Alaska Center for the Book
Alaska Literacy and Literature Honored in 2025 Awards
Years of support for authors, reading, and language mark the five winners of the 2025 Contributions to Literacy in Alaska (CLIA) Awards from the Alaska Center for the Book.
Honorees are the Bright Lights Book Project, based in Palmer; Fairbanks author and literary critic David A. James; KYUK Public Media of Bethel; and Alaska Native language advocates Dr. Walkie Charles of Fairbanks and Yaayuk Alvanna-Stimpfle of Nome.
The CLIA Award winners will be honored with a dessert reception at 7 p.m. Sunday, July 13 at the Carr-Gottstein building at 4225 University Dr. on the Alaska Pacific University campus in Anchorage. Admission is free and open to the public. The brief ceremony will be followed by a reading from Homer poet Erin Coughlin Hollowell. The evening is a kick-off to the Summer Community Reading Series, part of APU’s low-residency program for Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.
The CLIA awards are presented annually by Alaska Center for the Book, Alaska’s affiliate with the U.S. Library of Congress Center for the Book. Since 1993, the awards have been presented to more than 100 people and institutions making a significant contribution in literacy, the literary arts, or the preservation of the written or spoken word.
Founded in 1991, ACB is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization. It participates in the National Book Festival, Alaska Reads, Alaska Book Week, Reading Rendezvous, and other events.
Great Reads from Great Places
Michael Engelhard’s Arctic Traverse and Debbie Miller’s Glaciers are Alive have been chosen to represent Alaska at the 2025 National Book Festival.
Both titles will be showcased as part of the Library of Congress National Center for the Book’s 2025 Great Reads from Great Places program at this year’s festival on September 6 in Washington D.C.
2025 Selection for Adults:
Arctic Traverse, A Thousand-Mile Summer of Trekking the Brooks Range, by Michael Engelhard (Mountaineers Books, April 2024)
2025 Selection for Youth:
Glaciers are Alive by Debbie Miller, illustrated by Jon Van Zyle (Charlesbridge, May 2023)
“We are thrilled to showcase these two captivating books that highlight Alaska’s amazing natural wonders at this year’s National Book Festival,” said Patience Frederiksen, president of the Alaska Center for the Book.
Thousands of book lovers attend the festival and visit a giant area called the “Roadmap to Reading,” where representatives from the 56 affiliates of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress staff tables promoting their book selections and state programs.
Visit the National Book Festival website for details about this year’s 25th anniversary festival.
Click here for a link to an Anchorage Daily News article about Debbie Miller and her writing life in Alaska.
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/.
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.
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
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.
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.