Bill Sherwonit
Anchorage, Alaska 99517
(Resume updated June 2008)

EDUCATION
Pierce College, Woodland Hills, California: Enrolled in journalism program for three semesters, including two semesters on the school newspaper as sports writer/editor, 1978-79. Several journalism department awards.
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona: Master of Science degree in geology, 1974.
Bates College, Lewiston, Maine: Bachelor of Science degree in geology, 1971. Dean’s list every semester. National Merit Scholar. Graduated Cum Laude.

WORK EXPERIENCE
June 1992 to present
Freelance nature writer focusing on Alaskan subjects and issues, with an emphasis on wilderness adventure, wildlands preservation, the natural history of Alaska’s plants and animals, ecotourism, wildlife management, relationship with place, and notions of wildness.

I’ve written essays and articles for a wide range of publications, including newspapers, magazines, journals, guidebooks, and anthologies. I’m also the author of several books about Alaska (see "Books," below). Though my writing background is in journalism, in recent years I’ve increasingly worked in the literary genre of creative non-fiction, especially the personal essay form. I have completed a nonfiction, literary book titled Living with Wildness: An Alaskan Odyssey, that is scheduled for publication in late 2007 or early 2008 by the University of Alaska Press, and have also finished a book-length literary narrative about my long-running and life-changing relationship with the central Brooks Range, in Alaska’s Arctic region. I write frequently about my relationship with the place where I live, Anchorage’s Hillside, and the wildness to be found in and around Alaska’s urban center, as well as the state's remote backcountry.

As part of my "writing life" I’ve taught classes in nature writing, "wilderness writing" and travel-adventure writing at the University of Alaska Anchorage (see below) and on my own. I have also taught weekend writing workshops through the university’s branch in Homer and at a "tent-and-breakfast" business along the Alaska coast and was a presenter at the 2004 Kachemak Bay Writers Conference. During the past decade I have visited several primary and secondary schools within the Anchorage area to discuss the writing process, keeping a journal, nature writing, and the importance of paying attention to the natural world around us. I have also made numerous other public appearances; these have included Earth Day Readings with the Alaska Nature Writing Institute, panel discussions and workshops at Anchorage’s annual Writing Rendezvous, readings of my work at the Island Institute’s Sitka Symposium, and slide shows, readings, and natural history discussions at local bookstores, the Alaska Public Lands Information Center, a natural history symposium, and the Eagle River Nature Center. Finally, I’ve been interviewed numerous times, on both radio and television programs.

Adjunct instructor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Before "going out on my own," I taught 18 semesters of writing at the university, primarily in classes offered as continuing-education courses through the Alaska Wilderness Studies Program, but also through the Creative Writing and Literary Arts Department. In each of the classes, I emphasized creative non-fiction in the form of personal essays.

February 1985 to June 1992
Outdoors writer at The Anchorage Times. Primary responsibilities included news, feature and column writing. Main focus was the Sunday Outdoors section and Thursday Outdoors page, but also contributed to sports and news sections. Areas of coverage included hiking, backpacking, camping, mountaineering, kayaking, rafting, wildlife and fisheries management, land management, natural history, state and federal parks, skiing, fishing, hunting, mushing and environmental issues.

January 1980 to February 1985
Sports writer, first at the Simi Valley Enterprise (California) then, beginning in 1982, at The Anchorage Times.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS
Living with Wildness: An Alaskan Odyssey. Fairbanks: University of Alaska press, 2008.
Wood-Tikchik: Alaska’s Largest State Park. NY: Aperture Foundation, 2003.
Travelers’ Tales Alaska. San Francisco: Travelers Tales, Inc., 2003.
Iditarod: The Great Race to Nome. Seattle: Sasquatch Books, 2002.
Denali: The Complete Guide. Portland: Alaska Northwest Books, 2002.
Denali: A Literary Anthology. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books, 2000.
Alaska’s Bears. Portland: Alaska Northwest Books, 1998.
Alaska’s Accessible Wilderness: A Traveler’s Guide to Alaska’s State Parks. Portland: Alaska Northwest Books, 1996.
Alaska Ascents. Portland: Alaska Northwest Books, 1996.
Iditarod: The Great Race to Nome. Seattle: Alaska Northwest Books, 1991.
To the Top of Denali: Climbing Adventures on North America's Highest Peak. Seattle: Alaska Northwest Books, 1990, revised second edition, 2000.

ANTHOLOGIES IN WHICH MY WORK HAS APPEARED
"Out of the Depths," in Crosscurrents North: Alaskans on the Environment, 2008.
"In the Company of Bears," in Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007.
"At 70, Mom Finally Goes Camping," in Still Going Strong: Memoirs, Stories, and Poems about Great Older Women, 2006.
"Travels with William," in Vacations: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, 2006.
"Journey to the Night Sky," Best Travel Writing 2005
"Hairy Man Lives," in Travelers’ Tales Alaska, 2003.
"Picking Blueberries," in Take Two -- They’re Small: Writings About Food, 2002.
"Anchorage’s Hillside: Living with Wildness," in American Nature Writing, 2001.
"Polar Bears and Seismic Testing," in Arctic Refuge: A Circle of Testimony, 2001.
"Summer Storm," in Earth Beneath, Sky Beyond: Nature and Our Planet, 2000.
"In the Shadow of the High One," in Denali: A Literary Anthology, 2000.
"The Friendly Bear," in Danger! True Stories of Trouble and Survival, 1999.
"The Sourdough Expedition, 1910," in The Last New land: Stories of Alaska Past and Present, 1996.

