Midnight Sun Visiting Writers Series

Annie Wenstrup

Book Club: April 11th, 2025  |  Public Reading: April 17th, 2025

Collage of images of Annie Wenstrup and her book, The Museum of Unnatural Histories

 

The Midnight Sun Visiting Writers Series is honored to welcome poet Annie Wenstrup for a two-part event celebrating her debut collection, The Museum of Unnatural Histories. The series begins with a book club discussion on April 11th, offering an in-depth exploration of Wenstrup’s poetry, which reclaims and reinvents history through inventive forms. On April 17th, Wenstrup will present a public reading at the Museum of the North, followed by a Q&A and book signing. Join us for this inspiring literary event, free and open to the public!

Book Club

Date
Friday, April 11th, 2025

Time
3-4pm AKST

Location
Student Success Center, Room 660
UAF Rasmuson Library

Zoom Option

Public Reading

Date
Thurs
day, April 17th, 2024

Time
7-8:30pm AKST

Location
Arnold Espe Multimedia Auditorium,
Museum of the North


Zoom Option
https://alaska.zoom.us/j/85179600990

Craft Talk






** Please note that there will be no craft talk for this specific event.





 Book Club

 

Join the Midnight Sun Visiting Writers Series book club for an in-depth discussion of The Museum of Unnatural Histories, the extraordinary debut poetry collection by Annie Wenstrup. This innovative work explores personal history, unresolved colonial violence, and the space of an imagined museum through meticulously crafted poems.

 

Midnight Sun Book Club graphic
Midnight Sun Public Reading graphic

Public Reading 

 

The UAF Department of English invites you to wrap up the season with an extraordinary evening with Dena'ina poet Annie Wenstrup, celebrating the launch of her debut poetry collection, The Museum of Unnatural Histories. This compelling work delicately weaves personal history with the imagined space of a museum, curating stories of dissonance and connection. Through love letters, found text, and inventive forms, Wenstrup’s poems explore themes of identity, embodiment, and the lingering impact of colonial histories.

 

 

About the Author

Annie Wenstrup is a Dena’ina poet living in Fairbanks, Alaska. She is the author of The Museum of Unnatural Histories, is forthcoming from Wesleyan University Press March 25, 2025.   Her poems have been published in Alaska Quarterly Review, New England Review, Poetry, and elsewhere. In 2023, she received the Alaska Literary Award and support from The Rasmusson Foundation. She held a Museum Sovereignty Fellowship with the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center (Alaska office), supported through a Journey to What Matters grant from the CIRI Foundation, and was an Indigenous Nations Poets Fellow in 2022 and 2023. She is currently the Alumni and Donor Relations coordinator at Indigenous Nations Poets.

Annie Wenstrup. Image courtesy of Wenstrup

Thank you to our sponsors!

Bridgewater Hotel, Trademark Collection by Wyndham, SpringHill Suites by Marriott, UA Museum of the North logos

Support the Midnight Sun Visiting Writers Series

The Midnight Sun Visiting Writers Series brings remarkable authors, poets, and storytellers to the UAF community, providing students and the public with opportunities to engage with literature in meaningful ways. Through readings, craft talks, and discussions, we create a space where creativity thrives, voices are heard, and connections are made.

If you value the work we do and want to help us continue bringing inspiring writers to UAF, please consider making a donation. Your support helps us host events, invite diverse voices, and keep these experiences free and accessible to all. Every contribution, big or small, makes a difference!