Guest Authors

Translator Andrea Gregovich presents Vladimir Kozlov’s 1987 and Other Stories. A boy and girl risk a trip to the psych ward when they dress like punks after listening to a bootleg Sex Pistols cassette. A career-ending injury sends a football star back to his provincial hometown as the Soviet republics begin claiming independence. A university student risks police brutality to take part in a protest against the president of newly independent Belarus. These and the other stories in Vladimir Kozlov’s first translated e-book collection 1987 evoke the confusion of coming of age during perestroika. While Kozlov’s characters are absorbed in their own struggles, their stories are unavoidably political, mirroring their nation’s uncertainties and the existential crisis of their generation’s post-Soviet adulthood. Andrea Gregovich teaches in the Writing Dept. at UAA. She earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from University of Nevada Las Vegas. In addition to 1987, she translated USSR: Diary of a Perestroika Kid also by Vladimir Kozov. Vladimir Kozlov was born in 1972 in Belorussian Soviet Specialist Republic. His fiction and nonfiction has been long-listed for awards in Russia such as the National Bestseller prize, the Big Book prize, and twice for GQ Russia’s Writer of the Year.

Leland Jones is a student at UAA who has written a book called, A Journey with Purpose, A Guide to Starting and Succeeding as an Entrepreneur. In it, he shares his experiences that led him to start 2 small businesses: .T-Quotes LLC and Multi-motivation. His life as an entrepreneur and philanthropist coupled with his global experiences and strong Christian faith are topics highlighted. And the principles behind the acronym PURPOSE are reviewed.

A poet since childhood, Randi Owens shares her 3 collections of poetry dated 1969-1973, 1974-1995, and 1996-2016. As a young child Randi survived the death of both her parents and a disparaging upbringing by writing poems, reading books and discovering that “there is more to life than what I was living”. Her poetry lives beyond the page and is full of deep thoughts, meaning and emotion.

Anand Prahlad is a professor, poet and authority on African American folklore. His memoir, The Secret Life of a Black Aspie, discusses growing up in the South with autism spectrum disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, which was eventually diagnosed when he was 57. Prahlad received his MA and PhD in folklore studies and sociolinguistics at UC Berkeley and UCLA. He curreently teaches folklore, film, creative writing, and diability studies in the English department at the University of Missouri, Columbia where ha has been a professor since 1990. His published work includes: African American Folklore: An Encyclopedia for Students; Reggaie Wisdom: Proverbs in Jamaican Music; The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Folklore, 3 volumes; and the poetry collection As Good As Many. His memoir, The Secret Life of a Black Aspie is published by University of Alaska Press.

In Royal Blood, Vampire Paulette Monot is recruited by Sherlock Holmes, financier Cecil Rhodes, and actress Lady Ellen Terry to venture to Matabele-land to secure the establishment of the nation Rhodesia. “Thoroughly accurate in its descriptions of the period in which it takes place, it uses the language of Victorian fiction in an otherworldly narrative of adventure, passion, and a distinctly vampiric coming of age.” Bruce Woods is a professional writer/editor with more than 30 years in magazine publishing, having worked as editor of Mother Earth News and Alaska Magazine, among others, and has published both nonfiction and poetry books. He lives in Anchorage, Alaska.

The novel, Wake In Winter, is set in the provincial town of Rogozhin, which is a driving distance from Moscow. It is a story about a talented graduate student, Nina Koretskaya, who finds an opportunity to earn money by translating and interpreting Spanish by working for an adoption agent named Ksenia. As Nina gets herself more and more involved in the adoption process, she becomes emotionally disturbed by the children she attempts to help, and finds herself involved in what looks more and more like an adoption mafia. At the event, Andrea Gregovich discusses her translation process and other work in progree. Andrea Gregovich earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from University of Nevada Las Vegas. Her translation of USSR, Diary of a Perestroika Kid by Vladimir Kozlov has been widely acclaimed. Russian author Nadezhda Belenkaya, born in Moscow, has a degree in Hispanic studies and literary translation from the Gorky Literary Institute. Wake in Winter is her first novel.

