, something authentic and true.

Would a more singular theme -- or a more hands-on focus on the craft of writing -- make this conference even better? Or did participants like it just as it was: an almost indefinable mix, made possible because people took every opportuntity to connect without artifice. I'd love to hear.

I've named only some of the great faculty members and fewer of the interesting participants at North Words. To be honest, my head is still spinning. Is that what a conference is about? Maybe so. Put a lot of interesting people together in an inspiring place, feed them well, take them on great field trips, give them time to think and talk. It occurred to me that I'd rather have experienced those four days than spend a lifetime on Facebook. Amazing, actually.

The North Words conference will continue next year -- possibly in another location. One plan is to have it move from Skagway, to Dawson City, to Denali National Park, and then back to Skagway. Whatever happens, I'll pay attention. The organizers created some magic once and I don't doubt they'll create it again.

Congrats to organizers Buckwheat Donahue, Dan Henry, and Jeff Brady for pulling it off with style.

Andromeda: We Need a Roundup Queen (or King)!

If you're a regular reader, you know about our Friday weekly roundups. That's where Deb collects all the literary news, deadlines and so on that are some of my all-around favorite features of this blog.

The great thing about writing the roundup is that it puts you in touch with everything literary happening or about to happen in Alaska. People send news, and the roundup writer receives, condenses, and occasionally rewrites pieces of it, with the option of adding her (or his!) two cents as desired. The roundup writer finds out first about new books coming out; new grant deadlines; new book signings. It's a cool gig, and one at which Deb has succeeded admirably since we created this collaborative blog about 18 months ago.

But you might have heard about this new writing center thing we've got started. And this little guesthouse we just opened. And this interesting retreat we're organizing this fall. And -- well, you get the picture. It's all great, but it happens to fill our waking hours. Some of our sleeping hours, too.

Deb and I love the blog -- the blog started it all! -- but we could use some help. Deb has asked for assistance via our general volunteer recruitment procedure (form at right), but I thought I'd take this particular request a notch higher and show you the human face behind this particular request -- a smiling face that is shouting, "Help!?"

We've got so many volunteers doing incredible things, but we really need one super-reliable, literary-minded person to take on this mission. The ideal person loves to read forwarded emails and loves that buzz of feeling connected and part of the Alaska literary future, so much so that he or she doesn't mind tapping and tweaking for about two hours a week. That person might even have ideas how to coordinate the roundup with our coming-soon website calendar, so that we have a truly one-stop-shopping place for every Alaska lit news item out there. Is that person you?

If so, write to me this week at lax@alaska.net.

P.S. If this sounds like you, but summer is the busiest time of your year, let me know that as well; time-sharing is a possibility.

BookExpo 2010, New York City: A Guest Post by Ken Waldman

When I left Anchorage in June, 2001 to head on tour, I had a book of poetry and two CDs. Nine years later, I still work full-time as a touring artist, and am fortunate to have several more books and CDs. The past year I've spent most of my time in New York City—long story!—which allows me to attend events like BookExpo——the annual gathering of the book trade. I'd gone last year, and sent a few observations to 49 Writers. Here's some of what I found this time around.

Signs of the book business:

Last year's exhibit hall was open four days and filled most of two convention center floors. This year, the hall was open just two days with a single floor of booths. Though all the major publishers were present, there were a fraction of smaller presses. Attendance was estimated at 30,000. That's plenty of booksellers, librarians, publishers, authors, and more. All those people walking the floor—it certainly felt busy.

Alaska and the North:

At Red Hen Press, I leafed through Peggy Shumaker's just-published book, GNAWED BONES.

At Duke University Press, I browsed the 2009 anthology, THE ALASKA NATIVE
READER: History Culture, Politics.

I also picked up several catalogs and found these upcoming titles:

University of Nebraska Press (same publisher that recently released books by Marybeth Holleman and Jennifer Brice), THE HARD WAY HOME, by Steve Kahn, coming this October.

Sasquatch Books (this Seattle publisher has long had a close relationship with Alaska writers), SOMETHING FISHY THIS WAY COMES, the artwork of Ray Troll, coming this October.

