“Exploring the Frontiers of Language”
2017 Keynote Speaker
Click on each author for a short biography.
2017 Faculty Members
Click on each author for a short biography.
Organizing Faculty
Panel Discussion Topics 2017
- Gawping at the Exotic: Writing About Common Humanity Amidst the Extraordinary – Ah, a gem (or extraordinary humanity embedded in the ordinary)
- And Then It Happened: Making True Stories Readable – Sifting through details for a universal story
- Why Is It So Hard to Write About Good Sex? – Breast-heaving prose worth rereading
- Scenery Shot: Nature as Backdrop, Center Stage, or Character – Landscapes are people, too
- You Must Read This: My Favorite Writers and What They Taught Me – A roundtable bookshelf
- Pining for Publication: Roadmaps to Self-Actualization – Dreaming is one thing; publishing is another.
- A Miracle of Memory and Invention: How to Sustain Your Creative Flow – Keeping’ on keepin’ on, as it were.
Plus two early bird writing workshops, an afternoon delight writing workshop, a haiku breakdown, faculty consultations, and our famous Trail Write session, plus readings and other fun stuff! See schedule soon for panel times and faculty assignments so you can plan your time at North Words May 31-June 3, 2017
Faculty Publications
LENORA BELL
ANDY HALL
Denali’s Howl, The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America’s Wildest Peak
TOM KIZZIA
Books
- Pilgrim’s Wilderness – A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier
- Crown/Random House, NY, 2013
- The Wake of the Unseen Object – Travels through Alaska’s Native Landscapes
- originally published Henry Holt, NY, 1991
- current reprint edition Bison Books, University of Nebraska, 1998.
Selected articles
- “The New Harpoon” – The New Yorker, Sept. 12, 2016
- http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/12/fossil-fuels-and-climate-change-in-point-hope-alaska
- “Moving to Mars” – The New Yorker, April 20, 2015
- “Faked Alaska – Our mortifying era of Reality TV” – Los Angeles Times, Feb. 24, 2015
- “Alaska’s Lost Decades” – Alaska Dispatch News, Sept. 4, 2016
- “Sanctuary: Alaska, the Nazis, and the Jews” – Anchorage Daily News, originally published May, 1999.
SHERRY SIMPSON
- Dominion of Bears: Living with Wildlife in Alaska
- The Way Winter Comes
- The Accidental Explorer: Wayfinding in Alaska
JOHN STRALEY
Fiction
- Baby’s First Felony (2017)
- Cold Storage, Alaska
- The Big Both Ways
- The Angels Will Not Care
- Cold Water Burning
- Death and the Language of Happiness
- The Music of What Happens
- The Curious Eat Themselves
- The Woman Who Married a Bear
Poetry
- The Rising of the Rain
-
100 Poems of Spring100 Poems of Summer100 Poems of Autumn100 Poems of Winter
Non-Fiction
- Ed Ricketts: from Cannery Row to Sitka, Alaska (contributor)
DEB VANASSE
For adults:
- Cold Spell
- Wealth Woman: Kate Carmack and the Klondike Race for Gold
- Write Your Best Book
- What Every Author Should Know
For young readers:
- Black Wolf of the Glacier
- Lucy’s Dance
- Totem Tale
- Under Alaska’s Midnight Sun
- Out of the Wilderness
North Words Writers Symposium Schedule
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
3:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Registration & Author Consultation Sign-up
Arctic Brotherhood (AB) Hall – Broadway b/w 2nd & 3rd
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM – Opening Reception
Westmark Inn Lounge – 3rd & Spring
Thursday, June 1, 2017
6:45 AM – 7:45 AM – Early Bird Writing Workshop with Deb Vanasse
Skagway Public Library – 8th & State
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – Continental Breakfast
AB Hall
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM Welcome – Announcements & Introductions
AB Hall
Thursday Morning Panels at AB Hall
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM – Gawping at the Exotic: Writing about Common Humanity Amidst the Extraordinary
Ah – a Gem!
Panel: Paul Theroux with full faculty
10:15 AM – 11:15 AM – And Then It Happened: Making True Stories Readable
Excavating Circumstances for the Story
Panel: Deb Vanasse, Tom Kizzia, Andy Hall
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM – Why Is It So Hard to Write about Good Sex?
