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Over $800 in Cash Prizes!

The contest began in 1981, the brainchild of newly arrived UAA English professor Ron Spatz. This 2020 contest is the 37th since the beginning with only three breaks. In 2010, the Alaska Center for the Book took on the role of coordinating partner, providing hundreds of volunteer hours to manage entries, recruit and coordinate judges, communicate with winners, and distribute certificates to winners.

More than 650 entries were submitted for the 2019 contest and we hope to see another increase in entries from classrooms across Alaska for the 2020 contest. 2019 Entries arrived from writers in Haines, Juneau, Ketchikan, Unalaska, Healy, Kodiak, Anchor Point, Fairbanks, Kenai, North Pole, Holy Cross, Cooper Landing, Sitka, Galena, Soldotna, Homer, Port Alsworth, Valdez, Wasilla, Palmer, Eagle River, Anchorage, Chugiak, Tok, Glennallen, Ninilchik, Dillingham, Denali, Cantwell, Sutton, Kotzebue, and Bethel. Winners ranged in age from 6 to 81.

The 2020 submission period has ended.

Winners are eligible for the below cash prizes:

Story

Grade K-2 ..... $25

Fiction

Grade 3-5 ..... $25
Grade 6-8 ................ $25
Grade 9-12 .............. $50
Open to the Public ........ $50

Non-fiction

Grade 3-5 ..... $25
Grade 6-8 ................ $25
Grade 9-12 .............. $50
Open to the Public ........ $50

Poetry

Grade K-2 ..... $25
Grade 3-5 ..... $25
Grade 6-8 ................ $25
Grade 9-12 .............. $50
Open to the Public ........ $50

Grand Prize: $200 | Editor's Choice: $100

Creative Writing Contest Rules

  1. The contest is open to Alaska residents. College students who maintain Alaska residency may enter. All judges, editorial or administrative employees of Anchorage Daily News, faculty or administrative employees of the University of Alaska and board members of the Alaska Center for the Book, and their immediate family are ineligible.
  2. Work published previously in any copyrighted newspaper, magazine, book or other medium is ineligible. Writing for school publications may be entered. Entries must be original.
  3. Contestants may enter one work of fiction (not to exceed 5,000 words), one work of non-fiction (not to exceed 5,000 words), and up to three poems. A contestant may enter all categories in his or her age group.
  4. Each submission requires a separate completed entry form.
  5. Entries should be entered through the website at adn.com/creativewritingcontest no later than 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 12, 2020. Only entries in digital format will be accepted.
  6. No submissions will be returned.
  7. Panels of Alaska judges, recruited among writers, teachers, librarians, and booksellers, judge entries for each category. (Teachers will not judge their own students’ entries.) A separate panel of judges will select the Grand Prize winner. Judging and winner notification will be completed no later than May 1, followed by an announcement in Anchorage Daily News.
  8. The author retains the copyright to the submitted work, and agrees to publication in Anchorage Daily News, print and online editions, and on the University of Alaska Anchorage’s LitSite Alaska website. Winners may be asked to provide a photo to appear with their entries.
  9. The decisions of the judges are final. Submission indicates acceptance of all contest rules.

Questions about the Creative Writing Contest should be e-mailed to creativewritingcontest@adn.com.

UAA/ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST 2019 WINNERS

Story
K-2

First: Logan Clark
A Strange World

Family Partnership Charter School,
Eagle River

Honorable mentions
AK 3 Little Wolves by Natalie Hutchings, Polaris K-12, Anchorage
The Flower Fairy by Teagan Thirlaway, Susitna Elementary, Anchorage
Farm Girl by Freyja Walters, Idea Families Homeschool, Kenai

Fiction
Grades 3-6

First: Mariah Young
Willow

Huffman Elementary,
Anchorage

Honorable mentions
Lost and Found by Dori Germain, Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School, Juneau
Pens for Sale by Mayla Hoedel, Bowman Elementary School, Anchorage

