25th Statewide Poetry Contest

The Entry Period is now Closed.

The Statewide Poetry Contest is a celebration of poetry writing in Alaska and invites participation from writers of all ages, elementary school and up. With a reading in April, during National Poetry Month, the contest aims to encourage, publicize and reward the writing of high quality poetry in our great state.

Winners of the contest, who will be announced in late March, will receive an invitation to share their poetry during a reading alongside other poetry contest awardees and will record their poems with KUAC for broadcast on channel FM 89.9.

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

Entry Fee:

Adults – $4 per poem
Elementary, Middle, and High School – $3 per poem
Class Entries (min. 10 poems) – $1 per poem


Judge: Ishmael Hope

ishmael_hope - 1

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).

alaskanativestoryteller.com


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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.