CULINARY ARTS

• CALL FOR CHEFS: The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is looking to crown the next king or queen of Alaska seafood. The institute is hosting the Great Alaska Seafood Cook-Off May 14 in Anchorage and invites professional chefs from around the state to enter the competition to compete head-to-head for the honor of representing Alaska in August at the Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans. Entries will be collected until April 1. During the live competition, the contestants will have an hour to prepare and plate a dish highlighting Alaska seafood. Their work will be judged by a panel of past Great American Seafood Cook-Off contestants and culinary stars from Alaska and beyond. Find out more, including how to enter, at greatalaskaseafoodcookoff.com.

LITERARY ARTS

• CALL FOR WRITERS: Registration is now open for the upcoming 2012 Kachemak Bay Writers' Conference, set for June 8-12 at Land's End Resort in Homer. This year's keynote presenter will be National Book Award winner Barry Lopez. The conference will feature 17 other award-winning, nationally recognized authors, editors and agents who will conduct creative writing workshops, readings, craft talks and panel presentations in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and the business of writing. Optional activities include manuscript reviews, editor-agent consultations, receptions, a boat cruise and open mike. Nationally recognized conference faculty will be Elizabeth Dodd, Camille Dungy, James Engelhardt, Daryl Farmer, Debra Gwartney, Valerie Miner, Dan O'Neill, Ann Pancake, Don Rearden, Jim Rutman, Eva Saulitis, Jeffrey Shotts, Sherry Simpson, Nancy Lord, Alaska State Writer Laureate Peggy Shumaker, Sherry Simpson and Amber Flora Thomas. The early registration fee is $350, space available. There is a special UA-admitted student rate. Advance registration is required. For program and registration details, visit writersconference.homer.alaska.edu

• CALL FOR WRITERS: Anchorage essayist and author Bill Sherwonit will teach a 12-week nature and travel-writing class beginning 7-9:30 p.m. Jan. 19 in the Sierra Club office downtown. Participants in this workshop-style class will explore and refine their own writing styles, with an emphasis on the personal essay form. The class will also read and discuss works by some of America's finest nature and travel writers. The cost is $240. To sign up for this Thursday night class or for more information, contact Sherwonit at 245-0283 or akgriz@hotmail.com. Further information about the teacher is also available at billsherwonit.alaskawriters.com.

• CALL FOR PLAYS: The Last Frontier Theatre Conference is calling for plays for its 2012 Play Lab. The conference takes place June 10-16. Selected plays receive public readings at the conference, with both public and private feedback sessions led by theater professionals. Authors must register for the conference and be in attendance for their reading. Plays must be from 20 minutes to two hours in length and are due by Thursday. Complete rules and updates about the conference are posted at www.theatreconference.org. Contact Dawson Moore at 907-834-1614 or dmoore@pwscc.edu with questions.

PERFORMING ARTS

• CALL FOR ACTORS: Alaska Fine Arts in Eagle River will put on "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" in February. Auditions for the show are set for 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday at 12340 Old Glenn Highway, Suite 200. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script. Auditioners may come on one or both days. The play has more than 16 speaking and non-speaking parts. The director is looking in particular for a large adult male and a tall adult female. Rehearsals begin Jan. 9 and run Mondays-Thursdays and some Saturdays. (694-8909)

•• CALL FOR YOUNG MUSICIANS: Applications are now available for the Alaska Jazz Workshop Spring 2012 Small Jazz Combo Improvisation Class. Music students will have fun improvising over jazz, blues, funk and Latin music styles with Alaska Jazz Masters John Damberg and Mark Manners. Open to grades 7-12, the class will meet 4- 6 p.m. Fridays, Jan. 13-May 12 in Room 124 of the UAA Arts Building. Tuition is $480 for 16 classes and two student concerts. Deadline to register is Friday. Applications are now available at akjazzworkshop.org or by calling 332-3234.

• CALL FOR SINGERS: Arctic Siren Productions Inc. has announced an open casting call for its sixth cabaret season. Singers perform a minimum of five songs per evening backed by the Kevin Barnett Trio. All performers are paid. Shows are on the second Friday of the month from September to May. Audition at noon today and Jan. 6, Turnagain Arts Building, 4105 E. Turnagain Blvd. (artcsirn@alaska.net)

• CALL FOR YOUNG ACTORS: Alaska Theatre of Youth will conduct auditions for "The Hobbit" and "Disney's Aladdin Jr." from 6-8:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at 610 W. Fireweed Lane. The directors will audition both shows together. Auditioners only need to come to one day of auditions. The shows run in repertory Feb. 24-March 3 at the Sydney Laurence Theatre. Come prepared to do cold readings from the script and dress to move. Call 338-4901 or visit www.alaskatheatreofyouth.org.

• CALL FOR ACTORS: Auditions for "Eleemosynary" by Lee Blessing and directed by Krista M. Schwarting will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 21 at Cyrano's Off Center Playhouse. Auditions will consist of readings from the script. Needed are three women, one in her early to mid-teens, one in her 30s and one in her 50s-60s. This play is all about relationships between a strong-willed, eccentric grandmother, her brilliant daughter, and her granddaughter, who possesses exceptional intellect and sensitivity. Cyrano's Theatre Co. is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a reprise of this play. Rehearsals will start in late-February. "Eleemosynary" will run March 30-April 22.

• CALL FOR WIND INSTRUMENT MUSICIANS: The University Wind Ensemble will hold auditions for the spring semester Jan. 15 in the afternoon. Email Mark Wolbers (afmew@uaa.alaska.edu) to schedule an audition. The band rehearses from 4-5:45 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays in the East High School band room. UAA students pursuing degrees in music make up the core of the ensemble. The remaining chairs are awarded through auditions to non-music university students, along with community adults and high school musicians. All performers are registered for upper-division credit at UAA. Non-music majors enroll for one credit.

• CALL FOR ACTORS: Valley Performing Arts director Elizabeth Hanson will hold auditions for "The Trip To Bountiful" in March. She's looking for four to six males (ages 20-65 but flexible) and three to five females (ages 20- 75 but flexible). Check valleyperforming arts.org for specific positions and audition requests. VPA produces seven plays a year starting in September and ending in May.

• CALL FOR ACTORS: Anchorage Community Theatre seeks actors for the upcoming production of "Proof," directed by Michael Faust. Auditions are set for 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9, at 1133 E. 70th Ave. Roles are Robert, 50s; Catherine, 25; Claire, 29; and Hal, 28. No preparation of material is necessary. Those auditioning will be asked to read from the script of the play in dialogue with others. If the audition date doesn't work, email meganbladow@gmail.com.

VISUAL ARTS

• CALL FOR ARTISTS: Ptarmigan Arts in Homer is currently soliciting artists for shows in all media in the Back Room Gallery for the months of April, August, September, October, November and December and all months of 2013. Solo shows and most collaborations are welcome. For details, contact Dan Fischer at 907-235-5977 or email danfischer160@hotmail.com.

POTPOURRI

• CALL FOR ALL ARTISTS: The 2012 Alaska Arts and Culture Conference, "2012 Creative Communities," is set for Jan. 12-14 at the Egan Center, sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts. Organizers say that from the opening speaker to the closing session, participants will be inspired, stimulated and entertained. The conference is for artists, arts organizations staff, volunteers, board members and arts educators. (Register at eed.state.ak.us/aksca.)

Do you have a creative opportunity to list in this column? Send details to play@adn.com.