Alaska Center for the Book
Congratulations to the winners of the 42nd UAA/Anchorage Daily News Creative Writing Contest
The contest began in 1981, the brainchild of newly arrived UAA English professor Ronald Spatz, who wanted to encourage new writers of all ages. In 2010, the Alaska Center for the Book stepped in to serve as the coordinating partner.
This year hundreds of entries were submitted from classrooms and writing desks across the state from writers ages 5 to 102.
The full text of the first-place winning entries for this year’s contest and previous contests can be found at LitSite Alaska.
Seeking Nominations for 2025 Literacy Awards
CLIA Awards
Alaska Center for the Book is seeking nominations for its 30th annual Contributions to Literacy in Alaska (CLIA) Awards.
The awards recognize people and groups who have made significant contributions in literacy, the literary arts, or the preservation of the written or spoken word in Alaska. Previous CLIA award winners include teachers, writers, tutors, booksellers, reading programs, web sites, businesses, and others dedicated to making the world a better place through the gift of language. Last year’s winners were the collaborative tradition-bearing team of Anne Fienup-Riordan, Marie Meade, and Alice Rearden; the Anchorage Daily News; and the Reading Mentors program of the Talkeetna Friends of the Library. More than 100 people and organizations have been honored over the past 30 years.
Alaska Center for the Book is the state’s affiliate with the Center for the Book in the U.S. Library of Congress. Founded in 1991, ACB is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization aimed at stimulating public interest in literacy throughout Alaska. ACB participates in Reading Rendezvous, the National Book Festival, UAA/ADN Creative Writing Contest, Alaska Reads, Alaska Book Week, and other events and programs.
This year’s CLIA Award nominations are due May 15, 2025. Winners will be honored during Alaska Pacific University’s summer session of the Master of Fine Arts program in July. The nomination form and information on past winners is available at this link or click on the CLIA tab in the menu above.
Alaska Reads Program Announces Book Selection
Indigenous author Lily Tuzroyluke has been selected for the 2024-2026 Alaska Reads program, which brings Alaskans together through shared reading experiences.
Tuzroyluke is of Inupiaq, Tlingit, and Nisga’a First Nations descent; originally from Point Hope, she now lives in Anchorage. Her historical novel Sivulliq: Ancestor is set in 1890s Alaska, amid harrowing change for the Inupiaq people. The story is a tale of survival, of an Inupiaq family that survives a smallpox epidemic and the arrival of American whalers, and the Black whaler who shares part of their struggle.
Sivulliq: Ancestor has received wide literary praise since being published by Epicenter Press in 2023, and was selected for the Library of Congress Great Reads from Great Places. As the Alaska Reads author, Tuzroyluke will visit libraries and communities across the state through 2026.
Every two years, the Alaska Reads committee chooses a publication by a living Alaskan author. The author travels throughout Alaska discussing their work at book discussion groups, libraries, bookstores, museums and cultural centers, and through radio broadcasts and social media. Previous authors and their selected books include Ernestine Hayes, author of Blonde Indian; Nicole Stellon O’Donnell’s Steam Laundry; Heather Lende’s Finding the Good; and Paul Greci’s Surviving Bear Island.
Alaska Center for the Book, which coordinates the program, has partnered with the Alaska State Library, the Alaska Humanities Forum, and the Rasmuson Foundation to provide books and author travel.
Libraries interested in hosting Tuzroyluke can contact Lila Vogt at lilav@spenardak.com.
2025 Alaska Poetry Out Loud Champion!
From the Alaska State Council on the Arts Newsletter
On March 5th, (11) Alaska State Poetry Out Loud Finalists gathered for the Alaska State Competition in the Capital City of Juneau. We are proud to announce that Mona Koko from West Anchorage High School will represent the State of Alaska for the National Competition in Washington DC as our 2025 Alaska State Poetry Out Loud Champion, May 5-7. Raiden Skorski-O’Donnell of Homer High School is the Runner-up for Alaska Poetry Out Loud 2025.
All of the 2025 State Finalists recited their poetry selections with distinction and excellence, and the recording of the competition is available in partnership with KTOO Public Media at https://www.ktoo.org/video/poetry-out-loud-2025/.
