Seth Kantner Comes to Fairbanks for two Storytelling Events and Workshop Series

Last week, award winning Alaska author, Seth Kantner, shared his love for caribou, the Alaska wilderness, and growing up in a remote part of Western Alaska’s Kobuk region. 

UAF’s The Mix, the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, and the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center hosted Kantner for an evening of storytelling and readings from his book, A Thousand Trails Home, which drew a standing room-only audience in the visitor center’s auditorium.

Kantner, a commercial fisherman and author, lives in Kotzebue, has written award-winning books including Ordinary Wolves, Shopping for Porcupine, and most recently, A Thousand Trails Home.

The UAF Geophysical Institute hosted an evening with UAF researcher Ken Tape and Kantner talking about beavers. In this joint presentation, they showcased their different perspectives on a half-century of changes in northern Alaska, particularly as related to beaver engineering, and explored how those complementary viewpoints enrich our understanding of the region’s past, present and future.

Finally, a small group of UAF researchers and science writers participated in a writing workshop led by Kantner and hosted by UAF Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Industry Partnerships Gwen Holdmann and The Mix. Conveying technical science information in a digestible way to a broad audience is a skill, and Kantner shared insight into captivating the reader through character development while keeping the reader company and engaged throughout the story. 

Future storytelling workshops will be offered for UAF researchers interested in sharing their work in new and compelling ways.

 

Seth Kantner presented photos and stories from his life living among the caribou along the Kobuk River and surrounding areas to a standing room only audience at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitor Center. Photo by Amanda Byrd.