LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Author to Speak Here On New Alaska Novel
By BRIELLE SCHAEFFER
Sentinel Staff Writer
In acclaimed author Eowyn Ivey’s latest book, the female protagonist Sophie Forrester is supposed to travel as far as Sitka and stay there while her husband Col. Allen Forrester is on an expedition in the Alaska wilderness.
But she makes it only as far as Vancouver, Washington.
Eowyn Ivey (Photo Provided)
“When I write a book my characters’ disappointments are my own disappointments,” the author said during a phone interview with the Sentinel from her Mat-Su Valley home in Chickaloon. “I wanted her to go on an adventure.”
Fittingly, perhaps, Ivey hasn’t really made it to Sitka either.
“I touched down once in Sitka,” she said. “I landed long enough to know how much I wanted to stay and visit.”
Ivey will finally make it to town this week on a stop in a Southeast book tour to discuss her new novel “To the Bright Edge of the World.” The reading and talk will be 6 p.m. Tuesday at Sitka Public Library, which joined Old Harbor Books to sponsor the event.
Ashia Lane of Old Harbor Books said when she heard that Brenda Weaver of Juneau’s Hearthside Books was interested in bringing Ivey to Southeast, she was on board. Hearthside, Old Harbor and Parnassus Books in Ketchikan teamed up to sponsor the tour.
“I thought with such an accomplished author it would be nice if we could share with the library,” Lane said.
Ivey’s first book, “The Snow Child,” was short-listed for a Pulitzer Prize in fiction. Its richly woven magical realism shares similarities with her latest novel, which follows Forrester’s harrowing experiences in Alaska and his wife’s own journey of self-discovery through photography.
The new book is told through the use of antique advertisements, photographs, letters and journal entries. Ivey wanted the book to have a “documentary meets mythology” feel.
From the beginning she envisioned having her readers feel like they were sorting through a box, she said.
“I wanted to have some fantastical things occurring and I wanted it to feel as believable as possible,” she said. “I did a lot of research both in terms of the real Allen expedition but also reading a lot of documented oral storytelling. I tried to absorb all that research and still told my own story.”
Some of the mythical elements come from stories she heard growing up in Alaska, such as a water monster in Lake Iliamna and one about a baby being born from a spruce root, Ivey said. Others she invented herself and wrote about the supernatural experiences from her characters’ perspectives.
“My characters are white, western civilization people seeing this from the outside,” Ivey said.
While the world she has created is fantastical, it’s not without hardships or tragedy. Her novel includes some heartbreak.
“It has to do with themes that I am interested in as a writer,” Ivey said. “As much as we try to give art and meaning to the world, oftentimes we don’t understand why things happen.”
Near the end of the novel, Ivey writes a scene about a raven cawing on top of a church.
“You can’t tell if he’s laughing or crying or wanting his next meal,” she said.
And that’s the point, Ivey said.
Ivey had an indirect path to fiction writing, after working as a newspaper reporter for years at the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, and then as a bookseller at Palmer’s Fireside Books. She is presently focused on promoting “To the Bright Edge of the World” and isn’t working on another novel.
“When that settles down I’ll have a little more time to write,” she said. “I know authors who will write when they are traveling but I am not that disciplined.”
She is enjoying more time to read, something she doesn’t always get to do for fun when she’s in the throes of research or writing. Ivey is currently reading Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods” and a memoir, “Walking to Listen.” She said she likes to read both fiction and non-fiction simultaneously.
For the time being, she’s enjoying time with her family – her eldest daughter just graduated from high school and has plans to go to college in Montreal next year.
“That’s a big change for our family,” she said. “We’re excited for her.”
Both of Ivey’s books will be available for purchase at the event, Lane said.
A $5 donation is suggested for admission at the Tuesday event.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.