First, Soos found out in a phone call that he’d been named the new Alaska State Writer Laureate as part of the Governors Awards for the Arts for 2015. Seconds later, he learned that his wife would also be receiving an award, as the state’s Individual Artist honoree for 2015.
Soos, professor emeritus of English at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, has published several works of fiction, including the short story collections “Early Yet” (1998) and “Unified Field Theory,” (1998) and a book of essays “Bamboo Fly Rod Suite: Reflections on Fishing and the Geography of Grace,” (1999), illustrated by Alaska artist Kesler Woodward. “Unified Field Theory” earned him the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction in 1997. He is also co-editor with Woodward of “Under Northern Lights: Artists and Writers on the Alaskan Landscape,” (2000).
Klass is a visual artist who shares her husband’s passion for books and the literary arts. Her work includes artist books and modified forms of artist books which she calls box constructions and altar pieces. These mixed media pieces feature found and natural objects meticulously arranged to create evocative visual landscapes. Klass has works in the permanent collections of the Anchorage Museum and the Museum of the North, and has exhibited her work all over the country, including in Juneau.
One of the exciting things about being named together, Klass said, is the potential for collaboration, something the couple is already known for. Soos and Klass are believed to be the only couple to be honored at the same time in different disciplines.
Alaska State Council on the Arts Governor’s Awards Program
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