alaska

In this reading, Silko engages in "what I really love to do"--storytelling in the Laguna tradition. Most of the stories and poems told here would be collected in the 1981 volume Storyteller.

Pete Fromm reads the story "The Fairest of Them All," which would later appear in his short story collection Dry Rain (1997). Set in Alaska, the story is narrated by a man whose twin sister comes to stay with him following a lost custody dispute over her children. This reading was given with Sandra Alcosser.

Richard Nelson reads from Heart and Blood: Living with Deer in America (1997), including excerpts from the chapters "Heart of The Hunter" and "In Search of Eden." These chapters cover topics such as hunting and predation, and they are written through the lens of the author's experiences as an anthropologist in Alaska.

Peggy Shumaker reads poems from Cairn: New and Selected Poems and Prose (2018) as well as one uncollected poem. This reading was originally given with Maurya Simon as the inaugural reading in the Tom Sanders Memorial Reading Series.

Aisha Sabatini Sloan, an alumna of the UA MFA Creative Writing program, reads from her book-length essay Borealis (2021). In this excerpt from the book, Sabatini Sloan details her travel to Homer, Alaska, and how the stark landscape interacts with her identity as a Black, queer woman. Sabatini Sloan's writing also incorporates references to pop culture and Black artists. This reading was originally given alongside Cara Blue Adams and Alberto Ríos to celebrate the MFA program's 50th anniversary.