Book excerpt: MOORINGS is the winner of the Nina Mae Kellogg First Place Award for Graduate Fiction. When twenty-three year old Anne Holloway travels from the lower forty-eight up to Alaska to meet the father she's never known, she learns finding her roots is not as simple as it seems. Surrounded by misty fjords and receding glaciers, the town of Snug Harbor shelters more than a small fishing community still struggling to survive more than two decades after a major oil spill; the locals here spin tall tales to avoid discussing their volatile pasts. While unraveling the violent, deceitful truth about her history, Anne's presence precipitates break-ups, boat crashes, and, even, unexpected storms. But in the process, she gains an identity all her own.