Nancy Cook, Program Director
July 27-August 2, 2012
2012 theme
Dancing the Great Divide
Writers of all experience and persuasion are invited to gather in the Alaskan town of McCarthy, where new growth sprouts in the shadows of glaciated mountains. Enjoy wild fireweed and moose tracks in the silt plains, lift the eyes to witness a staircase icefall spilling from sky to valley floor, and then return to the comfort of wood fire, garden salads and an inspired community of creative inquiry. The fifteenth annual Wrangell Mountains Writing Workshop is pleased to host novelist Justin Torres for an intimate (16 participants max) mixed-genre workshop in the inspiring setting of the nonprofit Wrangell Mountains Center and surrounding Wrangell St. Elias National Park. During this week-long adventure, fiction writers, essayists, and poets alike will walk—and sometimes dance—the overemphasized divide between literary genres.
In We the Animals, a debut novel described by critics as a "heartbreaking"… “indelible and essential work of art"… “that will leave your mouth agape", Torres draws upon personal experience to create fiction which reads like memoir, accented by moments of pure poetry. Reflecting on his choice in form, Torres explains how “the poetic language, rhythm, and imagery” of fiction allowed him to access an emotional truth that would not have been so profound otherwise. “The book I wrote is very short, episodic. Some people say those are prose poems. I don’t think they are, but it’s not a distinction that worries me. Good literature, good writing, is that: it’s good. And it’s good because it is telling the truth in an inventive way. It doesn’t matter whether you’re writing nonfiction or fiction or poetry, you’ve got to be telling some kind of truth, and you’ve got to be creative. You’ve got to be telling it beautifully.” With Torres’ guidance, workshop participants will seek their own truths, leaping beyond ridgelines of form to make art of language: authentic, exuberant expression.
During this weeklong adventure writers can expect: 
- Writing prompts and experiences/exploration of the sources of inspiration
- Hikes along wild river bars, thru quiet forests, with option to explore a massive valley glacier
- Public reading from workshop staff and the opportunity to share their own written work at a public Community Word Jam event
- A deadline to draft an original short work for sharing at a final participant reading
- Feedback from groups and one-on-one conversations with instructor and practice in the arts of improvement
- An intimate community of caring and purpose/ the pleasures of shared meals and shared commitment
Workshop Staff
JUSTIN TORRES was raised in upstate New York and currently resides in San Francisco. His first novel, We the Animals, was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2011. His work has also appeared in the New Yorker, Harpers, Granta, Tin House, and Glimmer Train. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he was the recipient of a Rolón Fellowship in Literature from United States Artists and is a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford. Recently honored as one of Salon’s Sexiest Men, he has worked as a farmhand, a dog walker, a creative writing teacher, and a bookseller. The Wrangell Mountains Center hosted his United States Artists residency during 2011. More about Justin.
Nancy Cook, Workshop Director, has led field programs for the Wrangell Mountains Center since 1991. A former fisheries biologist and National Park Service interpretive ranger, she received her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her poems and prose appear in the Riverteeth Journal of Nonfiction Narrative, Mountain Gazette, Hipfish, Xtra Tuff, Ice Box, and the Seal Press anthology Going Alone: Women's Adventures in the Wild. She has taught writing at Prince William Sound Community College, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and currently serves on the full time faculty at Clatsop Community College in Astoria, Oregon, home of the annual Fisher Poets Gathering. The mother of one daughter, she continues to spend summers at her cabin in an aspen grove near McCarthy.
Location and Venue
This course is a Wrangell Mountains Center (WMC) program offered in partnership with the 49 Alaska Writing Center. The WMC is a private nonprofit institute which fosters understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of wildlands and mountain culture in Alaska through scientific and artistic inquiry in the Wrangell Mountains. The course is based at the WMC's headquarters in the Old Hardware Store in McCarthy, Alaska, set in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, the largest national park in the U.S. Over 23% larger than Switzerland, Wrangell-St. Elias is world renowned for its wild landscapes, high peaks, massive glaciers and rivers, healthy ecosystems, and dramatic scenery as well as its unique cultural history.
McCarthy is approximately a seven hour drive from either Anchorage or Fairbanks (plus time for sightseeing, et cetera). It is possible to fly or arrange shuttles from Anchorage to McCarthy, and occassionally we can help arrange carpools for students, though we make no promises.
McCarthy and neighboring Kennecott, a national historic landmark, are situated within the Kennicott Valley (note the different spellings between the natural features and historical features.) McCarthy and Kennecott serve locals and travelers alike as a gateway to world-class backcountry opportunities and amazing frontcountry hikes and walks (including access to the Root Glacier); the Kennicott Valley also provides a window into some of the most unique chapters in Alaska's history and an authentic, lively contemporary community.The course will take full advantage of the field from its base at the WMC's headquarters, the Old Hardware Store. Built in 1908 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Hardware Store serves as a cozy, atmospheric place to journal, sketch, and share, and is located just a half mile from the toe of the Kennicott Glacier.
Schedule
Participants should plan to arrive in McCarthy in time to get settled in (at the lodge, at the campground, etc) in time for a 6:00 pm kickoff dinner on July 27th. The
workshop ends with breakfast on August 2nd. Optional morning writing circles will be offered daily before breakfast and all meals will be taken together. Detailed schedules will be provided with a welcome packet upon registration.
Meals & Accommodations
All meals will be provided and shared communally. Every effort will be made to accommodate dietary needs and restrictions with advance notice. Primitive camping isavailable at no cost to workshop participants. The private site is located just a short walk away from the Old Hardware Store (WMC headquarters). Those who camp are welcome to store gear and food, borrow bear barrels, and use our rustic shower and other facilities at the Hardware Store. WMC staff will direct you to the campsite and orient you there upon your arrival.
Other lodging options within McCarthy include the full service McCarthy Lodge andLancaster's Backpacker Hotel, located just down the street. The Kennicott River Lodge and Hostel is another great option outside of town; it's a short bicycle ride or twenty minute walk each way. If you bring a vehicle with you, Currant Ridge Cabins is located on the McCarthy Road about three miles from the road's end; it's about a half mile walk between the parking area there and the Old Hardware Store. Free shuttles run between the river and McCarthy on a rotation with limited hours. If you bring a camper in or would otherwise like to camp out with your vehicle, there are two commercial campgrounds near the end of the McCarthy Road that will accomodate you without advance reservations.
Optional Credit
Optional ED580 college credit from Prince William Sound Community College will be available for an additional $50 fee, paid separately and on-site, for those interested in credit. Credits typically transfer readily.
Register for the Writing Workshop
To register, please mail in a completed registration form (available in .DOC or .PDF) with your deposit. Directions are included in the form. If you have questions about registration or would prefer to pay online, email jeremy@wrangells.org.
Register soon! The workshop will be limited to 16 participants and a $30 discount is offered to participants who register before May 1st; WMC and 49 Alaska Writing Center members receive a 10% discount.
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Several participants in the 2009 Wrangell Mountains Writing Workshop and Wrangell Mountains Center staff explore the Root Glacier while other participants explore the nearby Kennecott National Historic Landmark or work on their writing projects.
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photo by Jon Campbell
2009 Visiting Writer Scott Russell Sanders reads a passage from his book A Conservationist Manifesto during the annual Word Jam, an open-to-the-public literary and performance art open mic held in conjunction with the Wrangell Mountains Writing Workshop.