Counterpoint Books (a Northern California publisher), GOLD DIGGERS, Striking it Rich in the Klondike, by Charlotte Gray, a Canadian writer, coming in September.

Douglas & McIntyre (a Vancouver B.C. publisher), INUIT MODERN, edited by Gerald McMaster, coming in November. Art from circumpolar Canada.

Also, I understand Tony Hopfinger and Amanda Coyne have a book coming out this October, CRUDE AWAKENING, with Nation Books. It's not mentioned on the Nation Books website, but is on the site of literary agent Gail Ross (I haven't seen any previous notice here at 49 Writers).

Apologies to Northern writers whose new books were listed somewhere at BookExpo,and I didn't find. But the conference remains huge. By the way, University of Alaska Press did not attend—nor did University of Chicago Press, which widely distributes U. of Alaska Press titles. And Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company, another source of Aalska-set titles, went bankrupt this past year.

Last observations:

Though I had no appointments, it invariably feels useful to attend events like this, especially since I was already in the city. I visited a few people I'd met over the years, publishers and editors like Bobby Byrd of Cinco Puntos Press in El Paso, Mark Cull and Kate Gale of Red Hen Press in Pasadena (Kate mentioned she'd be in Anchorage this summer to participate in the UAA low-residency summer session), and introduced myself to new ones. Librarians might appreciate I saw librarian-turned-best-selling-author Nancy Pearl, for the first time in a number of years—years ago she'd invited me to the Seattle Public Library. I also ran into booksellers who'd previously hosted me. Though there were celebrities at the convention—from Barbra Streisand to Jon Stewart—and plenty of lines to get signed copies of pre-publication editions, I went my own way. The only book I picked up was from long-time acquaintance, Ryan Van Cleave, who was autographing his new memoir, UNPLUGGED, My Journey into the Dark World of Video Game Addiction.

Late in the afternoon, I stopped by the table of Bellevue Literary Press. I didn't stay long, just to meet a writer there, Paul Harding. He'd written a novel, TINKERS, that had been rejected by every agent and editor he'd queried, so had put it away for several years. On the suggestion of a friend, he'd sent it out one more time. This last publisher didn't take it, but recommended it to a start-up, Bellevue Literary Press. That press published it, and Paul Harding has just won a Pulitzer Prize for the book. The system may be difficult and random, but as long as we continue, at least there's the possibility of hope. Often that's enough.

Strange coincidences: A guest post by Charles Wohlforth

I’ve worked six years on my new book, The Fate of Nature: Rediscovering Our Ability to Rescue the Earth, which comes out from St. Martins Press on Tuesday, June 8 (http://www.fateofnature.com/). (Everyone is invited to my book launch and slide show Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Wilda Marston Theater in the Loussac Library in Anchorage.) Given the amount of time I’ve been working on it, the book could hardly be expected to be timely. But the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has unfolded like a re-enactment of my stories from the Exxon Valdez spill in the book.

It’s weird and a little bit horrible for another big spill to happen right now. My freelance writing career began with that terrible, historic, heart-breaking, life-redirecting event 21 years ago. I was a reporter at the Anchorage Daily News, working in the one-man Mat-Su Valley Bureau, as a cub reporter of 25 years. The editors for some reason thought the Valley was a zany place, and expected me to produce a lot of ‘brights,’ those funny little pieces that brighten your day when you pick up the morning paper (retch). Since the area was in the depths of a four-year economic depression, I couldn’t always find a lot of laughs. I remember trying to spruce up a pathetic story about a woman who was trying to make money by finding a body for a head she had of a Marilyn Monroe doll.

When the tanker hit the rocks, I was young, ready to travel, and I had a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Mike Doogan was my editor. He sent me to Valdez with a truck load of reporters and photographers. And once there, I stuck. I stayed on the oil spill story for the rest of that summer, into the fall, and I have never really stopped covering it since. Being the only reporter on the scene for long periods meant I could freelance a lot of work to national publications.

I’ve been a full-time freelancer since 1992. I’ve published a lot of books. I’ve written about the oil spill, but I’ve never returned to it deeply, to pull out all the lessons and emotions of that summer. I did in The Fate of Nature. And now, here it comes again. Bringing publicity for my new book. And bringing a renewed sense of survivor’s guilt for me, as I again see a horror that I would do almost anything to prevent turning to the benefit of my literary career.

