Local author releases new book, "Silty Water People"

Local writer Vivian Faith Prescott recently announced the publication of her newest book, Silty Water People. The book is a collection of some of her oldest poems, she said, and is a look at "the effects of assimilation" on Wrangell families and the community as a whole. The poems range from the serious, to the humorous, to the intimate. The ideas of identity and culture have always fascinated her, Prescott said. She holds a doctorate in cross cultural studies. Silty Water People, she said, is meant to be a reflection of life in Wrangell.

"Silty Water People is unique because it's intimate," Prescott wrote in an email to the Sentinel. "It's more autobiographical than some of my other work but at the same time I use mythology and magic realism so a reader should not assume the 'I' in a poem is the author because it's more complex than that. This collection has what are called 'persona' poems and uses various 'speakers.'"

Among the several works in this book, Prescott wanted to highlight one in particular. "The Basket that Holds Us" was a special poem commissioned by the Alaska Native Sisterhood, for their 100 year anniversary in 2012. The poem was performed by Prescott's daughter Nikka Mork, she said, during the ANS' 100-year convention held in Wrangell. The work covers the beginnings of the ANS, and Prescott added that her poem has also been permanently archived with the organization.

The poems in Silty Water People have been in the works for about 10 years now, she said. Prescott began revising them in 2009 as part of her master's program at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She was writing about the complexities of raising multicultural children in Wrangell, and was also looking at Wrangell itself as a unique character.

"My whole thesis, the poems and the craft essay, is called 'In the Curve of my Hip: Forming Cultural Identity Among the Bitter Water People, Shtax'héen Kwáan,'" Prescott wrote. "I changed the book's title to Silty Water People, which is a different translation of the word Shtax'héen Kwáan."

With the publication of Silty Water People, Prescott is now the author of eight books. She mentioned that another work, a chapbook of poems about the impacts of climate change, is due for publication this fall. She has also recently signed a contract for a non-fiction "foodoir," a combination of a cookbook and memoir, scheduled for publication in 2022. In other career news, Prescott received recognition from the Alaska Press Club this year, taking first place in culture reporting for her column "Planet Alaska: Encounters with a Giant Pacific octopus."

Silty Water People is available for purchase from Cirque Press via Amazon, though Prescott said it might take a while to receive the book with the current COVID-19 pandemic going on. Local stores will be carrying her book in the near future. Prescott added that she has some copies on hand for purchase, if anybody wants to reach out to her directly.

"I want to encourage Wrangellites to practice their art, to write, to draw, to photograph, build, paint, sew, to make videos, to act," Prescott wrote. "I've seen locals making humorous videos, posts on Facebook about taking up baking, trying to homeschool, home exercise routines, attempting gardening, being an essential worker, caring for elders and more. These times have been trying and this virus isn't going away anytime in the near future. Someday I envision Wrangellites getting together at the Nolan Center to process and share what we went through together, so be thinking about that. I envision songs, skits, photographs, carvings, whatever, on the subject of resilience and how Wrangellites dealt with the pandemic, both the good and the bad."