Registration starts for 2018 Kachemak Bay Writers Conference
Registration has started for the 2018 Kachemak Bay Writers Conference, to held June 8-12 at Land’s End Resort and presented by Kachemak Bay Campus of Kenai Peninsula College-University of Alaska Anchorage.
The conference will feature 17 award-winning, nationally recognized authors, editors and agents whom will conduct creative writing workshops, readings, craft talks and panel presentations in creative fiction, nonfiction, poetry and the business of writing. This year’s keynote presenter will be Pulitzer Prize novelist Anthony Doerr, author of “All the Light One Cannot See.”
Other national and Alaskan presenting and visiting writers will be Jean Anderson, Rick Barot, Richard Chiappone, Bryan Allen Fierro, Diane Glancy, Ernestine Hayes, Jean Hegland, Erin Coughlin Hollowell, Barbara Hurd, Kevin Larimer, Nancy Lord, Peggy Shumaker, Floyd Skloot, Joe Wilkins and Sally Wofford-Girand.
Optional activities include manuscript reviews, editor-agent consultations, receptions, a boat cruise and open “mic.” Evening readings on June 9- 11 by visiting writers will be open to the public at no charge.
A special post-conference writing workshop will be held across Kachemak Bay at Tutka Bay Lodge for
conference registrants.
Early registration is $395 until May 1 and includes meals and workshops. Major conference benefactors include the First National Bank Alaska, Alaska Airlines, Alaska State Council on the Arts, Atwood Foundation, Ravn Airlines, Kachemak Bay Campus-Kenai Peninsula College, Land’s End Resort, University of Alaska, UAA, Usibelli Foundation and many individual donors.
Advanced registration is required. For program and registration information visit http://writersconference.homer.alaska.edu.
Holiday storytelling is Saturday
Sitting around the fireplace, listening to stories is one of the best ways to celebrate the holiday season. Join Homer Storytellers as they share their favorite winter and holiday stories. Sponsored by Friends of Homer Library, the storytelling event is 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, at the Homer Public Library. Featured tellers include Vivian Finlay, Kate Fariday, Carol Ford, and Skywalker Payne.
Family members of all ages will enjoy this variety of personal stories, folktales, and some favorite stories from literature. After the featured tellers share their stories, audience members will be invited to tell their favorite holiday or winter story.
Homer artists selected for ASCA Art Bank
The Alaska State Council on the Arts has recently purchased 18 new artworks to be added to the Alaska Contemporary Art Bank, including works by Homer artists Deland Anderson and Deb Lowney. The selections were made by the Visual Arts Advisory Committee, a volunteer jury comprised of arts professionals and citizens from around the state. Four-hundred 99 artworks were submitted for consideration, and 12 of the 18 artists are new to the Art Bank Collection. In January 2018, the new art will be available for loan to State of Alaska offices and agencies. The following artists’ work was selected for purchase in this round of acquisitions: Deland Anderson, Homer; Deb Lowney, Homer; Donna Catotti, Haines; Benjamin Charles, Bethel; Heather Floyd, Kenai; Hal Gage, Anchorage; Shori Heaton, Haines; Linda Infante Lyons, Anchorage; Elizabeth Irving, Fairbanks; Matt Johnson, Anchorage; Kristin Link, McCarthy; Puanani Maunu, Juneau; Amy Meissner, Anchorage; Gary Postelthwait, Anchorage; Gail Priday, Fairbanks; Jennifer Sonne, Anchorage; Sara Tabbert, Fairbanks; Jennifer Younger, Sitka.
The Alaska Contemporary Art Bank (ACAB) was founded in 1975 by the Alaska State Council on the Arts and was created with two primary goals: to expose more Alaskans to high quality work by contemporary Alaskan artists through the loaning of original art to public offices throughout Alaska, and to invest in Alaska’s creative industry through direct purchase of artists’ work. The collection has grown to more than 700 art works in a wide variety of media, styles and subject matter. Although the art is the same as that collected by museums, the purpose of the Art Bank is to provide a circulating collection of Alaskan artwork to exhibit in public buildings throughout the state.
Benjamin Brown, Chairman of the ASCA Board of Trustees, commented, “We are delighted to be able to add so many wonderful pieces of inspired art to the Art Bank Collection, which not only strengthens the program, but also provides very meaningful opportunities to Alaskan artists at key points in their careers. These acquisitions demonstrate the essential contributions of the creative economy to life on the Last Frontier.”
