2022 Statewide Poetry Contest

Published on by fairbanksartsassociation

27th Statewide Poetry Contest

Entry Period: December 1, 2021 –  February 11, 2022; 11:59 AKST

2022’s contest is now closed. Please stay tuned for the winners’ announcement coming in March!

The Statewide Poetry Contest is a celebration of poetry writing and literary artistry and invites participation from writers of all ages—elementary school and up. The contest aims to encourage, publicize, and reward the writing of high-quality poetry in Alaska. 

Winners of the contest will receive monetary prizes as well as an invitation to share their poetry during a reading event in April.

DIVISIONS                 AWARDS

Adult 1st Place $150 | 2nd Place $100 | 3rd Place $50

High School 1st Place $100 | 2nd Place $50   | 3rd Place $25

Middle School 1st Place $50   | 2nd Place $30   | 3rd Place $15

Elementary School 1st Place $50   | 2nd Place $30   | 3rd Place $15

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Open to Alaska residents only. 
  • Submissions are limited to 4 poems per writer.  
  • All poems must be original, unpublished work.
  • Poems must be typed and submitted as 8.5”x11” pdf document.
  • May not exceed 100 lines in length (to exclude title and spaces). 
  • Include the poem’s title on the first line of the document. 
  • The writer’s name must not appear on any poems. 
  • File name for poems must include poem title and submitter’s division, i.e. poemtitle_division.pdf (examples: bluevase_adult or pony_elementary).

Any poems not adhering to the above instructions will be disqualified. 

ENTRY FEES 

Adults: $4 per poem or $13 / four poems.

Elementary, Middle, and High School: $3 per poem or $10 / four poems. 

Class Entries (special submission form): $1 per poem

For questions, please call (907) 251 8386 or email literary@fairbanksarts.org. 

Judge: Erin Coughlin Howell 

Erin Coughlin Hollowell is a poet and writer who lives at the end of the road in Alaska. Prior to landing in Alaska, she lived on both coasts, in big cities and small towns, pursuing many different professions from tapestry weaving to arts administration. She is the author of Pause, Traveler (2013) and Every Atom (2018), both published by Boreal Books, an imprint of Red Hen Press. Her collection Corvus and Crater is forthcoming from Salmon Poetry in 2023. She has been awarded two Rasmuson Foundation Fellowships, a Connie Boochever Award, and an Alaska Literary Award. Her work has been most recently published in Orion Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Alaska Quarterly Review, Terrain.org, and Sugar House Review, and was a finalist for the 49th Parallel Contest for the Bellingham Review. She is the executive director of Storyknife Writers Retreat and director of the Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference.