Author of Alaska-themed books to visit Barrow

THE SOUNDER STAFF

February 29, 2008 at 8:56AM AKST

Author Lael Morgan will pay a visit to Ilisagvik College and Tuzzy Consortium Library in Barrow, Monday and Tuesday, March 3-4.

Morgan is primarily known for "Art and Eskimo Power: The Life and Times of Howard Rock," and many other Alaska books.

Morgan, a visiting professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Texas at Arlington since 2003, was born in rural Maine.

She has worked for both the Juneau Empire and the Fairbanks News Miner before starting her five-year career with the Los Angeles Times in 1968. Other assignments in Alaska were undertaken for National Geographic, the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor and Alaska Magazine.

Beginning in 1988, Morgan taught writing, photography and multimedia at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for 12 years.

Morgan has authored more than a dozen books, including "Good Time Girls of the Alaska Yukon Gold Rush," which in 1998 won her the title of Historian of the Year from the Alaska Historical Society.

"Art and Eskimo Power: The Life and Times of Alaskan Howard Rock," a book she wrote in 1988 that was recently included in a listing of the state’s best nonfiction books, will be republished by University of Alaska Press this spring.

Morgan’s Barrow schedule

Monday, March 3

1:30-4 p.m. Writing/publishing workshop at Ilisagvik College’s Browerville Center. This event is open to all who wish to attend. Participants must bring examples of writing and publishing questions for discussion.

5:30-7 p.m. A reception honoring Morgan at the Inupiat Heritage Center. Morgan will present the center with an ivory tusk carved by Howard Rock along with a program on his life. The event is open to the community.

Tuesday, March 4

Individual conferences for aspiring writers can be arranged on Tuesday through Jay St. Vincent, Ilisagvik College associate professor of English, at 852-1712.