Rasmuson Artist Profile Published for UAS Professor Emily Wall
Professor Wall’s book of poetry, Flame, was written in the wake of the #metoo movement and the recent volatile political climate.
Juneau, Alaska
Date of Press Release: January 29, 2020
In partnership with 49 Writers, the Rasmuson Foundation has released its Artist Profile for Emily Wall. In addition to being a Professor of English at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), Wall is a poet based out of Douglas. She is the recipient of the 2018 Individual Artist Project Award in Literary Arts/Scriptworks through the Rasmuson Foundation, which provides grants to Alaska artists through a competitive process.
Their collaboration with 49 Writers pairs up recipients of the Individual Artist Awards with Alaskan writers to give an in depth profile of the honorees, so that the public can “learn what is behind the art with a glimpse into the lives of the artists,” according to their website. Wall’s profile was written by Amy O’Neill Houck and is titled “Comfort Food: Poet Emily Wall Feeds a Hunger for the Voices of Women.” It is a deep dive into Wall’s creative process, in particular her work during her Rasmuson Individual Artist award year. Literary organization 49 Writers is a nonprofit which strives to inspire and support Alaskan writers and readers.
Professor Wall’s book of poetry, Flame, was written in the wake of the #metoo movement and the recent volatile political climate. Wall notes, “This book was written in hunger for the voice of a powerful woman to speak to us, and in the hope that we are ready to listen.” Her work contains persona poems, focusing on the Virgin Mary, Alice Waters, and Georgia O’Keefe. Personal poems are written in first-person from the perspective of a speaker who is not the poet herself. Flame begins a trilogy of chapbooks and focuses on the Virgin Mary. Books two and three continue with Alice Waters and Georgia O’Keefe. Flame won the 2018 “Dare to Be Chapbook Prize” from Minerva Rising Press. Wall spent her Rasmuson award year working on the third of the trilogy, from the perspective of Georgia O’Keefe. Books two and three are not yet published.
Emily Wall has been teaching creative writing at UAS for over 20 years. She is also the faculty adviser for the annual literary journal Tidal Echoes. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Arizona, and also holds two bachelor degrees from Colby College in Maine.
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