Contests
The English Department offers several monetary contests for student writing. Contests for the 2025–26 academic year will open in January 2026. Please email the English Department at uaf-english-dept@alaska.edu if you have any questions about the contests.
Harold McCracken Award for Outstanding Writing about Alaska (Nonfiction)
Purpose: To provide an award to a UAF Student for creative writing in a broad Alaska field.
Eligibility: Open to UAF undergraduate or graduate students.
Submission Rules: Upload one nonfiction piece that pertains to Alaska.
Amount: $500
Minnie E. Wells Award in Literary Criticism Contest
Purpose: To provide an award based upon an essay written by a student for an upper division
literature course offered by the UAF Department of English.
Eligibility: The student must be a UAF Sophomore, Junior, or Senior in good academic standing
(GPA of 2.0 or above).
Submission Rules: Submit an essay that was written in an upper-level division (300, 400, or 600 level)
literature course within the UAF English Department during the Spring, Summer, or
Fall semester of 2025 or Spring of 2026.
Amount: $200
Caroline Musgrove Coons Writing Scholarship
Purpose: To provide tuition grants to sophomore or junior students majoring in English at
the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Eligibility: The student must be a full-time Sophomore or Junior majoring in English.
Submission Rules: There are three documents required:
- One letter describing your educational goals.
- One letter of recommendation from a faculty member.
- One creative or academic writing piece no longer than 25 pages.
Amount: Up to $5,000 in tuition reimbursement.
E.L. Bartlett Contest for Literary Criticism
Purpose: To provide an annual award for the English Department's literary criticism contest.
Eligibility: Open to UAF undergraduate or graduate students.
Submission Note: The writing piece can be from an upper-division or graduate-level literary course
taken at UAF from the Spring, Summer, or Fall of 2025, or Spring 2026.
Amount: $200
Farthest North Fiction
Eligibility: Open to all UAF undergraduate students
Amount: $100
Northern Lights Essay
Eligibility: Open to all UAF undergraduate students
Amount: $100
Derick Burleson Poetry
Eligibility: Open to all UAF undergraduate students
Amount: $100