The Poems in Place Project seeks nominations for poetry to be placed at state parks in Ketchikan and near Fairbanks. Alaska State Parks, the Alaska Center for the Book and a steering committee of Alaska writers and poets are collaborating on the Poems in Place Project, a statewide project to celebrate the natural beauty of Alaska’s state parks with poetry. 

The goal of the Poems in Place Project is to install poems on permanent signs in state parks throughout Alaska in the coming years. The first in this series, “What Whales and Infants Know,” by the late Kim Cornwall, a resident of Homer and Fairbanks, was installed in 2011 at Beluga Point in Chugach State Park, with support from Homer writer Wendy Erd, Alaska State Parks and the Alaska State Council on the Arts.

“Poetry that celebrates Alaska’s natural environment — whether it’s an alpine valley or a tidal cove — can have a positive, powerful impact on visitors and Alaska residents, as we’ve seen following the poetry installation at Beluga Point,” said Claire LeClair, deputy director of Alaska State Parks. 

The Poems in Place project is currently accepting poetry submissions for two state parks,  Totem Bight State Historical Park in Ketchikan and the Chena River State Recreation Area north of Fairbanks. Alaskans are invited to submit up to three poems each. These poems can be written in response to the solicitation. The public may also nominate poems previously written by an Alaskan poet, living or deceased. 

For submission rules, visit www.alaskacenterforthebook.org/id112.html.