Breast-Heaving Prose Worth Re-Reading
Panel: Lenora Bell, John Straley
——-
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM – Book Signing: Paul Theroux
Skaguay News Depot & Books – across street from AB Hall
12:30 PM – 2:00 PM – Lunch On Your Own!
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Afternoon Delight: Writing Workshop with Lenora Bell – AB Hall
——-
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Book Signing: Tom Kizzia and Andy Hall
Skaguay News Depot & Books
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM – Scenery Shot: Nature as Backdrop, Center Stage, or Character – AB Hall
Landscapes Are People Too
Panel: Sherry Simpson and Andy Hall
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM – Faculty & Staff Consultations – AB Hall or other arranged locations
Half-hour sessions with faculty and staff; sign up Wednesday at registration
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM – Dine out on your own in Skagway!
7:00 PM – 9:30 PM – Faculty Readings
National Park Service Visitor Center Auditorium – 2nd & Broadway
Friday, June 2, 2017
6:45 AM – 7:45 AM – Early Bird Writing Workshop with Sherry Simpson
Skagway Public Library – 8th & State
8:00 AM – 8:30 AM – Continental Breakfast
AB Hall
8:15 AM – 8:30 AM – Announcements – AB Hall
8:30 AM – 9:15 AM – Haiku Time! – AB Hall
Writing & Discussion of the Form: John Straley and Katrina Woolford
9:30 AM – 10:30 AM – You Must Read This: My Favorite Writers and What They Taught Me – AB Hall
A Roundtable Bookshelf
Panel: Buckwheat Donahue, Sherry Simpson, Tom Kizzia, Jeff Brady, Andy Hall
——–
9:30 AM – 10:30 AM – Book Signing: Deb Vanasse and Lenora Bell
Skaguay News Depot & Books
10:45 AM – 11:45 AM – Pining For Publication – AB Hall
Dreaming Is One Thing, Publishing Is Another
Panel: Lenora Bell, Katrina Woolford, Deb Vanasse
——–
10:45 AM – 11:45 AM. – Book Signing: John Straley and Sherry Simpson
Skaguay News Depot & Books
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM Lunch on your own!
Friday Afternoon Sessions at Presbyterian Church Sanctuary – 5th & Main
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Participant Readings – Presbyterian Church
Individual readings of no more than 8 minutes – sign up with Daniel Henry ahead of time
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM – A Miracle of Memory and Invention: How to Sustain Your Creative Flow – Presbyterian Church
Keepin’ On Keepin’ On, As It Were
Panel: Paul Theroux and John Straley
5:15 PM – Van/Shuttle Pickups for ride to Dyea/Alderworks
2 pickup locations: Sgt. Preston’s (6th & State) and White House (8th & Main)
6:00 PM – 8:15 PM – Hoedown at Alderworks Alaska Writers & Artists Retreat in Dyea
BBQ by the cabins, music by Windy Valley Band – Hosted & Sponsored by Alderworks Alaska (1 West Creek Rd)
8:15 PM – Vans/Shuttle departs Alderworks for Skagway
2 drop off locations: 8th & Main and 6th & State
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Morning Train Ride and Trail Write Schedule
– PASSPORTS REQUIRED –
Hosted and Sponsored by White Pass & Yukon Route and Packer Expeditions
7:20 AM – Buses Depart to Train Station
2 pickup locations: White House (8th & Main) and Sgt. Preston’s (6th & State)
7:40 AM – Board White Pass & Yukon Route RR
8:30 AM – Disembark Train at Laughton Glacier Station
Entire party will then hike about 1.5 miles on an easy trail to a US Forest Service cabin, where our hosts Packer Expeditions will have a lunch spread out for us. The group will then break in two. You will have a choice of a guided hike for another mile over moderate trail to the toe of Laughton Glacier, or you may stay on the cabin grounds for a Writing Session with Daniel Henry.
2:00 PM – Hike back from cabin to Laughton Glacier Station (arrive by 3:15 pm)
3:30 PM – Board WP&YR southbound train for return to Skagway
4:30 PM – Shuttle departs Train Station for Skagway hotels or you may walk
2 drop off locations: 8th & Main and 6th & State
5:45 PM – Shuttles depart Skagway hotels for Poppies
2 pickup locations: White House (8th & Main) and Sgt. Preston’s (6th & State)
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM – Closing Banquet with Keynote Address by Paul Theroux
Poppies at Jewell Gardens (on Klondike Hwy. left just after Skagway River bridge)
9:00 PM – Saturday Night in Skagway!