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Seth Kantner Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

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Seth Kantner

Seth Kantner

Seth Kantner Biography

Seth Kantner is a commercial fisherman, writer and wildlife photographer. He was born and raised in northern Alaska and his art reflects his love for this land and the animals who live on it, and his belief in the importance of wildness left wild.

Kantner was schooled at home and attended the University of Alaska and later the University of Montana where he received a BA, with honors, in Journalism.

He's worked as a fisherman, trapper, gardener, mechanic, igloo builder and adjunct professor. His writings and photographs have appeared in Outside, Alaska Geographic, the New York Times, Prairie Schooner, and in other magazines, literary journals and anthologies. He's a former columnist for the Anchorage Daily News and presently writes a bi-monthly dispatch on climate change in the Arctic for Orion magazine.

His 2004 book Ordinary Wolves was published by Milkweed Editions and won a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award. Kantner is a Recipient of the Whiting Writers' Award in 2005 for fiction.

He lives in northwest Alaska with his wife, Stacey, and his daughter, China.

Seth Kantner's website

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Interview

Seth Kantner answers questions about his extraordinary first novel set in rugged, uncharted North West Alaska.

Whenever we think of "Great Alaskan Novels," we invariably think of Jack London. Did his writings influence you in Ordinary Wolves?
Very much so. Part of the reason I became a writer was Jack. He said when you spat or pissed it crackled and froze before it hit the ground. It never did that when I was a kid, reading Jack––it got to 78 below one time and it never did that! But the whole world believed it did because of London. Later, much later, I realized his descriptions of the cold and north were very good. Plus he wrote and lived and drank a lot––things I could at least relate somewhat to.

How authentic do you think the popular image of Alaska as the wild, rugged, uncharted West is?
Depends on your perspective––in the Brooks Range in a storm in midwinter, you could say it's pretty rugged. But a lot of folks come in the summer and fall; they have GPSs and often now satellite phones. For $3.95 they can buy detailed USGS maps of every bend in every slough. Alaska, that I knew as a kid, is gone; the land is still here but planes fly over it relentlessly—from my perspective—carrying everything that Americans have too.

Was it hard to imagine Cutuk’s outlook as a kid ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Seth Kantner at BookBrowse
Ordinary Wolves jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Seth Kantner but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • John Balzar

    John Balzar

    John Balzar is Senior Vice President, Communications, of the Humane Society of the United States. He joined the executive staff in 2007 after a 33-year career as a journalist, writer, and adventurer.

    His opinion columns ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Ordinary Wolves

    Try:
    Yukon Alone
    by John Balzar

  • Marla Cone

    Marla Cone

    Marla Cone is one of the nation's premier environmental journalists. She has nineteen years of experience covering environmental issues, including fifteen years at the Los Angeles Times. She is the author of Silent ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Ordinary Wolves

    Try:
    Silent Snow
    by Marla Cone

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