New anthology offers diverse stories from the Far North
July 29, 2010
907-474-7902
7/30/10
University of Alaska Fairbanks professors John Creed and Susan Andrews have published a diverse anthology of true stories touching on the love, adventure, hopes, tragedies, and dreams of people who live, work, and play on the immense land and sea of America’s most remote state.
"Purely Alaska: Authentic Voices from the Far North" includes 32 stories as far flung as Alaska itself, including that of a woman who discovers a surprising new world when she goes off to boarding school; a mother who hopes to steer her son to college, but he wants to be a commercial fisherman like his dad; a life-saving reindeer drive across Alaska; a young man’s struggle against powerful addictions; a husband whose after-work snowmachine outing becomes a near-death experience; and an outsider who comes intending to help the village but finds that he is the one needing help.
Andrews and Creed, who work at UAF's Chukchi Campus in Kotzebue, edited and compiled the stories in the book.
Most contributors wrote their pieces as University of Alaska distance education students completing coursework from remote communities.
“We believe this book offers a distinct voice you won’t find anywhere else,” said Andrews. She and Creed, who is her husband, are co-founders of the Chukchi News and Information Service, a cultural journalism project that won a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in 1991.
The project was a source of stories for "Purely Alaska" and an earlier collection, "Authentic Alaska: Voices of its Native writers," published by the University of Nebraska Press. The new book includes work by Natives and non-Natives who live in the Arctic, southeast Alaska, the Denali National Park area, southwest Alaska and other rural communities.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Susan Andrews at sbandrews@alaska.edu or John Creed at jcreed@alaska.edu or 907-456-3717. Visit their website. Epicenter Press at info@epicenterpress.com
ON THE WEB: www.voicesofalaska.com