ANDROMEDA ROMANO-LAX, CO-FOUNDER

Born in 1970 in Chicago, Andromeda Romano-Lax worked as a freelance journalist and travel writer before turning to fiction. Her first novel, The Spanish Bow (Harcourt, 2007), was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and was translated into 11 languages.  Her second novel, The Discus Thrower, enlarges upon themes introduced in her debut novel, including questions about the role of art – and the promise of love – during wartime. Among Romano-Lax’s nonfiction works are ten travel and natural history interpretive guidebooks to Alaska and Mexico, as well as a travel narrative, Searching for Steinbeck’s Sea of Cortez: A Makeshift Expedition Along Baja’s Desert Coast (Sasquatch Books). She lives in Anchorage, Alaska with her husband and two children, and is a founding Director of 49 Writers, Inc. She is the recipient of grants from the Alaska Council on the Arts and the Rasmuson Foundation, which named her a 2009 Artist Fellow. A life-long student, she is currently pursuing her MFA at Antioch University in Los Angeles. Her official author website is www.romanolax.com.

DEB VANASSE , CO-FOUNDER

Deb’s first novel, the Junior Literary Guild selection A Distant Enemy, was published by Penguin/Lodestar in 1997.  Her tenth published book, Lucy’s Dance, is scheduled with the University of Alaska Press for 2011 release.  With an undergraduate degree in English and a master’s degree in the Humanities with a literary emphasis, Deb taught high school and college English for twenty years.  An Alaskan for over thirty years, her to-do list includes applying for membership in the Pioneers of Alaska.  She’s convinced the teaching of writing sharpens her attention to precision and depth in her own work.  In 2009, she joined blog forces with Andromeda Romano-Lax at www.49writers.blogspot.com, and in 2010, she became one of the founding Directors of 49 Writers, Inc.  Deb lives in Anchorage and retreats to a cabin near the Matanuska Glacier whenever she gets a chance.  

LINDA KETCHUM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (as of Jan. 1, 2012)

Born and raised in Scotland, Linda arrived in Alaska in 1985 by way of Brussels, London, and the rest of the world. She was determined to be a travel writer on the strength of some freelance work for a small London magazine, but became sidetracked for 20 years until enrolling in the MFA program at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Meanwhile, she gained experience in Alaska’s nonprofit sector as a volunteer, program manager, executive director, and board member, and as a consultant focusing on nonprofit capacity-building. Her volunteer work includes terms as board president of an adult literacy project and the Mat-Su Borough Library Board. Linda earned a bachelor’s degree in languages at the University of Edinburgh, and completed her Master of Education in Adult Education at UAA. For four years, she taught a graduate course in social entrepreneurship at UAA’s College of Business & Public Policy. In spring 2012, Linda will graduate with her MFA in creative nonfiction. 

DON REARDEN, BOARD MEMBER

Don Rearden is the author of The Raven's Gift and a produced screenwriter. His films have aired on Showtime, TMC, and the Sci-Fi Network. His website is www.donrearden.com. Rearden lives in the mountain community of Bear Valley, Alaska, and teaches as an Assistant Professor of Developmental Studies at the Universityof Alaska Anchoragewhere he shows young writers how to develop their creative voices. Much of his writing and thought is influenced from learning experiences in the Alaskan wilderness, as well as from the teachings and writings of his mentor and friend, Daniel Quinn, author of Ishmael and The Story of B. 

KIRSTEN DIXON, BOARD MEMBER

Kirsten Dixon attended the Cordon Bleu school in Paris and received a master's degree in gastronomy (food history) from Adelaide University in Australia. She received her MFA in creative writing from Goddard College in Vermont. She is the author of the award-winning Winterlake Lodge Cookbook. She owns and operates three remote lodges in Alaska and is an avid gardener.

KAREN BENNING, BOARD MEMBER

Born and raised in Oregon, Karen moved to Alaska in the early 1990s. After a career as a CPA, she moved into the nonprofit world, working first as a freelance grantwriter and then for United Way of Anchorage, where she worked with community partners to improve children’s school readiness. She also returned to school and received her MFA in creative nonfiction from UAA. Her writing has appeared in a number of publications, and in 2010 she received a grant from the Rasmuson Foundation to complete her first book manuscript. She does occasional freelance writing and is currently the Executive Director of the Alaska Council on Economic Education. 

JEREMY PATAKY, CO-FOUNDER AND BOARD MEMBER

Jeremy Pataky earned an MFA in poetry from the University of Montana and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from The Foraker Group and University of Alaska Fairbanks. His work has appeared in Black Warrior Review, Cirque, Northern Review,The Southeast Review, Anchorage Daily News and many others, including Alaska Public Radio. His chapbook, Fata Morgana, was published digitally by Blue Hour Press. He has worked as a wilderness guide, freelance writer, and university instructor, and he taught poetry to third graders in an after school program for two years. Jeremy began the Still North Reading and Performance Series in Southcentral Alaska, and is a founding Director of 49 Writers, Inc.  He divides his time between Anchorage and McCarthy, and is the Executive Director of the Wrangell Mountains Center.    

ERIC LARSON, Board member

During his career as a research economist, Eric Larson wrote academic studies about the Alaska economy for the Institute of Social and Economic Research at UAA.  For the past five years, he has been writing financial reports for the Municipality of Anchorage.  This summer, he will be part of the first class to graduate from the low-residency creative writing program at UAA.  His MFA thesis is a collection of personal essays about walking in Anchorage, where he has lived for twenty-three years without owning a car.