Author Marivi Soliven presents The Mango Bride and A Frank Talk about Domestic Violence in Immigrant Communities and the Filipino Diaspora Marivi Soliven has worked as an interpreter for immigrant survivors of domestic violence. Her book The Mango Bride, “offers a personal glimpse into extreme poverty in Manila and what growing up in deprivation can do to someone. The book explains how the mail-bride system works (horribly) and how women who try to escape their misery for a life of dreams sometimes become trapped in a nightmare.” Topics addressed at the event include the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the Filipino diaspora, and the Saving Beverly movement. Sponsors for this event include Department of Health Sciences, Alaskero Partnership Organizers, Alaskeros Kasamahan, and Center for Community Engagement & Learning.

At this event, author and researcher Kathi Diamant discusses her book Kafka’s Last Love: The Mystery of Dora Diamant and explores the relationship between Franz Kafka and his companion and confidante Dora Diamant (1898-1952). She details their life in Berlin and, after his death in 1924, Dora's passionate commitment to keep Kafka’s literary flame alive while caught in the maelstroms of fascism, communism and the Holocaust. Kathi Diamant is Director of the Kafka Project at San Diego State University, an ongoing international search for Kafka's missing literary treasure: 35 letters and 20 notebooks written by Kafka in the last year of his life, and confiscated from Dora by the Gestapo in Berlin 1933. Just returning from investigations in Berlin, Kathi shares her latest findings and her extraordinary adventures through archives and history.

Andrea Gregovich earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from University of Nevada Las Vegas and has been honing her skills as a translator of Russian literature with a focus on the work of Vladimir Kozov. Author Vladimir Kozlov’s book, USSR: Diary of a Perestroika Kid is about growing up in the crumbling industrial city Mogilev during the last few years of the Soviet Union. Born in 1972 in Belarus, his fiction and nonfiction have been long-listed for awards in Russia such as the National Bestseller prize, the Big Book prize, and nominated twice for GQ Russia’s Writer of the Year. Recently, USSR was nominated for the Read Russia prize.

Kwame Dawes is a literary man extraordinaire. Born in Ghana, raised in Jamaica, Nebraska-based Kwame Dawes reads from Duppy Conqueror and discuses poetry, the craft of writing, August Wilson, reggae, and much more. Dr. Kwame Dawes' literary work includes fiction, non fiction, plays, poetry, biography, and currently acting as editor of the literary journal Prairie Schooner. This event is co-sponsored by Kachemak Bay Campus’s Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference.

NPR’s Brooke Gladstone, author of The Influencing Machine,comes to the UAA Campus Bookstore for an informal talk about the media today. Interesting questions and comments are the highlight of this event. Brooke Gladstone is a fascinating, bright, commentator and social critic. Her visit is sponsored with the UAA/APU Book of the Year Committee.

This intimate critique of Roethke's influence on American literature includes readings written by his former students, including poets Richard Hugo, David Wagoner, James Wright, Jack Gilbert and Carolyn Kizer, plus a segment from the play "First Class" by David Wagoner focusing on Roethke the teacher. Sandy Kleven, who wrote the script, is an alumna of UAA's M.F.A. program, the editor of the literary journal Cirque, author of "Holy Land", the book children's book "The Right Touch" and a collection of poems called "Defiance Street".

Jan Burke is a critically acclaimed and national bestselling author of fourteen books, twelve of crime fiction, a supernatural thriller and a collection of short stories. This amazing writer discusses the art of writing mystery, forensics and the Crime Lab Project. Coroners, medical examiners, and an overwhelmed justice system are topics discussed. This event is sponsored with Arctic Cliffhangers.

Matthew Dickerson is a professor of computer science at Middlebury College in Vermont, a member of the Environmental Studies Program and also director of the New England Young Writers' Conference at Bread Loaf. He is the author of several books about J.R.R. Tolkien including: "Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings" (2004), "Ents, Elves and Eriador: the Environmental Vision of J.R.R.Tolkien" (2006), "From Homer to Harry Potter: A Handbook of Myth and Fantasy" (2006) and his "A Hobbit Journey: Discovering the Enchantment of J.R.R.Tolkien's Middle-earth" (2012).

Sam Kean answers all sorts of questions in his fun book about the periodic table. "Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmium (Cd, 48)? Why did tellurium (Te, 52) lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history? The periodic table is one of our crowning scientific achievements, but it's also a treasure trove of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession." This even is sponsored with the UAA Complex Systems Group.