Ela: 49 Writers Weekly Round-up

Longer days, sunshine, and lots of great instructional opportunities coming up at 49 Writers.   Know any creative teens looking for a fun class during spring break?  Lee Post’s course, The Graphic Novel:  Telling Stories with Pictures, is designed with them in mind.  Of course, adults are welcome as well.  The class runs afternoons during Spring Break, beginning March 7th.  We’ve also got a few slots left in Don Rearden’s Screenwriting 101, beginning March 15th, and then at the end of the month (March 26th), Ronald Spatz of the acclaimed Alaska Quarterly Review will provide an insider’s perspective on Publishing in the Literary Market.

Also coming next month (next week!), we’ll be opening registration for our Tutka Bay Writers Retreat, September 2-5, featuring best-selling author Dani Shapiro, as well as a “staycation” four-day weekend June 24-27 featuring memoir writing with Kim Rich (Johnny's Girl).  Preparations for our Raven Words Summer Youth Writing Workshops are in the works, too.  Watch for the rollout with instructor recruitment.

And stay tuned, stay tuned! April will bring a Crosscurrents onstage conversation with acclaimed author Susan Orlean plus our fun Raven Write-a-thon and a new Synergies poetry event – and of course our continuing line-up of 49 Writers courses, including MaryBeth Holleman’s course in Beginnings and John Morgan’s A Formal Feeling: Getting Started Writing poems.

Today, Friday February 25th, at 1:30pm,Charles Wohlforth presents 'Speaking and Human Nature,' based on his book The Fate of Nature. ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Rilke's Duino Elegies Discussion Group meets again on Sunday February 27th, at 2:30pm Fireside Books, 720 S Alaska St., Palmer. They're reading Stephen Mitchell's translation.

On Monday February 28 from 5:00pm- 7:00pm, at the UAA Bookstore, Don Rearden presents Raven’s Gift.  Don Rearden has created an amazing story, a  "what if" scenario that is closer to real life than not. Everyone is invited to this special event with Alaskan and UAA CPDS faculty member Don Rearden.  Check out this link for a dramatic inside preview. Don't miss out on a great literary event.  Remember all events are free, open to the public, with free parking available.

On Friday, March 4th, at 7:00pm, poet Cecily Parks will read as part of the Fairbanks Visiting Writers series, UAF Museum of the North, Fairbanks.

Registration is now available online for the second annual Writers Conference in Skagway, Alaska; June 1-4, 2011. Best-selling nonfiction writer Howard Blum will be the keynote speaker.
Blum, whose new book The Floor of Heaven is being launched by Crown Publishing in April, will join several recognized authors from the 49th State including Heather Lende, Seth Kantner, John Straley, Deb Vanasse, Kim Heacox, and current Alaska Writer Laureate Peggy Shumaker.
A maximum of 50 participants will be accepted for this year’s symposium.
Conference contact:
Buckwheat Donahue, 907-983-2854 or carlin_donahue@hotmail.com

On Sunday, March 13th, at 7pm, at the Wilda Marston Theater, Loussac Library, Anchorage, author, scientist and poet Dr Sandra Steingraber presents "Toxic Trespass:" Chemicals in our Environment and Effects on Reproductive Health." There will be a reception at 6.30pm, open to the public.

Sara Juday passes on this link: some speculations about the future of books. http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/jefishman/2011/02/15-predictions-for-the-future-of-books/