ALASKA V3 CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST

ALASKA V3 CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST

INTRODUCING THE NEXT ALASKA

Alaska Version 3 (AK V3) is a grassroots effort interested in supporting the work of Alaskans who want to strengthen Alaska’s communities, people, and opportunities—resulting in a vibrant, selfsufficient, and globally relevant Alaska that supports its rural and urban citizens and economies for generations to come.

AK V3’s steering group meets weekly and welcomes individual and organizational guests to join the discussion. The desire is to compile, contextualize, connect, and create materials that will assist in bringing Alaskans together to explore the questions:

What is next for Alaska’s civic and market economies?

How will we get there?

In the winter of 2021, AK V3 invited the Forum to partner in hosting a writing contest that would harvest community members’ fresh views and wild new ideas for what the future could look like. The contest was open to Alaskans of all ages to submit an entry in three categories— essay, short story, or poem—describing the Alaska that the next generation will live in: the “Next Alaska” of 2050 and beyond.

In the following pages, we share the winning entries. Congratulations and thanks to all the writers who participated! We also want to thank the writing contest’s community sponsors: Ky Holland/Holland Consulting, Kitty Farnham, Meredith Nobel/Learn Grant Writing, Stephanie Holthaus, Ryan Witten/Streamline, and Sarah Katari/Katari Creative.

Learn more at akv3.com.

MADMEN STUDIOS

2021 WINNERS

Essay CAROLYN KREMERS

Carolyn Kremers writes literary nonfiction and poetry and spends as much time as possible outdoors. She moved from Colorado to Alaska in 1986. She dreams of the day when the majority of Alaskans choose to think and act with regard for the seven generations and the interconnectedness of all things.

www.pw.org/directory/writers/carolyn_kremers

Poem MAKA JINAATLAA MONTURE

Maka is an Indigenous author, campaigner, scholar, storyteller, poet, and ceremonial performer from Southeast Alaska. Tlingit (Łingit), Mohawk, Filipina, and Canadian Kanien’kehá:ka, she was born in Anchorage and is from Yakutat, of the Raven moiety, Copper River Clan, House of the Owl. Her Tlingit name is Keixé Yaxtí meaning “Morning Star.” Her idea of a perfect Alaska is one where Indigenous histories, peoples, and cultures are honored—as we create what it means to be Alaskans in the contemporary world together.

@moon.ture | www.moonture.studio

Youth Short Story OLIVIA PHILLIPS

My name is Olivia Phillips. I’m not quite sure what title I’d give myself, but I suppose my friend once called me a “human calculator.” My idea of a perfect Alaska would be one where it didn’t snow for like half the year.

Short Story CARLY DENNIS

Carly Dennis is a student and community organizer. She is forever grateful to have grown up on Dena’ina lands in Eagle River. She is currently studying politics at Pitzer College in Los Angeles, and works for the Sitka Conservation Society in the summer. She loves harvesting, cooking, and eating wild foods, and believes that nothing is perfect but listening is good.