I've become even more of a pest to friends recently by wagging a copy of John Straley's poetry collection "The Rising and the Rain" (University of Alaska Press, 2008) in front of them and reciting selections that have caught my fancy. One poem, "the erotic life of books," luxuriates in the sensations of perusing real books in a library.

Take one out too fast and you can hear a sighing.

You can smell their breath ...

and when you open one

you can hear a soft moan,

"Thank you," they say.

This struck a chord because recently, killing time in Seattle, I stopped by the music library at the University of Washington. My ostensible reason was to check the score of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony for details I heard in January's Anchorage Symphony performance under Randall Craig Fleischer. A new set of Shostakovich's complete works was on the shelf, and, as I opened the volume with the symphony, the pages made the kind of crackle you get upon first opening a new book.

Was I the first person to look over these pages since they were bound? It seemed improbable, but there was also a scholarly edition of the complete works of Paul Hindemith with a light coat of dust on their tops, looking new yet 30 years old, that made the same sound. I felt the thrill of Indiana Jones.

Students dotted the library tables. Each of them worked at a laptop. From time to time one squinted over the screen at me as I excitedly flipped pages of "William Tell" or the keyboard works of Couperin. I imagined one of them alerting security: "There's this icky old man behaving oddly way back in those rows of books. He's removing them from where they belong on the shelves. It produces the most distracting noises when that paper stuff moves. Make him go away."

My schedule obliged me to leave before that could happen. So far as I got with the Shostakovich, by the way, Randy's interpretation was right.

"The Rising and the Rain" contains some of the best writing I've seen come out of Alaska. Aside from the agreeable subject matter of birds on wires, deathbed sentiments and the moral lessons to be learned from Warner Bros. cartoon characters, most of it didn't leave me puzzling over what happened.

That's a plus when it comes to contemporary poetry. Each poem is self-contained, yet I find a palpable over-arching theme to the collection that I'll leave others to determine on their own. (Hint, six wedding tributes, apparently written for Straley's friends, come back to back toward the end.)

Check it out and let me know what you think. Skip the ninth poem where he says, "I'll read anything/but the newspapers."

Another best-seller for Stabenow?

Speaking of real-deal writers, in her "Roadhouse Report" e-blast Thursday, Alaska author Dana Stabenow told readers, "My editor just called to say that 'Whisper to the Blood' will be on the New York Times best-seller list next week.

"It's pretty far down, but it's there, an almost unheard of appearance for the 16th book in a series that has never made the list before."

"Whisper" may be the first Kate Shugak mystery to make the list, but Stabenow herself has been on it before, with her 2006 thriller "Blindfold Game."

Curiously enough that best-seller is referenced on the jacket in pre-publication press releases but another Shugak book, "A Deeper Sleep," is mentioned on the jacket of the hard copy received here at the Daily News. Check out both covers at adn.com/artsnob.

Master class today

International renowned teacher Robert Edwin, an expert in contemporary commercial music techniques (i.e. ads) will present a voice master class at 1 p.m. today at the UAA Arts Building Recital Hall. Edwin adjudicated the NATS-Alaska Musical Theater Competition on Saturday and selected a few students with whom he will be working today, but the event is open to the public. His last master class here, two years ago, was a real learning experience for those who attended. Admission is $10 at the door.

Bethel art sought

The Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Lower Kuskokwim School District have put out a Call for Art for the Bethel Regional High School Deferred Maintenance Project. OK, so that doesn't have the same ring as "a design for the new St. Peter's Basilica in Rome," but it does come with a $70,921 budget.

Artists are invited to submit proposals for exterior artwork. The call is open to all artists and/or teams of artists with residency in Alaska. The deadline for submission is March 30.

Visit Artistic Opportunities at www.eed.state.ak.us/aksca for more information.

RAW winners

Radical Arts for Women has picked the winners of the 2009 RAW Short Story Contest. First place -- which includes a $500 cash prize, publication and an invitation to read at Celebration of Change, RAW's annual performing arts event and fundraiser in June -- went to "Frayed Yellow Rope" by Wendy Withrow. Second place ($300) went to Brianna Dym for "She Remembers on a Cold Summer Day," and Alix Layton and Marilyn Conner tied for third ($50 each) for "Tomorrow" and "Gestures," respectively. Honorable mentions went to Terrilyn F. Watts, S.P. Horton, Karis Koett, Jean Anderson, E.J. Essic and Annette Baker. More information is available at www. radicalartsforwomen.org.