Events
Book Launch · John Messick Presents Compass Lines
Join Porphyry Press and debuting author John Messick in the Anchorage launch of COMPASS LINES: Journeys Toward Home. Readings and stories, Q and A and signing, revelry and laughs. Books, coffee, food, beer, and wine for sale.
Village Books Compass Lines launch in Bellingham
Alaskan author John Messick will launch his debut memoir in essays, COMPASS LINES: Journeys Toward Home published by Porphyry Press, with a reading, Q & A, and signing at Village Books in Bellingham, WA on Wednesday, March 15th at 7 PM. The event, part of the Nature of Writing series, is presented in partnership with the North Cascades Institute.
Prelaunch Party in Seattle · Compass Lines
Compass Lines Prelaunch party with author John Messick & guests.
Offsite #awp23 event. Reading, signing, revelry.
Special guests include Tom Kizzia, author of Cold Mountain Path and Pilgrim’s Wilderness and The Wake of the Unseen Object; Elizabeth Bradfield, author of Toward Antarctica, Approaching Ice, Once Removed, and more; and CMarie Fuhrman, author of Camped Beneath the Dam and co-editor of Native Voices: Indigenous American Poetry, Craft and Conversations; Bradfield and Fuhrman are also co-editors of the new anthology Cascadia Field Guide (Mountaineers Books).
Doors at 5. Program at 6 PM. Free. Food and drink available to order. Literary-forward new venue in a renown Pike Place space; walking distance to conference hotel. Don’t miss it. Find The Rabbit Box in the basement of the Corner Market building. Take the stairs off Pike Street next to Left Bank Books Collective.
The Venue: The Rabbit Box · 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98101 · Read about its namesake, a book, in The Marginalian. Located in the corner market under Left Bank Books. Parking can be found around the market or in nearby garages. A free parking garage is located in the Amazon complex at 6th and Virginia; it's free after 4 PM on weekdays (0.5 mile, 11-minute walk).
A Benefit Dinner with author Tom Kizzia
Join author Tom Kizzia, publisher Porphyry Press, and fans and supporters for a gourmet, wine-paired dinner in support of the local museum. This benefit dinner is part of a three-part series of book events featuring Tom Kizzia on June 20, 2022. Attend one, two, or all three in celebration of Cold Mountain Path: The Ghost Town Decades of McCarthy-Kennecott, Alaska while supporting the volunteer-run McCarthy-Kennicott Historical Museum. In brief, Tom's appearances include:
4 PM · Talk, q & a, and signing in the Kennecott Rec Hall
6:30 PM · Dinner at Salmon & Bear Restaurant
8:30 PM · Reading in the Old Hardware Store on the Wrangell Mountains Center campus
Dinner is $125 per person. Tickets are required and cost $125 each, the majority of which will be donated to the Museum. If the event sells out and you'd like to join the waitlist, email us.
Tom Kizzia · Live in McCarthy-Kennecott
Join author Tom Kizzia for a series of Cold Mountain Path book events in Kennecott and McCarthy on June 20, 2022, his first in-person book events in the Kennicott Valley with the new book. Join us for one, two, or three of the following:
4 PM in Kennecott · Tom Kizzia author talk, Q&A, and book signing in the Kennecott Recreation Hall, presented by Porphyry Press, McCarthy-Kennicott Historical Museum, and Wrangell Mountains Center. The Museum will sell copies of the book.
6:30 PM in McCarthy · Ticketed prix fixe dinner with Tom at Salmon & Bear Restaurant to benefit the Museum.
8:30 PM or so in McCarthy · Public reading by Tom Kizzia at the Old Hardware Store on the Wrangell Mountains Center campus.
Crosscurrents · Tom Kizzia & Seth Kantner
Join us for a live, onstage Crosscurrents conversation called “Haunted by Alaska” with Tom Kizzia and Seth Kantner, two of Alaska’s most renowned and beloved authors, about how the state’s fast-changing histories, ecosystems, communities, and cultures have shaped their writing and their lives. Or, as Seth and Tom would argue, how books, beer, and banter have shaped their lives. Moderated by Don Rearden. Presented by 49 Writers with support from Porphyry Press. On-site book sales by Title Wave Books.
Kenai Conversation: John Messick · KDLL 91.9
Kenai Conversation, the weekly live call-in talk show with host Sabine Poux, welcomes John Messick as this week's guest. Live on KDLL 91.9 FM, the public radio station for Alaska's central Kenai peninsula, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, from 10-11 AM, or stream it at www.kdll.org.
