Ice Box & Permafrost

The UAF English Department hosts two journals of creative writing: Ice Box and Permafrost. Both journals are staffed entirely by student volunteers, who gain experience in editing, production, and publishing.  Whereas Ice Box features works from the UAF community, Permafrost is a national journal. In recent years, Ice Box and Permafrost have been produced with financial support from the Office of Undergraudate Reserach and Scholoarly Activity, the UAF Alumni Association Benefactor Fund, and the Provost Office's People Endowment Fund.

Ice Box
Cover art for Ice Box Issue #19. A thermographic image of two hands held outward. The colors red, blue and, orange are very bold. It's a grunge aestethic. The front cover says "Ice Box" in large text. The back cover lists all contributors.
Ice Box is the undergraduate literary journal of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Published annually in the spring, it features fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, hybrid work, and artwork from current UAF undergraduate students. The journal is staffed by students enrolled in ENGL 475: Practicum in Literary Publishing (spring semesters). Submissions are open during the fall semester. For the 2023-24 academic year, Joseph Alloway is the club president, and Joseph Holt is faculty advisor. Ice Box is also an official student group on campus.

Ice Box began as an annual zine published by graduate students. In 2001, Professor Cindy Hardy agreed to serve as faculty advisor, and Ice Box morphed into a more traditional literary journal. Hardy served in that position until 2014, when the journal transitioned to an online format. The 2019 issue, volume 15, marked the return of Ice Box as a print journal. Back issues are available for viewing and purchase from the main English office in Gruening 850. Volume 19 is in the final stages of production and will be released in Summer 2023. Our cover artist for volume 19 is Jade Lamoreaux. Ice Box will reopen for submissions in Fall 2023.

Permafrost
Permafrost is the national literary journal edited by MFA students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It publishes twice per year: a winter print issue and a Permafrost Issue 44.1 coversummer online issue. In addition to the journal, Permafrost also hosts an annual book prize in collaboration with the University of Alaska Press. Student editors will sometimes receive internship opportunities with the press as well. For the 2022-23 academic year, Courtney Skaggs is editor-in-chief, and Daryl Farmer is faculty advisor.

Permafrost was founded in 1977 and has published continuously ever since. It prides itself as being the northernmost literary journal for writing and the arts, located at 64° 50′ N (198 miles from the Arctic Circle).  Although Permafrost's perspective is shaped by the unique environment of Alaska, the journal publishes original voices from all over the world.  To learn more about submissions, contests, subscriptions and the editorial staff, please visit the full Permafrost website.