Three amazing authors offer readings and discuss connections between writing, life and heroism. Retired Master Sergeant Roger Spark’s recently released memoir is Warrior’s Creed: A Life Preparing for and Facing the Impossible. Awarded the Silver Star for valor in Afghanistan’s Watapur Valley, he has served for more than 25 years within the military as both a Recon Marine and an Air Force Pararescueman. In addition to being a renowned tattoo artist, today, Roger Sparks is working with a...

Alaska poets Tom Sexton and John Morgan discuss and offer readings from their new books The Moving Out: Collected Early Poems (Salmon Poetry) by John Morgan and Li Bai Rides a Celestial Dolphin Home (University Press of Alaska) by Tom Sexton are the featured collections. · John Morgan studied under Robert Lowell at Harvard and received his M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. In 1976, he moved with his family to Fairbanks, Alaska to direct the creative writing program at the...

In Proud Raven, Panting Wolf: Carving Alaska's New Deal Totem Parks, Ketchikan-native Emily Moore examines the origins of totem parks at Saxman, Totem Bight, Wrangell and Prince of Wales Island. Built between 1938 and 1942 as part of a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) program, Alaska's totem parks arose out of a controversial set of compromises between New Deal efforts to preserve "American heritage" and Tlingit and Haida efforts to assert their own heritage and claims to the Tongass...

Six Creative Writers discuss Writing and Literary Genres: Memoir, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Poetry and Fiction. Cinthia Ritchie (2:33-12:21), Dolls Behaving Badly and a forthcoming memoir coming this fall; historical fiction author Stephanie Marie Thornton (12:44-22:01), American Princess: A Novel of First Daughter Alice Roosevelt; poet Chaun Ballard (22:17-38:50), Flight; poet Stephen D. Bolen (39:17-51:00), a novel in progress called Tracing Grace); fantasy author Kellie Doherty...

Marc Cameron is the New York Times bestselling author of Tom Clancy Oath of Office, and Tom Clancy Power and Empire, the Arliss Cutter Mysteries, and the Jericho Quinn Thriller Series. His forthcoming book, Tom Clancy Code of Honor, is due out in November. A retired Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal, Marc Cameron, who is originally from Texas, spent nearly thirty years in law enforcement filling assignments from Alaska to Manhattan, from Canada to Mexico. During his career, he served as a...

Essayist Monica Devine and poet Mar Ka discuss their recently published books which explore their personal journeys through Alaska in memoir and poetry. And Sally's Kitchen Singers perform (53:20-58:40). Monica Devine's new book Water Mask is a collection of essays that chronicles her interactions with Alaska's land and its people. Her work is an “adventurous memoir that reflects on family, place, memory, work, perception and culture in a land that both beguiles and rejects.” Monica worked...

Alaskan authors Brooke Hartman, Tricia Brown and Matthew Lasley offer readings and discuss the art of writing Alaska children’s books, working with illustrators and the steps involved in publishing picture books. Graphic Arts Books/Alaska Northwest Press published books featured. Tricia Brown discusses Charlie and the Blanket Toss; Children of the First People: Fresh Voices of Alaska Native Kids. Matthew Lasley discusses Pedro's Pan, A Gold Rush Story. Brooke Hartman discusses Dream...

Alaskan attorney and mystery author Keenan Powell discusses the development of women characters in mysteries and presents her second Maeve Artemis Malloy mystery, Hemlock Needle. From Miss Marpel to Vera Stanhope, from the unveiled to the convicted, women in mysteries are examined. And, how Keenan Powell’s Maeve Artemis Malloy is a 21-Century investigator and sleuth analyzed. Hemlock Needle: When Yupik chief financial officer and single mother, Esther Fancyboy’s body turns up in a snow...

Three creative literary artists come together to share their writings and views on Alaska literature. Linda Schandelmeier (3:20-25:04) grew up on a 160-acre family homestead six miles south of Anchorage. In 1967, she moved to Fairbanks to attend the University of Alaska where she continues to reside, today. Her new collection of poems, Coming Out of Nowhere, Alaska Homestead Poems is part memoir and part historical document. Inupiaq educator and teacher Loretta Outwater Cox (25:30-50:00)...

Alaskan authors Stan Jones (Big Empty), Lori Townsend (Ghost Ship), and George Harbeson Jr. (Shadow Times) discuss their new books, writing, and Alaskan literary genres. Stan Jones, mystery author of Tundra Kill; White Sky, Black Ice; Shaman Pass; Frozen Sun; Village of the Ghost Bears, collaborated with Patricia Watts on the sixth Nathan Active series called The Big Empty. In the story, Nathan Active investigates a suspicious plane crash in Chukchi. Lori Townsend’s novel Ghost Ship...

The Tanana Chiefs: Native Rights and Western Law chronicles the efforts by Alaska Native people to gain recognition for rights under Western law and the struggles to negotiate government-to-government relationships with the federal government. It contains the first full transcript of the historic meeting held in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1915 as well as essays that connect that first gathering with efforts of the Tanana Chiefs Conference, to meet and fight for Alaska Native rights that continue...

Alaska authors Dana Stabenow (Less Than A Treason), Leland Hale (What Happened in Craig? Alaska’s Worse Unsolved Murder), Tom Brennan (Dead Man’s Dancer, The Mechele Linehan Story), Keenan Powell (Deadly Solutions) are joined by author and journalist Lael Morgan, a licensed private detective and former police reporter. Fiction and nonfiction writers get ready for crime talk, craft and discovery.

