Seth Kantner was born and raised in northwest Alaska, far from the conveniences of modern life. He attended University of Alaska and University of Montana, from which he received a bachelor’s degree in journalism. His writings and photographs have appeared in Outside, Alaska Geographic, New York Times, Reader’s Digest, and in literary journals and anthologies. He currently writes a bi-monthly dispatch on climate change in the Arctic for Orion magazine. In 2004, his debut novel, Ordinary Wolves, won the Milkweed National Fiction Prize and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award. Seth received a Whiting Award naming him one of the nation’s top ten emerging writers. Shopping for Porcupine was published in 2008.
Seth lives with his wife Stacey and daughter China in Kotzebue.
KIMI: Why did you write Shopping for Porcupine?
SETH: One reason was the number-one question from readers of Ordinary Wolves: “How autobiographical is your novel?” I wanted to answer some of the questions people had. I also have wanted to publish some of my photographs--in a book--but felt there was already a plethora of Alaskan coffee table books. I liked the idea of a literary book with photos, as opposed to the other way around.
KIMI: How did the process compare to that of writing Ordinary Wolves?
SETH: It was much different—in the novel I was making up a world, albeit from experience. In Porcupine I had to dig into the past, some of it before I was even born. Every time I thought I had a section done my parents or one of my parents’ friends would contradict some “fact.” The writing was a bit easier than fiction, but dealing with the details and shifty facts was harder. Plus, mixing in photos compounded the problems. I’m glad it’s over.
KIMI: You mention several times in Shopping for Porcupine that writing does not come easily to you, nor is it something that you envisioned yourself doing when you were younger. So why do it?
SETH: Oh, writing was the LAST thing I wanted to do. I think it sneaked in as a way to communicate with people—for someone who felt like the biggest outsider on the planet.
KIMI: What do you hope to accomplish and/or communicate to your readers?
SETH: Now, I write to show how valuable this land and animals are just the way they are. Unpolluted, wild, alive. I write because I don’t want to see it mined and drilled and paved. I don’t get paid enough to write simply for this feeble money; my writing is me struggling to pay my debt to the land.
KIMI: One of the things I appreciate most about your stories and essays is the fact that you “tell it like it is.” There is no romanticizing of Native culture, but at the same time you don’t come across as being judgmental or critical either. Is this a balance that you consciously try to achieve or does it come out naturally?
SETH: No, it does not come natural! I spend days, months, years sanding off the rough spots on every sentence. Those are my highest priorities: to tell it like it is, and to be non-judgmental.
KIMI: How have people in Kotzebue and the region reacted to your work?
SETH: I think people have been fair, enthusiastic, and supportive. People here said Ordinary Wolves is humorous. That’s a big compliment. Some have told me they like Shopping for Porcupine even better. Of course, there are down-sides. Local people tend to think one book, one million. Dollars, that is. Not true, sadly for writers. Also, I’ve heard a small undercurrent where people claim I said bad things about Natives. They’re right, I did. But I also said bad things about white people. And good things about both, too. That’s life. That’s why people read it.
KIMI: In both of your books you chronicle the demise of the subsistence lifestyle and the eroding of Native culture. What do you see happening in the future, both near and far?
SETH: That’s a big question. I see Cabela’s. And Walmart. And big-screen TV’s. I see roads and mines, and less and less of these amazing elders and their ways and stories. I’d like to see things change slower, and us to be thoughtful about what we embrace.
KIMI: What hopes and dreams do you have for your daughter, both in relation to the land that is so close to your heart, and the larger world?
SETH: I want my daughter to feel like she’s part of something. I’ve always been an outsider, everywhere. It is also important to me that she knows nature enough to understand and care for and protect the natural world. I’m already there--she’s traveled a lot and her favorite place is still my home and birthplace along the river.
KIMI: What do you see as the most pressing issues facing Alaska at the present time? What about the Northwest Arctic region?
SETH: The most pressing issue is that Alaska doesn’t sell out to resource extraction and get all polluted and scraped. There’s huge and growing demand for resources worldwide—Alaska needs to wise the hell up. Clean land, clean water, and undrilled nature is and is going to be far more valuable than gold, copper, lead and oil.
KIMI: Do you have any more books in the works?
SETH: I’m working on a novel about racism, art, and other top-secret stuff.
KIMI: Anything else you would like to share?
SETH: Be good to what you eat.
