Fairbanks Arts Association’s Statewide Poetry Contest is a celebration of poetry writing in Alaska and invites participation from writers of all ages, elementary school and up. Celebration of winning poems are traditionally featured in April during National Poetry Month. The contest aims to encourage, publicize and reward the writing of high quality poetry in our great state.
2020 Statewide Poetry Contest winners were selected by this year’s judge, Ishmael Hope.
Judge: Ishmael Hope
Ishmael Hope, an Inupiaq and Tlingit poet, actor and Indigenous scholar, served as the lead writer for the video game Never Alone (Upper One Games). He has published two poetry collections including Rock Piles Alone the Eddy (Ishmael Reed Publications) and played the character Atka in a feature film, Frontera Azul: The Blue Frontier (Patria Productions).
Recent publications include Poetry Magazine, Indian Country magazine and Native Voices: Indigenous American Poetry, Craft and Conversations (Tupelo Press).
ADULT DIVISION
Honorable Mention: Celebration by Richard Stokes (Juneau)
HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION
MIDDLE SCHOOL DIVISION
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DIVISION
PLEASE NOTE: Fairbanks Arts’ communications originally indicated announcement of 2020 Statewide Poetry Contest winners in late March with a reading in early April. Due to COVID-19 disruptions, this reading did not take place and we apologize for the delay in announcing this year’s winners. Thank you for your patience as we navigate these uncharted waters and make adjustments to our programs and schedule.
While circumstances did not allow us to accommodate a reading this year, we invited the poets to share a video reading of their winning poem. We invite you to enjoy those videos here!
Fairbanks Arts programs are made possible by individual and corporate contributions, the City of Fairbanks Hotel/Motel Bed Tax, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska State Council on the Arts and Fountainhead Development, Inc.
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