Daniel Lee Henry discusses his book, Across the Shaman’s River, John Muir, the Tlingit Stronghold and the Opening of the North (Note the audio podcast that accompanies the presentation is also posted in iTunes.) Daniel Lee Henry discusses his book Across the Shaman’s River, John Muir, the Tlingit Stronghold and the Opening of the North. (Note, the presentation that accompanies the audio podcast is also posted in iTunes.) Across the Shaman’s River examines what happened when a great Tlingit...

Daniel Lee Henry discusses his book Across the Shaman’s River, John Muir, the Tlingit Stronghold and the Opening of the North. (Note, the presentation that accompanies the audio podcast is also posted in iTunes.) Across the Shaman’s River examines what happened when a great Tlingit community, one closed off from intruders for over a century, encountered naturalist and explorer John Muir. By researching John Muir’s journal entries, historic writings of explorers, and interviewing Tlingit...

Poet Tom Sexton presents part two of his talk concerning a brief history of Alaska poetry from 1867 until 1966. (Part one was recorded at the UAA Campus Bookstore on October 24, 2017 and is posted in iTunes.) Poet Tom Sexton is professor emeritus of English at the University of Alaska Anchorage and was Alaska's Poet laureate from 1994 until 2000. He is the author of several collections of poetry including For the Sake of the Light and I Think Again of Those Ancient Chinese Poets, both from...

Mystery author Keenan Powell presents her new book, Deadly Solution. Joining her is Stan Jones, author of the Nathan Active mystery series. Together they discuss character make up and their next mystery books. In Deadly Solution, Maeve Malloy, a public defender in Anchorage, defends an Alaska Native man accused of beating another homeless man to death. With no witnesses to the crime and a client who claims to have no knowledge of the night of the murder, the case seems stacked against her....

This presentation accompanies the audio podcast for Ray Hudson presents Fact and Fable in a Novel about the Aleutian Islands. At the event, Ray Hudson discusses how he blended facts with fiction as he wrote this book set in the Aleutian Islands. Photos shown are from the Alaska Volcano Observatory. (Note, the audio podcast of the event is also posted in iTunes.) Ray Hudson lived in Unalaska from 1964-1992 where he taught various subjects in the public school and coordinated the Indian...

At this event, Ray Hudson reads selections from his novel, Ivory and Paper: Adventures In and Out of Time, published by University of Alaska Press. In addition, he discusses how he blended facts with fiction as he wrote this book set in the Aleutian Islands. (Note, the presentation that accompanies the event audio podcast is also posted in iTunes. Photos shown are from the Alaska Volcano Observatory.) Ray Hudson lived in Unalaska from 1964-1992 where he taught various subjects in the...

During the Cold War, the U.S. was concerned that Russia would invade Alaska and American intelligence officers created the Stay Behind Agent Program to counter it. At this event, Don Neal, author of the Ben Hunnicutt series that includes Cross Kill, Warhead, and Washtub Gold, discusses the Nike missile system, the top-secret anti-espionage campaign Operation Washtub, and other Cold War activities in Alaska. Raised in southern Virginia, Don Neal enlisted in the Army after the Chinese...

George Gee discusses his book, Flutters from Side Street: Dry Erase Drawings, Social Discourse and Political Ramblings and shares his thoughts about life. ( Note, the presentation is also posted in iTunes.) In 1992, George Gee and his wife Deborah Seaton opened Side Street Espresso, on G St. in downtown Anchorage. Soon the daily white boards for the cafe mirrored the intensity of contemporary American culture with social and political caricatures and commentary. Whereas George would erase...

George Gee discusses his book, Flutters from Side Street: Dry Erase Drawings, Social Discourse and Political Ramblings and shares his thoughts about life. (Note, the audio podcast is also posted in iTunes.) In 1992, George Gee and his wife Deborah Seaton opened Side Street Espresso, on G St. in downtown Anchorage. Soon the daily white boards for the cafe mirrored the intensity of contemporary American culture with social and political caricatures and commentary. Whereas George would erase...

Martha Amore presents her new collection In the Quiet Season and Other Stories (University of Alaska Press). This book explores the human landscape of Alaska. While the stories take place in modern-day towns, the characters in this collection struggle with ageless issues: broken trust and heartbreak, hope and rebirth. Although the people in Amore’s stories know how to survive Alaska’s cold terrain, these characters stumble when trying to navigate through their own lives and dreams. Joining...

Alaskan mystery and suspense authors Stan Jones and Patricia Watts discuss their collaboration on The Big Empty, the forthcoming book in the Nathan Active series based in the fictional Inupiat Eskimo village of Chukchi. Their contrasting writing styles, editing views and life experiences in Alaska are also highlighted. Stan Jones is author of Tundra Kill; White Sky, Black Ice; Shaman Pass; Frozen Sun; Village of the Ghost Bears and--with Sharon Bushell--the nonfiction classic, The Spill:...

Author Patricia Watts debuts her new noir suspense novel, The Frayer. Quite intriguing and bizarre, The Frayer’s protagonist is a living building in Fairbanks named Big Blue that is plunged into a duel to the death with the Frayer who seduces Big Blue's tenants and threatens the existence of Big Blue itself. At this event, the challenges creating an inanimate object as the protagonist in a story, how the offbeat character of Fairbanks is woven into The Frayer, and how one’s own experience...

Author Jean Anderson reads from her collection, Human Being Songs: Northern Stories published by University of Alaska Press, 2017. In addition, she discusses her writing process and explores the notion of introspection as shadow play for fiction writers, to include worlds of "what if," introspection-as-characterization, and the power of internal imagery in Alaska's relatively young and emerging body of fiction. Works cited include Going Too Far, a novella by Mei Mei Evans, pH, a novel by...