New Reading Rendezvous Coordinator Named
After ten years of stellar service coordinating Reading Rendezvous, Robin Brooks has decided to concentrate on other duties as a member of the Alaska Center for the Book Board of Directors.
Many thanks for the time and energy she put into making the festival a success each year.
We’re happy to welcome the new coordinator. Here she gives us a few words about herself:
Hello! My name is Kari Eschenbacher Young and I am so excited to serve as this year’s Reading Rendezvous Coordinator! I hail from the lands of Montana and Oklahoma. After completing my degree in Outdoor and Community Recreation, I landed an internship in Kodiak, Alaska and fell in love with the community of Kodiak and with Alaska. I then went on to be a Camp Director for a youth outdoor science camp, put on by the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge for several years. I eventually made the move over to the “mainland” and worked as a program manager for the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, working with Tribes and First Nations in relation to environmental work and education. I currently reside in Eagle River with my husband and toddler, who I take care of full time. I am passionate about working with youth and that is experience I have gained in all of my past jobs. Some of my hobbies include hiking, camping, birding, baking, reading, and creating memories with my family.
Vera Starbard Named New Alaska State Writer Laureate
The Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA), in partnership with the Alaska Humanities Forum, is pleased to announce Vera Starbard, T’set Kwei, as the new 2024-2026 Alaska State Writer Laureate. Starbard, a Tlingit and Dena’ina playwright, magazine editor, and Emmy-nominated television writer, brings a breadth of experience and a passion for storytelling to this prestigious role. MORE
Enjoy Alaska Book Week
(Even After It Has Passed)
Alaska Book Week is an annual celebration highlighting and promoting Alaska’s literary culture. Though this special week has passed, you can find links to many of the virtual events that happened this year and in the past few years at the Alaska Book
Week website. This year it took place from October 5th through October 12th and served as a platform to celebrate Alaskan authors, illustrators, and publishers. The event is designed to raise awareness about the state’s rich literary heritage, showcasing established and emerging voices across Alaska’s diverse communities.
Throughout the week, events are held in various locations, including bookstores, libraries, schools, and online platforms, featuring book readings, author panels, workshops, and book signings. It’s a time when Alaskan stories, ranging from fiction and poetry to history and memoirs, take center stage. The event encourages participation from the literary community and the general public, fostering a sense of connection and pride in Alaska’s storytelling traditions.
The week’s themes often highlight the state’s unique landscapes, history, and cultural narratives, reflecting Alaskans’ spirit and resilience. It’s an opportunity for readers and writers alike to engage with the stories that define life in this vast and rugged region, strengthening the local literary community by providing visibility to creators and encouraging a love for reading.
This celebration highlights the work of Alaskan authors and plays a significant role in cultivating literary talent and fostering collaboration between artists and readers across the state. It’s a vibrant testament to how literature can reflect and shape a place’s identity.
Visit our Alaska Book Week website here to find out about more than 20 events that took place. There you will also find links to past year’s virtual Alaska Book Week events.
Great Reads from Great Places
Books by regional authors selected to represent Alaska at the 2024 National Book Festival
The Alaska Center for the Book is proud to announce the books chosen to represent Alaska for
the 2024 Great Reads from Great Places, a program featured at the annual National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.
Since 2002, each state has selected a book written for children or young adults that reflects
their state’s unique character and location. In 2022, a second book, one for an adult audience
was added to the program. Selections are highlighted at the Festival, and are placed on the
permanent list of honored titles online at Great Reads from Great Places.
2024 Selection for Adults:
Homestead by by Melinda Moustakis
2024 Selection for Youth:
Eagle Drums by Nasugraq Rainey Hopson
The 2024 National Book Festival was held in the nation’s capital at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Saturday, August 24. A selection of programs will be livestreamed online and videos of all programs are available here:
Link to all of the previous years’ Great Reads videos from around the country.
More information can be found here.
A full list of participating authors can be found at on National Book Festival website.
We were thrilled by the response to the 2023 Read Alaska Native Reading Challenge and are pleased to offer the activity as an ongoing reading activity. No deadlines. No entry forms. Just download the bingo cards for your age groups and use as a personal reading challenge or as a group activity. Cards, bookmarks, and resources can be found on the homepage for the Read Alaska Native project.
