“Ya aaní káa has du shkalneegí yaa nas.áx̱”
(On this land their stories are sounding off)North Words Writers Symposium • May 24-27, 2023
We are going to gather on the ancestral land of the Lḵoot peoples. From so very long ago they have been on these lands. Now they are here, and they will always be here. On this land, their stories are sounding off. Through the voices of the earth, rivers, and the Tree People sing the songs of the Lḵoot peoples. How much we want that you give respect to all things. Thank you.
— X̱’unei Lance Twitchell, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Alaska Native Languages at University of Alaska Southeast and member of the North Words Organizing Faculty
We just concluded an amazing North Words 2023 with keynote author Karen Russell and our wonderful Alaska-NW faculty! Check out photos from this year’s conference on our Facebook and Instagram pages!
June 1, 2023 – North Words 2024 Keynote & Dates Announced – At the end of this year’s conference, it was announced that Jamie Ford, bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and a 2023 winner of the Pacific Northwest Book Award for The Many Daughters of Afong Moy, will be the keynote author for the 14th North Words Writers Symposium May 29-June 1, 2024. Watch for his bio on the site soon. Registration will begin in November.
May 20, 2023 – North Words is almost here! Our final SCHEDULE is locked in and we have about 30 participants joining our wonderful FACULTY led by keynote Karen Russell. The public is welcome to attend our annual Free Faculty Reading on Thursday, May 25 at 7 p.m. at the Eagles Theatre, and also the book signings at Skaguay News Depot & Books Wednesday-Friday. See times in the 2023 Schedule. Check out photos from this year’s conference on our Facebook and Instagram pages!
March 20, 2023 – North Words 2023 First Look Schedule released. Check out all the panels and workshops and activities we have planned and register soon.
November 23, 2022 – Registration opens for North Words 2023; new theme, Alaska-NW faculty complete. Registration for North Words 2023 is now open! Over the past few weeks we also have filled the remainder of our faculty and have created a new slogan/theme for our conference: Ya aaní káa has du shkalneegí yaa nas.áx̱ (On this land their stories are sounding off). Joining keynote author Karen Russell will be these wonderful Alaska-NW writers: Marybeth Holleman, M Jackson, Leigh Newman, Marie Tozier, Caroline Van Hemert, and Emily Wall. Check out their bios and recent works under the 2023 Conference menu tab. When you are ready, go to the Registration tab and hit the magic button!
July 27, 2022 – Our 2023 Keynote Author will be KAREN RUSSELL. Please see her bio below. We will have other faculty announcements as we venture into fall. Registration for North Words 2023 will open in mid-November. Mark your calendars for coming to Skagway May 24-27, 2023.
Karen Russell
2023 Keynote Speaker Bio
Karen Russell, born and raised in Miami, FL, won the 2012 and 2018 National Magazine Award for fiction, and her first novel, Swamplandia!, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2011. She has received a MacArthur Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship, the “5 under 35” prize from the National Book Foundation, the NYPL Young Lions Award, the Bard Fiction Prize, and is a former fellow of the Cullman Center and the American Academy in Berlin. Russell is also the author of St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories, Sleep Donation: A Novella, and most recently, Orange World. She currently holds the Endowed Chair at Texas State University’s MFA program, and lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two children.
2022 Conference Wrap – Tommy Orange was a wonderful keynote for North Words 2022 when we gathered again in-person at the end of May for the first time since 2019. We had a great group of about 30 participants engaging with Tommy and our fabulous Alaska-NW faculty. You can review past conferences under The Experience tab and check out photos on Facebook.
Presented by the North Words Organizing Faculty under the fiscal sponsor Skagway Development Corporation – Community Development Services, with generous support from the Municipality of Skagway, Skagway Traditional Council, and additional Sponsors. Meet your writing community at the North Words Writers Symposium in Skagway, Alaska.
We are going to gather on the ancestral land of the Lḵoot peoples
Lḵoot Ḵwáan has du aaní káx̱ woosh kanax̱...