Maybe this doesn't happen to you. But sometimes, you're concentrating on something, really focused, and you've been going for a few hours. You don't want to break your pace, but things are starting to get a little muddy and you need something quick, something powerful, something refreshing to interrupt the flow just briefly. For some, that might be a cigarette, for others a sip of Coke. For me, over the last couple of weeks, it was North of Eden, a recently-released anthology of Alaskan writing.The book was put out by Loose Affiliation Press, the publishing arm of local writers' group Loose Affiliation, with the help of an NEA grant. The four editors (Brian Hutton, Mark Muro, Linda Kay Davis and M. Otis Beard) were not searching for Alaskana, but rather a venue to showcase quality fiction and poetry from promising Alaskan writers. "You know, working in a bookstore," says Hutton, "I see a lot of tourists that want something with a moose on the cover and Alaska in the title. This book is about a lot of things, and Alaska just happens to be where we're writing."
The book is a collection of short-short stories and short poems. The key here is short. You can read one in just a minute or two and go back to what you were doing. It's the perfect thing to leave by the toilet, on your coffee table, or on your desk at work. Each story or poem in the anthology packs a punch, though in different ways.
- "There's a low-rent [writer's] revolution happening in Anchorage," says Hutton
Of course, when I decided to do this story, I read the rest of the book straight through, and that was, though highly invigorating, nearly unsettling at the same time. The book is an emotional roller-coaster ride. It takes you up, down and sideways at every turn of the page. I laughed, I cried, and occasionally had to put the book down to regain my composure.
It wasn't easy putting this monster together. Hutton says the group received 1,000 submissions from 125 Alaskan writers. 35 submissions made it in. "I kept thinking to myself," says Hutton, "Who am I to decide whose work goes in?" But decide they did, through an enormous screening, editing and proofreading process.
Hutton believes that the creative energy found within groups like Loose Affiliation is synergistic - that the members of the group build on each others' talents and inspiration. Moreover, he says, you haven't seen the last of these writers. "There's a low-rent [writer's] revolution happening in Anchorage," says Hutton, "A lot of these artists aren't necessarily established at this point, but I see a lot of them with the potential to be established."
You'll get the opportunity to see a number of North of Eden contributors at the third Something With Words, organized by writer Rob Lecrone and Jazz musician Vikram Chaobal. The events, a mixture of reading, music and visual arts, happen about every six months. This summer's event will last about two and a half hours, and will include music from Karl Pasch, conductor for the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra; Aeneas Aldridge and Stephan Nelson, both music graduates instructing people in percussion and keyboards respectively; Eric Kross & Scott Ferris, who've played with Sleeve and T. S. Scream; and Vikram Chaobal.
Participating writers include Hutton, Jeff Byles, T.L.Scott and Rob Lecrone (whose work has been featured in North of Eden and the Anchorage Press). Teena Henry returns from the last Something With Words. And Dan Berube and Duke Russell are each bound to be up to something interesting. Other writers are to be announced.
Something With Words takes place Saturday, August 26th, at Out North Theater, from 7:00pm-9:30pm. There will be a charge of $1.50 per person, as close to free as possible.