Ya aaní káa yaa nas.áx̱ kei nas.áx̱
(On this land their stories are sounding off)
15th annual conference to feature more workshops
The 15th annual North Words Writers Symposium will welcome Alaskan novelist Eowyn Ivey as its 2025 keynote author. Ivey’s debut novel, The Snow Child, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and she followed it with the historical novel To The Bright Edge of the World, and the forthcoming Black Woods, Blue Sky in February 2025.
North Words is an intimate gathering that mixes panel discussions about various aspects of writing with workshops, faculty consultations, readings, and a variety of outdoor activities, culminating with a keynote banquet. Conference dates are May 28-31, 2025.
Held on the traditional lands of the Lkoot in Skagway, Alaska, North Words celebrates the storytelling traditions of elders and encourages the catching and telling of new stories by emerging writers. Much of the conference is devoted to the honing of craft, and there will be an increase in the number of writing workshops when the 2025 schedule is released.
Registration is now open. Interested participants are encouraged to act soon as our limit is 40 participants, and accommodations also fill up fast. The registration fee is $425, which includes all conference sessions, activities and many meals. Registration is open until filled.
North Words is also pleased to announce a continuation of its new scholarship for an Alaska university student. It will include a waived entry fee and a $200 travel stipend. For more information, visit the website. Scholarship applications are due March 1.
Joining novelist Eowyn Ivey on the North Words 2025 faculty will be these wonderful writers from Alaska and elsewhere: Indigenous poet dg nanouk okpik (Blood Snow), novelist-non-fiction writer Andromeda Romano-Lax (The Deepest Lake), memoirist Bailey Williams (Hollow), adventure novelist Marc Cameron (Bad River), poet Nickole Brown (The Donkey Elegies), and journalist Eva Holland (No Sleep ‘Til Fairbanks). See complete author biographies and lists of their book titles on our website’s Faculty Page.
The North Words organizing faculty is composed of six northern SE Alaskans who love the writing community and emanate the enthusiasm and the spirit of our late founder Buckwheat Donahue. They are writer-editor Jeffery Brady of Skagway, librarian-publisher Katrina Woolford of Juneau, writer-educator Daniel Lee Henry of Haines, artist-writer Katie Ione Craney of Haines, teacher-writer Kent Fielding of Skagway, and Tlingit linguist-writer X’unei Lance Twitchell of Juneau.
For more information about North Words, please visit our website at https://nwwriterss.com/. Panel and workshop topics will be posted early in 2025, along with an advance schedule. Also watch for updates and news on Facebook and Instagram.
For questions, please email northwordsinfo@gmail.com