About

To commemorate the historic rise of Anchorage from the first sale of town lots in 1915 to Alaska’s largest city in 2015, 49 Writers/49 Alaska Writing Center will publish a memoir anthology—Anchorage Remembers—that celebrates the history of Anchorage in the words of those who have lived it. This collection will expand on a prior project, Fond Memories of Anchorage Pioneers, published in 1996 by Igloo 15, Auxiliary 4, with a stronger focus on craft. Anchorage Remembers is modeled on the successful memoir project and anthology series of Grub Street, the Boston-based creative writing center.

The Anchorage Remembers project kicked off in the first quarter of 2014 with a series of free memoir writing workshops taught by local writers. Workshops were offered to senior organizations in the community, including the regular writing group at the Anchorage Senior Center, and to interested individuals with a story idea for submission. We have also created a volunteer pool of writers who are available to mentor those who have completed workshops to polish their pieces for submission.

In April 2014, 49 Writers issued a call to Anchorage residents, including those who had participated in the project writing workshops, for submissions to the anthology, with a deadline of June 30, 2014. During the summer, an editorial committee will review and select submissions for publication in the print version of Anchorage Remembers. In fall 2014, we will work with an anthology editor and publisher to prepare the final manuscript for printing and distribution at the end of the year.

This project is made possible by a Centennial Community Grant from the Alaska Humanities Forum, the Rasmuson Foundation, and the Anchorage Centennial Celebration.

For more information, email Anchorage Remembers coordinator Cheryl Lovegreen at AnchorageRemembers@gmail.com.