JOAN KANE

"I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. My parents moved to Anchorage just before I was born, they met in Nome. I was always a reader and a writer and I think it comes from both of my parents, they both have a really intense engagement with language. My mom made a real emphasis to speak Inupiaq to me and the King Island dialect to me growing up. I think because I was aware of the different textures of language, whether it was Inupiaq or in English, it was a surface I was drawn to. I think I became a poet, despite all my best efforts not to. [Laughs] I went to Bartlett High School and after high school I went to Harvard [University]. I took a year off after college and came home. I applied to different MFA (Masters of Fine Arts) programs, but I knew that if I was going to leave Alaska, I wanted to leave for New York.

For me, writing poetry has a lot to do with construction of identity. When I decided to go get an MFA, I didn’t envision having a book, after I had my first son, is when I felt ready to let go of my first manuscript. My first book came out in 2009 and is called the ‘The Cormorant Hunter’s Wife.’ My fourth book will be coming out in 2017, the manuscript is done and is with my publisher.” — Joan Kane is Inupiaq and lives in Anchorage, Alaska.