Deb: 49 Writers weekly round-up

We hear the Skagway's Red Onion is buzzing with lit chat and writer-types as the North Words Symposium launches this week.  Our own Andromeda Romano-Lax is there, along with Dana Stabenow, Kim Heacox, Dan Henry, Tim Woody, Dave Hunsaker, Sherry Simpson, Nita Nettleton, Kaylene Johnson, Peggy Shumaker, Elisabeth Dabney, Jeff Brady, and Buckwheat.  We'll look for a full report on the festivities next week.

On the heels of the symposium comes the Kachemak Bay Writers Conference in Homer June 11-15.  In addition to keynote speaker Michael Cunningham, the faculty includes Emily Wall, Maurya Simon, Sherry Simpson, Peggy Shumaker, Joni Sensel, Eva Saulitis, Bill Raurbach, Jennifer Pooley, Dinty W. Moore, Nancy Lord, Leonard Kammerling, Joan Kane, Stephanie Griest, Karen Fowler, April Eberhardt, Elisabeth Dabney, and Rich Chiappone.  Due to scheduling conflicts (so little summer, so much to do!), neither Andromeda nor I can make this year's KBC, so we're hoping attendees will send news and comments for posting (49writers@gmail.com).

The Alaska Book Festival in Fairbanks takes on a new format with a series of free lectures at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays in Schaible Auditorium, where you're invited to join experts such as Peggy Shumaker, Dermot Cole, Tom Bundtzen and Greg Hill to discuss the very best of Alaska-related literature.  Scheduled for summer:

July 14 - Alaska Mining and Geology
July 21 - Alaska Aviation
July 28 - Poetry
Aug. 11 - Alaska Glaciology
Aug. 18 - Alaska Classics for Newcomers: Must Reads for all Alaska Newbies

The Summer Featured Author is Charles Wohlforth, speaking at 7 p.m., Wednesday, August 25 in the Schaible Auditorium about his celebrated The Whale and the Supercomputer and his newest book,
The Fate of Nature.  For more information call Summer Sessions & Lifelong Learning at 907-474-7021.

It's not too late to join 49 Writers and be among the first to register for a retreat weekend of inspiration, relaxation, camaraderie, and instruction with acclaimed author David Vann at one of Alaska's most pristine wilderness lodges in scenic Tutka Bay. Nine ocean miles from the seaside town of Homer along Kachemak Bay, the Tutka Bay area boasts rugged coastlines, deep fjords, dramatic mountains, quiet beaches, old growth Sitka spruce forests, and amazing tidal fluctuations.

At the lodge, a seasoned Within The Wild staff offers full-service lodging and award-winning cuisine. After settling in at your well-appointed guest cabin, we’ll welcome you at our unique retreat center – a whimsical crabbing boat dry-docked on a tidal lagoon. Between festive and plentiful meals, we’ll juxtapose thought-provoking instruction in style, language, and craft with ample opportunities to create and relax.  The 49 Writers member rate of $395 covers first-class lodging, meals, and instruction for the September 3-5 retreat.  Members, watch for email notification next week for your pre-registration opportunity, with registration to the general public opening two weeks later.  Space is limited to 14 participants.

We're still looking for authors to fill our First Friday book-signing calendar at Raven Place in Anchorage.  Email paulabryner@gci.net for details.

Autographed copies of Dana Stabenow's A Night Too Dark are still available at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego and the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale , and as well as the Homer Bookstore in Homer, Alaska has your back.  Dana's "Cherchez la Femme" appears in Hook, Line & Sinister a new anthology edited by T. Jefferson Parker.  On Dana's recent reading list is the outline for the pilot episode of a potential Kate Shugak TV series.

Andromeda: The Eagle has landed ...

... future Eagle scout, that is. Ted Sturgulewski, a 17-year-old aspiring writer (from a family of writers!) and Boy Scout is dedicating some of his summer hours to building bookshelves for our Raven Place Book Nook, where donated Alaska books will be on display for perusing and purchase by guesthouse visitors.

