Vera Starbard

Last updated
Vera Starbard in 2018 Vera Starbard, March 2018.jpg
Vera Starbard in 2018

Vera Starbard (born 1982) is a Tlingit/Dena'ina television writer, author, playwright, and editor based in Douglas, Alaska, and current Alaska State Writer Laureate.

Contents

After premiering her first play, "Our Voices Will Be Heard," at Perseverance Theatre in 2016, she was named Playwright-in-Residence at Perseverance Theatre through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Playwright Residency Program. [1] [2]

Vera began editing and writing as a journalist straight out of high school. She was editor of First Alaskans Magazine, a publication highlighting Alaska Native people, culture, and news, for ten years.

As a television writer Vera has written numerous episodes of the Molly of Denali animated children's program airing on PBS KIDS [3] and was nominated for three Emmy Awards for her work on the show. [4] [5] Vera was on the writing staff of ABC's show Alaska Daily. Vera was appointed Alaska State Writer Laureate in 2024, a two-year appointment. [6]

Recognition

Plays

Television Episodes

Molly of Denali aired on PBS Kids: [21]

Alaska Daily aired on ABC: [22]

SuperKitties aired on Disney Junior: [23]

Additional Published Works

Personal Life

Vera's Lingit name is T'set Kwei, her clan is Leeneidi (dog salmon,) and she's a citizen of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. She was born in Craig, Alaska, was raised in numerous communities around the state of Alaska, [6] and graduated from East Anchorage High School in 2000.

Vera met her husband Joseph "Joe" Bedard in 2011 through an introduction from actress Irene Bedard, Joe's sister. They married in Anchorage, Alaska, and live in Douglas, Alaska. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juneau, Alaska</span> Capital of Alaska, United States

Juneau, officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of what was then the District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. On July 1, 1970, the City of Juneau merged with the City of Douglas and the surrounding Greater Juneau Borough to form the current consolidated city-borough, which ranks as the second-largest municipality in the United States by area and is larger than either Rhode Island or Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perseverance Theatre</span>

Perseverance Theatre is a professional theater company located on Douglas Island in Juneau, Alaska. It is Alaska's only professional theater and is particularly dedicated to developing and working with Alaskan artists and to producing plays celebrating Alaskan culture, history, and themes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nora Marks Dauenhauer</span> Tlingit poet, short-story writer, and scholar (1927–2017)

Nora Marks Keixwnéi Dauenhauer was a Tlingit poet, short-story writer, and Tlingit language scholar from Alaska. She won an American Book Award for Russians in Tlingit America: The Battles of Sitka, 1802 And 1804. Nora was Alaska State Writer Laureate from 2012 - 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Peratrovich</span> Native-American civil rights activist

Elizabeth Peratrovich was an American civil rights activist, Grand President of the Alaska Native Sisterhood, and a Tlingit who worked for equality on behalf of Alaska Natives. In the 1940s, her advocacy was credited as being instrumental in the passing of Alaska's Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, the first state or territorial anti-discrimination law enacted in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byron Mallott</span> American politician (1943–2020)

Byron Ivar Mallott was an American politician, elder, tribal activist, and business executive from the state of Alaska. Mallott was an Alaska Native leader of Tlingit heritage and the leader of the Kwaash Ké Kwaan clan. He was the 12th lieutenant governor of Alaska from December 2014 until his resignation on October 16, 2018. He also previously served as the mayor of Yakutat, the mayor of Juneau, the president of the Alaska Federation of Natives and the executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernestine Hayes</span> Tlingit writer, poet, and former Alaska State Writer Laureate

Ernestine Saankaláxt Hayes is a Tlingit author and an Emerita professor at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, Alaska. She belongs to the Wolf House of the Kaagwaaataan clan of the Eagle side of the Tlingit Nation. Hayes is a memoirist, essayist, and poet. She served as Alaska State Writer Laureate 2017–2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celebration (Alaska festival)</span> Alaskan festival

Celebration is a biennial Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultural event held during the first week of June in Juneau, Alaska, United States that occurs once every two years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Jackson (artist)</span> American artist

Nathan Jackson is an Alaska Native artist. He is among the most important living Tlingit artists and the most important Alaskan artists. He is best known for his totem poles, but works in a variety of media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Louise Rasmuson</span>

Mary Louise Milligan Rasmuson was an American army officer, and fifth director of the Women's Army Corps (WAC).

Mildred Robinson Hermann was an American lawyer. She was the first woman lawyer in Juneau, Alaska. Hermann has been called the "Queen Mother of the Alaskan Statehood," due to her leadership in Alaska becoming a state. She was a signer of the Alaska State Constitution. In 2009, she was named to the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Galanin</span> Musical artist

Nicholas Galanin is a Sitka Tribe of Alaska multi-disciplinary artist and musician of Tlingit and Unangax̂ descent. His work often explores a dialogue of change and identity between Native and non-Native communities.

