In 1963, under House Resolution 25, the position of Poet Laureate was officially confirmed by the Legislature.  In 1996, the Alaska State Council on the Arts  acted to broaden the position to that of State Writer, recognizing and honoring all genres of writing. The State Writer position is an honorary appointment with a  two-year commitment.  The Council facilitates the selection of an Alaskan Writer who has demonstrated exemplary professionalism, literary excellence and a commitment to the advancement of literary arts in Alaskan Communities.  Alaska's current State Writer Laureate is John Straley of Sitka, appointed October 2006-September 2008. 

The Press will launch this series - which will honor Alaska's literary heritage since becoming a State - with a special public reading and presentation in the fall of 2008. 

Current and former Alaska State Writer Laureates will be invited to read and participate in these Anniversary events.

The first title to be published will be John Straley's The Rising and the Rain, Collected Poems.  A second collection, New and Selected Poems by Tom Sexton, will be published in early 2009.

This is a comprehensive volume with contributions from more than two-dozen of the most prominent scholars and community leaders in Alaska today who will offer a complete reevaluation of the key past, present and likely future political issues in Alaska politics and government.  Currently there is no book available that can serve as a one-volume primer on Alaskan affairs.  The book will provide public officials, business leaders, college students, and the general public with the foundation they need to begin to understand the 49th State. 

Alaska Politics and Public Policy will be published in January 2009 in honor of the 50th anniversary of Statehood.  The University of Alaska will host a presentation during the first few weeks of the legislative session where leading contributors to the volume will discuss the main public and political issues facing Alaska over the past fifty years and in the future.