Click here to go to the Read Alaska Native Project homepage.
PICK. CLICK. GIVE
The Alaska Center for the Book is included in the Permanent Fund Dividend’s Pick.Click.Give. charitable contributions program. It’s a secure and easy way to make a donation to an organization that stimulates public interest in literacy through the spoken and written word. When you file for your PFD online, you will be given a chance to donate money from your PFD. When you do, please remember The Alaska Center for the Book.
Just check the box that authorizes the State to send your name, contact information and the amount you give when it sends contributions to an organization so we can recognize your support.
Thanks to all who contributed. Your help allows the Alaska Center for the Book to continue its programs, events and unique projects to support and build literacy in Alaska.
For more information click here: Pick. Click. Give.
Opportunities
Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference – The Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference has been the place where writers from Alaska and beyond come together to create community and learn how to be better writers. They are looking forward to welcoming you to the 2025 conference on May 17-20 at the Kachemak Bay Campus in downtown Homer, Alaska. There wil be four-days of craft classes, agent and editor meetings, panel discussions, readings by the participants and the faculty, and more chances for folks to interact with each other and form the community of writers that sustains us when we return to our desks. They hope that participants of the conference leave with stronger writing tools and a strengthened resolve to keep putting their words to the page. Now, more than ever, every writers’s stories, poems, essays, novels, and more need to be nourished.
The Alaska Native Arts Directory – The Alaska Native Arts Directory is an upcoming free online platform for all Alaska Native artists—no matter your medium or career stage. Whether you’re a visual artist, create customary arts or crafts, write, make music, act, are a storyteller, or a language speaker, this space is for you. The Directory will be designed to showcase your work, foster connections, and offer business development resources. An initiative of the Alaska Native Arts Foundation, the directory is currently being built, and we’re actively seeking artists to join.
Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 1:30 PM – 3 PM – Nature Journaling Workshop with Kim McNett – Homer – Award-winning naturalist, artist, teacher and wilderness guide, Kim McNett, teaches nature journaling and visual art to all ages. Nature journaling is a practice of creativity and curiosity that draws from our own experiences in the natural world. Learn beginner-friendly field sketching and recording techniques that will strengthen your observation and appreciation of the natural world. Workshop includes a blank journal and use of all needed supplies. Click here for more information.
Baby Raven Reads –Sealaska Heritage sponsors Baby Raven Reads, an award-winning program that promotes early-literacy, language development and school readiness for Alaska Native families with children up to age 5. Baby Raven Reads improves early literacy skills by translating cultural strengths into home literacy practices. Baby Raven Reads provides family literacy events, training for care providers, and professional development for early childhood educators. Included on the Baby Raven Reads page are lesson plans, audio resources, and information about purchasing books in the series! Visit www.akarts.org/studentseducators for more detailed information and other Student + Families + Educators resources.
Seeking Alaska Native Writers Calling all Alaska Native writers, poets, and content creators! We are seeking submissions for stories, poems, photo essays, and other creative works that center what Spring means to you from an Indigenous lens. This is a paid opportunity, and we would like to share your work with our community.If you’re interested, please contact Presley West at pwest@alaskanative.net. Haw’aa!
Hometown Reads is in Anchorage! A website dedicated to locating authors near you, Hometown Reads has a section for Anchorage. Sign up to have your book displayed and join the Facebook page to brainstorm ways to advertise and sell books locally. Check it out at https://hometownreads.com.
Youth Poet Laureate. You probably know that there is a United States Poet Laureate, but you may have never having heard of the Youth Poet Laureate. Here is a link to a excellent article from TheLilly.com that features a conversation with two Youth Laureates.
- The Alaska Native Arts Directory – The Alaska Native Arts Directory is an upcoming free online platform for all Alaska Native artists—no matter your medium or career stage. Whether you’re a visual artist, create customary arts or crafts, write, make music, act, are a storyteller, or a language speaker, this space is for you. The Directory will be designed to showcase your work, foster connections, and offer business development resources. An initiative of the Alaska Native Arts Foundation, the directory is currently being built, and we’re actively seeking artists to join.