Listen to the program here. “Soldotna's John Messick is a writer and an English professor at Kenai Peninsula College. Soon, he'll be a first-time author, too. Messick's debut book, Compass Lines, is coming out next spring with McCarthy-based Porphyry Press. We spoke with John about craft, imposter syndrome and his time in the South Pole. Plus, two excerpts from the book.”
Cook Inlet Historical Society Lecture
Drawing on work for his new book, Cold Mountain Path, author and journalist Tom Kizzia will discuss the evolution of the Wrangell Mountains community in the half-century between the departure of the last copper train and the coming of the National Park Service. Kizzia's talk will weigh some of the larger cultural meanings of ghost towns and their importance to a fuller understanding of the Alaska pioneer narrative of development and success.
Recording: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/cook-inlet-historical-4
Pratt Museum event with Tom Kizzia
Watch the recorded event on YouTube.
Pratt Museum & Park presents Homer-based author Tom Kizzia and his new book, Cold Mountain Path. The Homer Bookstore will have copies for signing afterward. Red Bird Kitchen will provide light refreshments. Join in person (space is limited and masks are required) or tune in via Zoom. RSVP to reserve a seat or to receive the zoom link: hatkins@prattmuseum.org or 907.435.3335
Book Launch: Cold Mountain Path by Tom Kizzia
Join Cold Mountain Path pre-orderers, Porphyry Press supporters, and friends and fans of Tom Kizzia in this online book launch co-hosted by Wrangell Mountains Center! Tom will discuss the book, read a bit, show pictures, tell stories, and answer questions.
Facebook event
Tom Kizzia Signing · River City Books
Meet or say hi to Tom Kizzia in person at River City Books and have him sign your copy of Cold Mountain Path.
Kenai Conversation: Tom Kizzia · KDLL 91.9
Kenai Conversation, the weekly live call-in talk show with host Sabine Poux, welcomes Tom Kizzia as this week's guest. Live on KDLL 91.9 FM, the public radio station for Alaska's central Kenai peninsula, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021 from 10-11 AM.
Tom Kizzia Signing · Title Wave Books
Meet or say hi to Tom Kizzia in person at Title Wave Books and have him sign your copy of Cold Mountain Path or his earlier titles. Mask required.
Tom Kizzia Signing · Fireside Books
Meet or say hi to Tom Kizzia in person at Fireside Books and have him sign your copy of Cold Mountain Path or his earlier titles.
Talk of Alaska • Alaska Public Media
Author Tom Kizzia and publisher Jeremy Pataky join Adelyn Baxter for a one-hour live episode of Talk of Alaska, the state’s only statewide call-in forum for discussing the issues impacting life on the Last Frontier. Tuesday at 10 a.m. (LIVE) repeating at 8 p.m. Call 550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast.
”What stories do Alaska’s ghost towns have to tell? In his newest book, longtime Alaska writer Tom Kizzia explores that question in McCarthy, digging into the bygone days of the tiny community nestled into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Cold Mountain Path explores forgotten stories of mining, homesteading and loss. We’ll also discuss the new micropress based out of McCarthy that’s publishing the book.”
Book re-launch: The Wake of the Unseen Object, by Tom Kizzia
Enjoy the celebratory, live launch of Tom Kizzia’s The Wake of the Unseen Object - Travels through Alaska's Native Landscapes, newly re-published by University of Alaska Press in their Classic Reprint Series. Series editor Eric Heyne will join the author for this reading, discussion, and Q&A.
Book launch: Leavetakings, by Corinna Cook
Enjoy the celebratory launch of Corinna Cook’s debut book of lyric essays, Leavetakings, published by University of Alaska Press in the Alaska Literary Series.
Leavetakings collects ten essays set in Alaska that ask, what can coming and going reveal about place? Might wandering serve not only to map new regions but also to map the most familiar ones, like home? As the book travels to and from people, memories, beaches, and forests, it also studies the ebb and flow of empathy and alienation that makes friendship, like place, a complex of closeness and distance.
Register to get the link: http://tiny.cc/cook_leavetakings
Panel Discussion: Women Writing the Natural World
The land is big and we are not. When we shove off from shore, lace up our boots, or shoulder a pack, the space around us fills with shifting configurations of adventure, anti-adventure, risk, caution, and contemplation. Alongside these, we also remain socially situated—historically, politically, and culturally—as women. And so we find reason to ask: where are the connections (and tensions?) between gender, writing, and periods of immersion in the natural world? In this conversation, we’ll discuss the hard edges, the spaciousness, and the tough questions that Alaska’s out of doors brings to the work we do on the page.
This live author discussion features authors Corinna Cook, Marybeth Holleman, Adrienne Lindholm, and Nancy Lord with moderator Libby Roderick.
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