Just got back from 3 weeks traveling my unkown homestate of Alaska. Living in Southeast Alaska we’re pretty removed from the rest of this huge, magical land so it was great to have the chance to dust off the roadtripin’ shoes. Juneau to Haines to Homer to Seward to Homer to Kodiak to Homer to Haines to Juneau. My wife and I, our one year old son and our two dogs, 1900 miles not counting ferry rides or Kodiak driving. The first stop in Homer was to attend the Kachemak Bay Writer’s Conference which after 2006 I said I would try and attend annualy. 2 out of the last 3 isn’t bad. Anne Lamott was the keynote this year, Amy Tan last year and Jeffrey Eugenides in 2006 and each year a handful of returning faculty and a few unknown (to me) writers really get me fired up and working again. This year’s highlights were two workshops led by Fairbanks poet, Joe Enzweiler, “Solitude, Silence and Writing” and “The Tradesman as Poet”, Eva Saulitis’ “Borderlands: hybrid genres” and Derick Berleson’s “Trailing Clouds of Glory: making poems of childhood”. My next few posts will be pieces written entirely or at least began in workshops during this year’s conference. Apparently this year’s registration was closed after just a week.
On a totally unrelated note, get yourself to Kodiak and drink as much Kodiak Island Brewing Company beer as you can, and be sure to drink it out of a pig.
Jonas Lamb 