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.
What you need to know about the 2024 eclipse
Why are total eclipses so rare? A viewer needs to perch where the Sun, new Moon and Earth are in a straight line. Wife Gosia and I are bummed that we latter-day Alaskans won’t be in geographical position to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse. Nonetheless, I...
An Alaskan Oasis
The dirt and gravel Elliot Highway sported deep ruts as my wife Gosia and I motored 158 miles from Fairbanks to explore the remote Alaska village of Manley Hot Springs. However, spectacular views of the tundra more than made up for the bumps and jolts. When Gosia...
Essay: On Censorship by Hank Nuwer
Censorship. Nearly everyone agrees on the term’s definition in the context of print, electronic, and broadcast journalism. Namely, censorship is the action of a censor or organized societal group in controlling, removing, or adding words or images to news content. The...
No happy ending here
By Hank Nuwer As a young journalist, I interviewed novelist Harry Crews. His books contained characters who performed in traveling “freak shows.” Always he presented them as sympathetic beings. I asked Crews why. He said he traveled with a circus for six months after...
Resurrecting a Dream Deferred
By Hank Nuwer Lately, I’ve no time to spare. That’s because yours truly, a senior citizen turning 78 in August, is once again acting like a young man. I literally mean “acting.” I’ve hogged center stage in many theater productions and one movie filming. I rehearse or...
Ira W. Porter: Nogoodnik from Indiana
The notorious Ira W. Porter by Hank Nuwer Notorious Randolph County (IN) resident Ira W. Porter was born in 1844, the son of James and Hannah Porter. Ira served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Around 1870, he married Mary A. Porter, and by 1880, fathered Nancy...
Headshots for UAF play “Something in the Living Room”
Photos courtesy of AAF CLA. Hank Nuwer playing The Professor in the 2024 play "Something in the Living Room."
Delta Junction’s Hard Wok Cafe
Serendipity at the Hard Wok Cafe A cartoon in The New Yorker magazine last issue spoke to me. Old white-bearded Father Time stood on a street corner with a sign reading, “The End of Summer is near, and you still haven’t made any plans.” Too true, so on Saturday, Gosia...
Filming “Love Me!” this weekend
Gosia is playing in the UAF film Love Me!" by Nolan Everett as filming commences this weekend. I play "Uncle" Arnold. The UAF Film division cebrated its 13th birthday. Here's a long-ago photo of me as Lovborg in Hedda Gabler.