I was so charmed by Ted's initiative over the holiday weekend, when he stopped by the new writing center to take measurements, that I couldn't wait to post this photo. Being a Boy Scout, Ted arrived at the house about 15 minutes ahead of me, ready with his tape measure and planning/Eagle Scout service project binder. Made my day.

Andromeda: Meet our new mascot -- does he need a name?

Corvax McCarthy? (I know CM doesn't live in Alaska, but I couldn't resist.)

Jack? Or Black Jack? (For Jack London...)

A favorite AK author would be a good fit, but I'm not so sure about naming him after any one still living. We tried that with the airport and it's been -- ah -- interesting.

Any ideas? Anyone wondering when we'll put him on our first T-shirt or tote bag? (I'm first in line for the T-shirt,)

The logo, which I absolutely love, was designed for the new 49 Alaska Writing Center & Raven Place Guesthouse by local artist Lance Lekander. You may have seen his artwork in AK galleries or in the Anchorage Daily News. Thanks, Lance!

Firstlings: A guest post by John Morgan

After readings, when I take questions from the audience, I’m likely to be asked how I became a poet in the first place. It seems like such a wildly impractical choice, and yet somehow appealing as well. I tell them that in my case (as, I suspect, with many other poets) it goes back to junior high.

By eighth grade my sweet boy-soprano had given way to a croaking baritone and I dropped out of choir. I went on several dates, but these were far from satisfactory, since my motives were suspect and the girls seemed to be chiefly concerned with showing off their fancy dresses. My main extra-curricular activity was the science club. And then somehow, amid the push and pull of hormonal mood swings and identity issues, I discovered poetry.

For an English assignment in ninth grade, I memorized and recited “Fern Hill.” We had the recording at home and I tried to imitate Dylan Thomas’s stirring delivery. Then when my mother took me to a bookstore to pick out a birthday present for myself, I surprised us both by choosing a fat Louis Untermeyer anthology of British and American poetry. I worked my way forward from Chaucer through Shakespeare, Keats, the two Brownings, Dickinson, and Eliot, before settling for a while on Algernon Charles Swinburne for his hypnotic rhythms, gaudy alliteration and morbid sentiments.

The first poem I ever wrote spilled-over from this reading and from my muddled emotional life. It described a wild team of galloping horses--not a subject I knew much about first-hand, but of course the point was symbolic. The apocalyptic horses were compared to a racing heart and stood in my mind for death and for sexual passion, and the rhythm tried to imitate their thunderous headlong rush. The poem could hardly be called a success though. Its far-fetched diction had more to do with Shelley and Keats than with the language I actually spoke and might have been able to handle. But putting it through several revisions allowed me to relive the experience of creating the poem in the first place and the whole process gave me something to do with my turbulent feelings, which otherwise threatened to run away with me like those galloping horses.

I felt encouraged enough by the results to try again a few months later. My second poem was about a star. It had regular rhyming stanzas and used the obscure poetic word “dartle” to describe the distant stellar object, which stood for the girl--was it Susan or Stephanie?--I was secretly in love with at the moment. Edward Hirsch has pointed out that for some poets, the beloved becomes a “celestial light, a cosmic force” which the poet “absorbs into himself, a power that counters the evil in history.” No doubt this account approximates what I was striving for as I invoked the “dartling star” as the ideal object of my aesthetic and emotional longings.

I took the project seriously enough to fill several notebook pages with alternative versions. It was, to my mind, a more sophisticated effort than the wild horse poem though perhaps not as spontaneous. I hoped to create a crafted object external to myself, something that might be of interest to other readers of the Untermeyer anthology. But inevitably my efforts were spoiled by the poem’s outlandish diction and adolescent sentiments. Still, I remember having the sense that writing poems was a skill I could master eventually if I put my mind to it.

I don't think my motives for writing poetry have changed very much over the years. Poems still help me work through my mental morass and reach out to others with an artful presentation of my emotions, thoughts, and dreams, hoping for a response. The poems themselves improved as I developed a better ear for tone and got a handle on some of the formal elements of verse, but the essentials were there from the start, particularly a willingness to look over what I'd scribbled in a frenzy and try to make it more coherent and aesthetically pleasing. And somewhere behind this obsessive activity it seems that what I was revising was myself.