Fiction
Grades 7-9

First: Julianna Graham
Shadows

Homeschool, Fairbanks

Honorable mentions
Forced to the Woods by Ava Elerding, Schoenbar Middle School, Ketchikan
Mt. Parker Ski Resort by Maggie Nevala, Dimond High School, Anchorage
Sea of Stars by Clara Stading, Nikolaevsk School, Homer

Fiction
Grades 10-12

First: Grace Harang
Beach Home

Sitka High School, Sitka

Honorable mentions
Penn State Asylum Sweetheart by Hope Evans, Valdez High School, Valdez
Alphabet Story by James Snyder, Burchell High School, Wasilla
The Thing in the Woods by Rain Lisenbee, West Anchorage High School, Anchorage

Fiction Open
to the Public

First(tie): by David Bernard
The Married Lives of Grizzly Bears

Homer

First(tie): Richard Goldstein
The Visitor

Anchorage

Honorable mentions
To the Years I Follow by Joseph Jackson, Fairbanks
Cicadas by Robert Raven, Anchorage
Quiet Quake by Jimmy Robson, Anchorage

Non-Fiction
Grades 3-6

First: Lucia Chapell
The Tale of the Lost Tail

Haines Middle School,
Haines

Honorable mentions
The Mysterious Fishtale by Pema Curry, Haines Middle School, Haines
The Bad News by Klover Cinocco, Haines Middle School, Haines
Excite-Meant by Selah Joy Densmore, Cyberlynx Homeschool Correspondence, Palmer
When It Comes to Candy by Hayden Jimenez, Haines Middle School, Haines

Non-Fiction
Grades 7-9

First: Julia White
Bittersweet Memories

Service High School,
Anchorage

Honorable mentions
My Quake Break Tale by Caroline McLaughlin, Goldenview Middle School, Anchorage

Non-Fiction
Grades 10-12

First: Allison Wayt
Shaken Up

South Anchorage High School,
Anchorage

Honorable mentions
Rising from the Ashes by Althea Gerlt-Nelson, West Anchorage High School, Anchorage

Non-Fiction Open
to the Public

First: Daniel Smith
Akaskulinity

Anchorage

Honorable mentions
Mom’s Olson Rug by Mike Harpold, Ketchikan
34 Years a Guide by Joseph Jackson, Fairbanks

Poetry
K-2

First: by Nhu Quyn Cao
Munch, Crunch

Anchor Lutheran School,
Anchorage

Honorable mentions
Eclipse by Issac Dykstra, Anchor Lutheran School, Anchorage
Snowflakes by Penny Higgins, Polaris K-12, Anchorage
Dad by Emma Miner, Anchor Lutheran School, Anchorage

Poetry
Grades 3-6

First: McKenna Carlin
I Am

West Homer Elementary,
Homer

Honorable mentions
Ode to Poems by Samuel Fineman, Aquarian Charter School, Anchorage
Fire by Ida Meyer, Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School, Juneau
Rocket-Propelled Van by Springer Moore, Bear Valley Elementary School, Anchorage

Poetry
Grades 7-9

First: Katielyn Vaughn
The Song of the Violin

Homeschool, Palmer

Honorable mentions
True Friends by Lynnea Hack, Kenai Middle School, Kenai
Where I Come From, There I’m From by Caedon Merriner, Sydney Huntington School, Galena
I’m Fine by Chloe Moffett, Kenai Middle School, Kenai

Poetry
Grades 10-12

First: Carmen Gordon-Rein
Flyaway

West Anchorage High School,
Anchorage

Honorable mentions
You Can See Heaven in the Sky by Alicia Gould, Burchell High School, Wasilla
The Beauty of Autumn by Kaylahni Weddel, Sitka High School, Sitka

Poetry
Open to the Public

First: Don Decker
Family Trilogy

Anchorage

Honorable mentions
SAHM 1 by Melissa Bassham, Anchorage
Confiteor by Kay Cavanaugh LaMantia, Anchorage

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