An anthology of writers from rural Alaska recently won three national awards; its co-editors, University of Alaska Fairbanks professors John Creed and Susan Andrews, were honored for their cultural journalism project.
“Purely Alaska: Authentic Voices from the Far North,” published last year, features stories from 23 rural Alaska writers. The anthology, published by Epicenter Press, won a bronze medal in Foreward Magazine’s 2011 Book of the Year competition, a second-place award in the nonfiction anthology category of the Independent Book Publishers Association’s Benjamin Franklin Book Awards, and an honorable mention in the Eric Hoffer Awards for Short Prose & Independent Books’ culture category. Additionally, the Alaska Professional Communicators recognized Creed and Andrews for their work on the project.
“Purely Alaska” is a follow-up to “Authentic Alaska: Voices of Its Native Writers.” Both anthologies have their roots in Creed and Andrews’ cultural journalism project, Chukchi News & Information Service, which was founded in Kotzebue in 1988. The project works with University of Alaska Fairbanks Chukchi Campus students and helps them get their work published in local newspapers and statewide news websites.
For more information, visit 49writers.blogspot.com/2010/10/49-writers-interview-susan-b-andrews.html.
