Marjorie Sa'adahA writer working on a non-fiction book about horse racing is spending 8 weeks in Sitka doing research.

Marjorie Gellhorn Sa’adah is the Island Institute’s first Rasmuson Artist-in-Residence, a program created by the Rasmuson Foundation to bring artists from outside Alaska into the state, and to send Alaskan artists out into the world.

Sa’adah writes and teaches creative non-fiction. It’s a form of journalism that borrows the tools of the novel and short story. Her work-in-progress is titled At Home in the Going, which is a term used to describe a race horse running at its best on a particular track surface.

Sa’adah’s book documents the lives of the people — mainly itinerant workers — who prepare the tracks, make them safe for horses, and make racing possible. She stopped by KCAW and talked with Robert Woolsey about what she’s learned in Sitka to help her with her story.


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Marjorie Gellhorn Sa’adah will speak tonight (Tue 10-1-13), 7 PM, at Kettleson Library in Sitka.