Congratulations to the Winners of the
23rd Annual Statewide Poetry Contest!
Fairbanks Arts received a total of 255 poems for this year’s contest! The winning poets receive cash prizes for First, Second, and Third Place in each category.
“We’re really excited to see poets from all over Alaska represented in the contest winners,” said Literary Arts Coordinator Alyssa Enriquez. “We had entries from the North Slope community of Kaktovik down to Craig in Southeast Alaska. It was especially rewarding to see teachers submitting poems from their classrooms.”
Come hear the winners and honorable mention poets read their work
April 15, 6pm, Bear Gallery
(3rd floor Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts, Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way, Fairbanks, 99701)
And the winners are…
Elementary School
- First: Darcy Misel, Fairbanks- ‘Sneakers’
- Second: Naiyana Ongtooguk-Guritz, Fairbanks- ‘Chasing Birds’
- Third: Ilana E. Williams, Fairbanks-‘Sonnet of Snow’
- Honorable Mention: Justine Lovely, Fairbanks- ‘The Gray The White and The Black’
- Honorable Mention: Naiyana Ongtooguk-Guritz, Fairbanks- ‘Rose Petal Jam’
Middle School
- First: Risa Heinrichs, Fairbanks-‘A Dancing Flicker’
- Second: Sophie O’Brien, Wrangell-‘Colorful Memories’
- Third: Gage E. Tilly, Fairbanks- ‘Methods of Telling Time’
- Honorable Mention: Sophie O’Brien, Wrangell- ‘Reflections’
- Honorable Mention: Trinity Scheidecker, Craig –‘Rumors’
- Honorable Mention: Emily Schmetzer, Fairbanks- ‘Spruce Logs’
- Honorable Mention: Jacob Allen Dow, Wrangell- ‘A Moment’
High School
- First: Sasha Gorda, Fairbanks- ‘Falling’
- Second: Tyler Barnedt, Fairbanks-‘Tyler’
- Third: James Hoodecheck, Fairbanks – ‘Piper’
- Honorable Mention: Stanley Rogers, Ester- ‘Alyeska Aesthetics’
Adult
- First: Kersten Christianson, Sitka-‘The Ungulate’s Jaw’
- Second: Kori Hensell, Fairbanks- ‘Foxfire’
- Third: Kersten Christianson, Sitka- ‘Curios’
- Honorable Mention: Richard Stokes, Juneau- ‘Woven’
- Honorable Mention: Mindy Goorchenko, Eagle River- ‘The Selfish Act of Winter’
- Honorable Mention: Kersten Christianson, Sitka- ‘Katie’s Cabin’
- Honorable Mention: Rob Childers, Fairbanks – ‘A Borrowed Acre’
2017 Statewide Poetry Contest Judge: Jeremy Pataky
Jeremy Pataky is the author of Overwinter (University of Alaska Press | Alaska Literary 
Series). His poems and essays have appeared in Colorado Review, Black Warrior Review, The Southeast Review, Cirque, Ice Floe, Anchorage Press, some anthologies, and more. Jeremy earned an MFA at the University of Montana and a BA at Western Washington University. He’s a former first place winner of both the FAA Statewide Poetry Contest and the UAA/ADN Creative Writing contest, and was a Poetry Out Loud state finals competition judge. He is a founding former board member and now Interim Executive Director of 49 Writers, and also coordinates the Rasmuson Foundation Artist Residency Program. He splits his time between Anchorage and McCarthy.
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
