Ya aaní káa yaa nas.áx̱ kei nas.áx̱
(On this land their stories are sounding off)
Organizers announce scholarship for Alaska university student
The 14th annual North Words Writers Symposium will welcome keynote author Jamie
Ford, the bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and a 2023 winner of the
Pacific Northwest Book Award for his latest novel, The Many Daughters of Afong Moy. Ford’s
fiction draws on his Chinese-American roots and movingly transcends the historical to the
speculative.
North Words is an intimate gathering that mixes panel discussions about various aspects
of writing with workshops, breakout sessions, consultations, readings, and a variety of outdoor
activities, culminating with a keynote banquet. Conference dates are May 29 to June 1, 2024.
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.
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 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 Jamie Ford on the North Words 2024 faculty will be these wonderful
Alaska-Northwest writers: Lily Tuzroyluke (Sivulliq: Ancestor), Daryl Farmer (Bicycling Beyond
the Divide), Melinda Moustakis (Homestead), John Messick (Compass Lines), Christine Byl
(Lookout), and Don Rearden (Without A Paddle). 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-publisher Jeff 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 and writer X’unei Lance
Twitchell of Juneau.
For questions, please email northwordsinfo@gmail.com.