In these pages we introduce some of the many Alaskans who share community through writing. Some of the people you'll read about in Pass the Word are professional writers and writing teachers. Some write only for the sheer joy of it. All are involved in passing on the gift of literacy. In Showcase of New Writers you'll find work by writers of all ages, as well as other Alaskan venues highlighting creative writing.

Pass the Word

      Writing and Empathy:
    Reflections on the Special Olympics

Anchorage and its surrounding communities hosted the 2001 World Winter Games of the Special Olympics. In connection with the Games, the University of Alaska Anchorage designed a special course to help students use the tools of creative writing to reach a deeper understanding of their own experiences and of others.

     New Voices

There's been a decade-long explosion in the number of books by or about Alaskans, especially in the area of children's books, memoirs and mysteries. Now Alaska writers are venturing into more challenging terrain: genre fiction with a more authentic bite and creative nonfiction that brings fiction's best storytelling tools to the ''facts'' of our northern existence.

    Writing Rendezvous

Every spring, writers in Alaska gather at the University of of Alaska Anchorage for a conference to get energized, inspired, motivated, and as one attendee wrote, "to get out of my hole."

    Sitka Symposium

Each summer since 1984, the Sitka Symposium has explored relationships between writing and questions of social and ethical importance, between ideas and the responsibilities of our work and our lives.

     Perfect World

Kathleen McCoy believes that writing is a great way for young people to figure out what they think. "They are thinking about life out loud ... writing is a way to find out about themselves and how they are rooted in the world."

     Northern Star: Alaska Quarterly Review

Now in its twenty-fourth year of publication, Alaska Quarterly Review ensures that writing from Alaska means more than just Robert Service and The Milepost.

    Valdez Theatre Conference

Writers, directors, actors, and theatre lovers come to celebrate American theatre at the Prince William Sound Community College Theatre Conference held each summer in Valdez, Alaska.

    Kachemak Bay Writers' Conference

Sponsored by Kachemak Bay Campus - Kenai Peninsula College /UAA, the Kachemak Bay Writers' Conference is held annually in June in Homer, Alaska. The conference features workshops, readings and panel presentations in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and the business of writing.

     Tending the Tribal Fire

George Bryson is proud of the fact that people from all walks of life, with different points of view, have had a venue in We Alaskans. The magazine served as a venue each spring for the publication of the winners of the UAA/ADN annual Creative Writing Contest.

     Writing a Constitution

It was one tough collaborative writing assignment, to set down words that would shape the future of the entire state of Alaska. In November of 1955, 55 delegates, including Victor Fischer, met in Fairbanks to begin writing the law of the land.

   Making a Cookbook

Molly Bryson, Sarah and Amy Glen write about testing bread recipes with other kids for the book, Electric Bread for Kids. Articles about the book also include an interview with Ann Parrish, president of Innovative Cooking Enterprises.

Showcase of New Writers
New Alaskan writers of all ages are featured in many places on LitSite Alaska (including the Workbooks). Here we will feature winners of Alaska writing contests as well as the works of other new Alaska writers.

     LitSite Alaska's Postcard Contest

Entry information for Alaska writers of all ages who are invited to submit a postcard of their own design, writing in 100 words or less about their favorite place in Alaska.

              Gallery of Selected Entries

     U. of Alaska Anchorage | Anchorage Daily News
    Creative Writing Contest

Contest Winners

     Pencils Full of Stars

Pencils Full of Stars, a collection of poetry written by elementary children across the Anchorage, Alaska, School District, has been compiled and published each academic year since 1970.

  

     Letters About Literature

This national writing contest is sponsored by the Library of Congress Center for the Book and Target Stores. Read the entries of the Alaskan finalists and semi-finalists.

     Featured New Writers

In this section we feature new writers from across Alaska.

     Poetry Out Loud

This is the annual high school performance poetry challenge for young poets in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley. High school students write and perform original poetry.