Kesler Edward "Kes" Woodward is an American artist, art historian and curator. Known for his colorful paintings of northern landscapes, he was awarded the first Alaska Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts in 2004. Woodward has also written extensively on the Art of the circumpolar North and has curated exhibitions which have toured Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, and Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teri Rofkar</span> Native American weaver and educator (1956–2016)

Teri Rofkar, or Chas' Koowu Tla'a (1956–2016), was a Tlingit weaver and educator from Sitka, Alaska. She specialized in Ravenstail designs and spruce root baskets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosita Worl</span> American anthropologist (born 1937)

Rosita Kaaháni Worl is an American anthropologist and Alaska Native cultural, business and political leader. She is president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, a Juneau-based nonprofit organization that preserves and advances the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Native cultures of Southeast Alaska, and has held that position since 1997. She also served on the board of directors of the Sealaska regional Native corporation for 30 years, beginning in 1987, including as board vice president. The corporation, with more than 22,000 shareholders, founded the heritage institute and provides substantial funding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarissa Rizal</span> Native American artist (1956–2016)

Clarissa Rizal was a Tlingit artist of Filipino descent. She was best known as a Chilkat and Ravenstail weaver, but she also worked in painting, printmaking, carving, and sculpting.

Mary Rosanne Katzke is an American filmmaker, writer, and photographer known for Alaska-based documentaries bringing attention to various social and healthcare issues, including sexual assault, domestic violence, mental illness, homelessness, Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury and breast cancer. Since 1982, she has produced four dozen grant-funded documentaries through her nonprofit production company Affinityfilms.

Linda Anne Infante Lyons is a Native American visual media artist from Anchorage, Alaska. She is Alutiiq, with her mother's family descending from Kodiak Island, and Estonian. The island's natives experienced two waves of colonization, which plays a central role in Lyons' artwork.

Lily Hope is an Alaska Native artist, designer, teacher, weaver, Financial Freedom planner, and community facilitator. She is primarily known for her skills at weaving customary Northwest Coast ceremonial regalia such as Chilkat robes and ensembles. She owns a public-facing studio in Juneau, called Wooshkindein Da.àat: Lily Hope Weaver Studio which opened downtown in 2022. Lily Hope is a mother of five children, and works six days a week.

Lance X̱ʼunei Twitchell is an American scholar, poet, and language revitalization advocate. He works as an associate professor of Alaska Native Languages at the University of Alaska Southeast. He has written for "Molly of Denali".

References

  1. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (5 April 2016). "The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and HowlRound Announce $5.58 Million in Grants through the National Playwright Residency Program". The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  2. "Alaska Native playwright Vera Starbard wins three-year writing residency". Juneau Empire. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  3. Hohenstatt, Ben (9 August 2019). "'Molly of Denali' drums up fun, cultural pride". Peninsula Clarion. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 Larson, Clarise (2022-11-22). "'You can do these things': Emmy-nominated Juneau writers hope 'Molly of Denali' success opens door for more Indigenous voices". Juneau Empire. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  5. 1 2 "2nd Children's and Family Emmy Awards", Wikipedia, 2024-10-10, retrieved 2024-10-20
  6. 1 2 3 4 Baxter, Adelyn; KTOO, Adelyn Baxter (2024-10-19). "Juneau's Vera Starbard named next Alaska State Writer Laureate". KTOO. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  7. alaskabusiness (2022-01-11). "2021 Governor's Arts and Humanities Awards Recognize Nine Alaskans". Alaska Business Magazine. Retrieved 2024-10-20.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  8. Pool, Press (2022-10-31). "Announcing the 2022 awardees of the First Alaskans Institute Howard Rock and Ted Stevens Smokehouse Gala". ICT News. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  9. Anchorage, Tripp J. Crouse, KNBA- (2020-06-14). "Children's program 'Molly of Denali' wins Peabody award". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved 2024-10-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. "Meet this year's winners of the Mayor's Awards for the Arts". Juneau Empire. 2016-08-04. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  11. Foundation, Rasmuson (2023-05-11). "All Years Awardees | Rasmuson Foundation". rasmuson.org. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  12. "Vera Starbard (Tlingit/Dena'ina)". HowlRound Theatre Commons.
  13. BWW News Desk. "New York Stage and Film Announces NEXUS Initiative Artist Grants". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  14. "Vera Starbard | New Play Exchange". newplayexchange.org. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  15. Kirsch, Geoff. "Raising Voices". The Anchorage Press. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  16. "Our Voices Will Be Heard". KBOO. 23 June 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  17. Uno, Roberta, ed. (2018). Contemporary plays by women of color: an anthology (Second ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN   9781138189461.
  18. Hohenstatt, Ben (26 September 2019). "Theater Review: 'Devilfish' is a hell of a play". Juneau Empire. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  19. Crouse, Tripp J.; Anchorage, KNBA- (8 December 2020). "Alaska Indigenous theater production transforms classic holiday tale in 'Tlingit Christmas Carol'". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  20. "38th Marathon of One-Act Plays". Ensemble Studio Theatre. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  21. Molly of Denali (Animation, Action, Adventure), Sovereign Bill, Vienna Leacock, Lorne Cardinal, WGBH, 2019-07-15, retrieved 2024-10-20{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. Alaska Daily (Drama), Hilary Swank, Jeff Perry, Grace Dove, Slow Pony, Co-Lab 21, 20th Television, 2022-10-06, retrieved 2024-10-20{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  23. Superkitties (Animation, Short, Action), Emma Berman, Pyper Braun, Cruz Flateau, Sony Pictures Television, Disney Junior, Silvergate Media, 2023-01-11, retrieved 2024-10-20{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  24. My Life: Growing Up Native in America. 2024-10-01. ISBN   978-1-6680-2170-5.
  25. "Applied Theatre with Youth: Education, Engagement, Activism". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  26. "Contemporary Plays by Women of Color: An Anthology". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 2024-10-20.

[1] [2]

[3]