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Island Institute
Writers' Residencies & Sitka Symposium

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Writers' Residencies

Contact:Carolyn Servid
Address:Island Institute, P.O. Box 2420, Sitka, AK 99835
Phone:907-747-3794
Fax:907-747-6554
E-mail:island@ak.net
Website:http://www.islandinstitutealaska.org
Dates:September, November, January, and April each academic year
Application Deadline:April 15 each year
Tuition/Cost:N/A
Scholarships:Housing and $300 stipend provided for each resident
Description:

The Island Institute's Writers' Residencies provide opportunities for four writers to each spend a month in Sitka, Alaska, pursuing their own work and getting to know this unique island community in the forested coastal mountains of Southeast Alaska.

Residents' time is largely their own to pursue their work, but each person is expected to take part in a community activity approximately once a week (more if desired). These might include public readings, talks to school or college classes, writing workshops, radio interviews, discussions with special interest groups, or other events appropriate to the writer's background.

Each resident is provided living accommodations including a kitchen and a stipend of $300 toward food costs. Travel to and from Sitka, as well as all other incidental costs, are the responsibility of the resident.

Three positions are filled by application. There is a single application deadline of April 15 for positions in September of that year and January and April of the following year. The November position each year is reserved for an international writer who comes to Sitka from the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.

The program aims to encourage the work of both promising and published writers who share the interests of The Island Institute - the nature of vital communities, the social and ethical web of human relationships and connections to the natural world, the global effort to shape sustainable human cultures.

Testimony about the program:

"A gift of uninterrupted working time is immeasurably valuable to any creative endeavor. There are three ways, however, in which The Island Institute's gift differs from other residency programs-
. . . the astonishing landscape of the southeast Alaska panhandle
. . . the community involvement which the Institute fosters
. . . the interdisciplinary nature of the residency program."
Alison Deming,
English Department, University of Arizona, Tucson

"I came to Sitka with high hopes for a quiet and beautiful place to write. . What I found was a community of intellectuals and activists who were truly inspiring, impressive beyond even the landscape in the intensity of their involvement with ideas, the breadth of their perspective, their moral energy, their commitment to communities, both cultural and ecological."
Kathleen Dean Moore,
Philosophy Professor, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon

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25th Sitka Symposium
FrameWork: Shaping an Enduring Human Culture

Contact:Carolyn Servid
Address:Sitka Symposium, Island Institute, P.O. Box 2420, Sitka, AK 99835
Phone:907-747-3794
Fax:907-747-6554
E-mail:island@ak.net
Website:http://www.islandinstitutealaska.org
Dates:June 25-28, 2009
Application Deadline:Limited enrollment. Early registration advised.
Tuition/Cost: $325 before May 1; $350 after May 1
Scholarships:Limited number
Genres:Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction
Faculty/ Presenters:GARY SNYDER
ROBIN KIMMERER
GARY HOLTHAUS
Description:

The Island Institute's 25th Sitka Symposium, FrameWork: Shaping an Enduring Culture, will engage participants in some of the urgent and constructive questions we face as people living together on an imperiled planet. We welcome your experience, insight and knowledge. As a starting point, we offer the following parameters for discussion:

  • How can we change the framework that constrains us in habitual patterns of thought and practice that endanger our future?
  • What aspects of our worldview need to change in order for us to shape a culture based on long-term human needs and the well-being of the planet?
  • What assumptions need to be challenged in order for us to create and inhabit resilient cultural and ecological communities?
  • What are the durable traditions and sources of wisdom that can guide us?
  • What practical manageable-scale actions might we imagine and carry out in collaboration with others to help us transform ourselves and our culture?
  • What new stories will help us and our children and grandchildren answer the enduring human questions, Who are we in relation to the world? How, then, shall we live?
GENERAL SYMPOSIUM DESCRIPTION

The Sitka Symposium is a gathering that aims to put both written and oral traditions to the service of ideas. The week's events invite participants to come together to explore the complex ideas and questions of our theme. Symposium faculty present talks, readings, and panel discussions, and participate in small group discussions. Full-time participants engage directly with faculty and other participants in all these activities. Any writer who enrolls full-time may opt to have a manuscript critique with one of the faculty (submit by May 15).

Small group discussions will be led by Island Institute associates and staff. No more than 50 people will be enrolled full-time so as to foster genuine conversation. Early registration is advised. We welcome a broad audience of readers, writers--anyone interested--and expect participants from communities around Alaska, the U.S., and elsewhere. Anyone who can't enroll full-time may attend individual faculty talks and readings.

ADDITIONAL OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES
  • Where Poetry Meets Prose-- a writing workshop taught by Gary Holthaus, will meet June 24-25. Limited to twelve.
  • Our Dinner Cruise June 28, featuring readings and fine food, is open to the public. Early reservations are advised.
  • A Natural History Excursion on June 29 with a noted local naturalist will be a pleasant informative foray into the Tongass National Forest surrounding Sitka. Also limited to twelve.
  • The Sitka Summer Music Festival overlaps with the Symposium, allowing participants to attend their finale chamber music concert on June 26.

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