In essays that traverse latitudes and continents, John Messick’s debut Compass Lines explores the places that shape our journeys toward belonging. From Antarctica to the Arctic, a tattoo parlor in Cambodia to an abandoned Alaska mine and beyond, this deeply felt and researched book teaches us how learning the rhythms of places we inhabit requires both movement and stillness.

Compass Lines
by John Messick

Written as a series of fourteen separately titled pieces, this essay in segments moves between literary criticism, art writing, history, and memory. FORTHCOMING

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Distance Over Light
by Corinna Cook

In this award-winning history of an isolated ghost town, bestselling Alaska author Tom Kizzia unfolds a deeply American saga of abandonment, renunciation, and renewal.

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Cold Mountain Path
by Tom Kizzia

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Porphyry Press

When in doubt, err north.