Recipients of the 2017 Alaska Literary Awards and 2017 Connie Boochever Fellows Announced

The Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation, in partnership with the Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA), is pleased to announce the artist recipients of the 2017 Alaska Literary Award and the 2017 Connie Boochever Fellowships.

Alaska Literary Awards

The following five Alaska literary artists, selected from a pool of 42 applications, will each receive $5,000 awards:

Mary Katzke, screenwriter, Anchorage

Lily Tuzroyluke, fiction writer, Point Hope

Vivian Faith Prescott, poet, Wrangell

Matthew Komatsu, creative nonfiction writer, Anchorage

Don Rearden, fiction writer, Anchorage

The Alaska Literary Awards recognize and support writers of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting, and mixed genres. Quality of the work submitted is the primary consideration in determining who receives the awards. The annual Alaska Literary Awards are made possible by Peggy Shumaker and Joe Usibelli through their generous donation to the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation administered by the Alaska State Council on the Arts.

Connie Boochever Fellowship

The following four Alaska performing artists will each receive $2,500 fellowships:

Christy NaMee Eriksen, spoken word artist, Juneau

Ruby Jones, performance artist, Anchorage

Christel Veraart, composer and musician, Anchorage

Stephanie Wonchala, dancer and choreographer, Anchorage

The purpose of the Connie Boochever Artist Fellowship is to recognize and support Alaska emerging artists of exceptional talent. The Connie Boochever Fellowship was established to honor and reflect the spirited passion of the arts Mrs. Boochever consistently demonstrated, and to further the message she championed throughout her life: That the arts are important to the citizens of Alaska and worthy of significant support from individuals, businesses and corporations.