RECENT ESSAYS AND ARTICLES IN JOURNALS, MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS
"Muddied," in the Anchorage Press, 2008
"Moose, will you come out tonight?," in The Christian Science Monitor, 2008
"Wilderness Music: Camping with Wolves," in Appalachia, 2008
"Gunning for Black Bears," in the Anchorage Press, 2008
"Visited by Waxwings," in the Anchorage Press, 2008
"The Wild Christmas Tree," in the Anchorage Press, 2007
"Otter Catastrophe?" in Wildlife Conservation, 2007
"In Search of the Wild Man," in the Anchorage Press 2007
"Grand Gateway: Trekking through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve," in Alaska Airlines Magazine, 2007
"Blueberry Secrets," in the Anchorage Press, 2007
"Bad News for Bears," in Natural History, 2007
"Poetry is Perfect Outdoors," in The Christian Science Monitor, 2007
"First Snow," in Writing Nature, 2007
"Deadly Surprise," in the Anchorage Press, 2007
"Thunder Mountain," in Alaska Airlines Magazine, 2007
"My Connecticut Roots," in Connecticut Woodlands, 2006
"There's Much to Learn from an Owl," in The Christian Science Monitor, 2006
"Into the World with a Nudge and a Flap," in The Christian Science Monitor, 2006
"In the Company of Bears," in the Anchorage Press, 2006
"Sitting with a Tree," in Pilgrimage, 2006
"The Lost Coast," in Alaska, 2006
"He's Been Everywhere: Crossing Paths with Porcupine," in the Anchorage Press, 2006
"Near Anchorage, Moose Carcasses Hint of Wolves," in Appalachia, 2006
"Aurora Lights Up the Denali Sky, in Appalachia, 2006
"In the Heart of Denali," Alaska Airlines Magazine, 2006
"Alaskans See Red Over Gold," in Trout, 2005
"Working the Wild Side," in Alaska, 2005
"The Other Refuge," in the Anchorage Press, 2005
"Robin’s Serenade," in The Christian Science Monitor, 2005
"Shelter – and Hoops – on a Stormy Night," in The Christian Science Monitor, 2005
"Wild Lands," in Alaska Airlines Magazine, 2005
"A Gift of Halibut," in Pilgrimage, 2004.
"Chugach State Park: Wilderness at the Edge of Town," in ISLE, 2004.
"Nuka Island Solo," in Paddler, 2004.
"Denali Autumn," in Appalachia, 2004.
"Teaming with Alaska’s Natives to Save Land and a Way of Life," in Wilderness, 2004.
"Counting Losses," in Writing Nature, 2004.
"The Delicate Art of Shooing a Moose," in The Christian Science Monitor, 2004.
"To See the Wild, Stay Open to Surprises," in The Christian Science Monitor, 2004.
"Alaska Meltdown: On the Frontlines of Climate Change," in National Parks, 2004.
"Tracking Toxics," in Orion, 2003.
"Finding Solace on the River," in Paddler, 2003.
"Wilderness Homeland," in National Parks, 2003.
"Protecting the Wolves of Denali," National Parks, 2003.
"A Gathering of Swans," in Pilgrimage, 2003.
"Listening to Owl," in Writing Nature, 2003.
"Escape to Skolai," in Alaska, 2003.
"Up Against the Wall," in Alaska, 2003.
"What I Found Between the Sounds," in The Christian Science Monitor, 2002.
"The Harvest Feeds My Hungry Spirit," in The Christian Science Monitor, 2002.
"Song of the Arctic," Alaska, 2002
"Mountain of Trash," Alaska, 2002
"Shuyak Island: Paddling Backcountry Alaska," Sea Kayaker, 2002

OTHER PUBLICATIONS IN WHICH ESSAYS AND ARTICLES HAVE APPEARED
MAGAZINES/JOURNALS
Alaska Geographic
Audubon
Backpacker
Birder’s World
Birder’s Digest
Climbing
Dark Moon Lilith
Earth
National Wildlife
Outside
Petroglyph
Sierra
Summit
Sunset
World Traveler
NEWSPAPERS
Anchorage Daily News
Boston Sunday Globe
Chicago Tribune
Dallas Morning News
Denver Post
San Francisco Chronicle
Los Angeles Times
Miami Herald
Salt Lake City Tribune
Seattle Times

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment
Outdoor Writers Association of America

HONORS, AWARDS, GRANTS
Writing contests/competitions
Banff Mountain Book Festival, Special Jury Mention for Alaska Ascents in 1996 and finalist for Mountain Literature Award in 2001, for my book Denali: A Literary Anthology.
"In the Company of Bears" selected for the Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007
Notable Travel Writing Mention, The Best American Travel Writing 2003, for "Song of the Arctic"
Outdoor Writers Association of America (several writing awards from 1990 through 2007, including first-place honors in outdoor ethics, environmental/conservation writing, and travel writing).
Nike Earthwrite Award (national competition), honorable mention, 1997, for essay/opinion writing.
Associated Press Sports Editors (first place nationally, sports event, 1985; fourth place, column writing, 1984; third place, enterprise writing, 1987).
Alaska Press Club (numerous awards from 1984 through 1991); SDX/SPJ, Northwest Region (several awards from 1986 through 1991).



Residencies, grants, and other honors
Rasmuson Foundation (Anchorage, Alaska), $5,000 Individual Artist Project Award, 2006
Writing Residency, Andrews Expermental Forest, as part of the Forest's Long Term Ecological Reflections program, Oregon, fall 2006
Writing residency, the Mesa Refuge, Point Reyes, California, May-June 2004
Selected to participate in the Environmental Writing Institute, 2001.
Career Opportunity Grant, Alaska State Council on the Arts, 2001, to participate in the Environmental Writing Institute.
Sierra Cup award, presented by the Alaska Chapter of the Sierra Club in December 1989, for contributions to the cause of conservation through my job with The Anchorage Times.
Wildlife Federation of Alaska award, for coverage of environmental issues.