Hank Nuwer Alaska Yarns
My Travel Blog
By Alaska’s Columnist of the Year
Welcome. Enjoy the official story clearinghouse of Alaska author Hank Nuwer with photos by Malgorzata (Gosia) Nuwer. Scroll down to very bottom of this main page for archived stories.
Bio: University of Alaska (Fairbanks) adjunct professor Hank Nuwer
Awards: 2025 Hoosier State Press Association first-place winner for commentary, 2023 and 2024 Alaska Press Club (APC) First-Place Columnist of the Year, and 2022 Ohio SPJ First-Place Columnist of the Year.
Gosia Nuwer photographs Alaska and its wildlife. She and Hank reside in Fairbanks, Alaska, with 20 acres in remote Alaska, and a vacation cabin in Poland.
Gosia and her husband in 2025 contributed an article on Alaska back-road trips for Phi Kappa Phi’s Forum Magazine.
Contact Prof. Hank Nuwer at Hjnuwer@Alaska.edu
Know someone who has fought hazing in student groups, the military or sports? Nominate him/her/them here for a Hank Nuwer Antihazing Hero Award at Hazing Prevention Network.
Literary Journalism: A Primer by Hank Nuwer
Hank Nuwer Feature Writing essay from the book Real Feature Writing by Abraham Aamidor When editors confront a writer whose feature stalled, they often say that the ailing story needs better flow and detail. In other words, they give writing suggestions that...
Running Against the Grain (Timmy Brown) by Roy Weaver, David Sullivan, Shawn Sriver
Far from Randolph County: Publishing is like writing against the wind (First published in the Winchester News-Gazette, May 2, 2024 When I go to parties, I’m the least likely guest to don a lampshade for attention. Chances are you’ll find me by my lonesome in the...
Unintended causes should concern us all
It’s a story as old as the story of human progress. A new discovery or innovation heralded for its efficacy is suspected to have harmful effects that require ingenuity on the part of researchers to find an antidote to the unintended causes. I consider it compelling...
Hank Nuwer wins Best Columnist for 2023 in Alaska
The award was bestowed last weekend by the Alaska Press Club. Nuwer also won second place for his gumorous column titled "The Raven Whisperer."
Raisin in the Sun Opens This Weekend in Fairbanks
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner covered the imminent opening of a Raisin in the Sun directed by Bunny Fleeks. I have a small part on the stage as the play concludes. Come out if you can, Readers. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner story and photo by H. Lehman, an Alaska Press...
Rest in peace, Carl Erskine
The Grand Old Man of Summer is Gone, Bless Him By Hank Nuwer The news of onetime Brooklyn Dodgers star pitcher Carl Erskine’s death at 97 on April 16 th recalled a wonderful memory. The year was 1997, and I was finishing up a two-year term as a visiting associate...
Review: Union City Hometown Coffee on the Indiana side of Stateline.
Near Darke (reprinted from Greenville Daily Advocate) By Hank Nuwer Thar’s a new business in town, Friends. It’s the Union City Hometown Coffee on the Indiana side of Stateline. Word reached us from a neighbor who has taken a part-time job in the shop. Yes, the folks...
Archives: Remembering those who died at Camp Morton
This was a column from a few years back. It generated a few letters to me. I always enjoy hearing other people's viewpoints. Indianapolis now has removed the Confederate statue from Garfield Park. This dramatic move coincided with the “Black Lives Matter”...
The Moose Visitor
Far From Randolph A Stranger Comes to Call By Hank Nuwer When we lived in Union City, our backyard neighbor was a mama opossum. The first time Gosia saw her with hanging babies, she couldn’t believe such a species existed. At our summer cabin in...