UAS Writing Center unveils Summit anthology April 16

Students will preview published work in launch event for the 2026 collection of academic essays.

Juneau, Alaska

Date of Press Release: April 9, 2026

The University of Alaska Southeast Writing Center will host a launch event for the 2026 edition of its academic anthology, Summit, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 16, in the lower level of the Egan Library.

Student authors will read from their published essays, including Andrea Florendo, winner of the Ernestine Hayes Award for Excellence in Essay Writing. “Between Ravenstail & Chilkat robes: Transitional robes” details her personal, cultural and technical journey in weaving.

“There are not many opportunities for undergraduate students to have academic works published, so we are extremely grateful to offer this unique step into the professional writing world to everyone enrolled at the university,” said Sophia Gimm, the anthology’s managing editor and a fourth-year tutor at the UAS Writing Center. “By dedicating time to refining an essay and evaluating one’s own writing, students are pushed to view themselves as both scholars and important voices in an academic community.”

Summit is an annual collection of student essays from disciplines spanning the humanities, social and physical sciences, teacher education, and more. The Ernestine Hayes Award for Excellence in Essay Writing is given to a student whose work demonstrates the "summit" of achievement in undergraduate academic writing. The UAS Student Government recently provided support to increase the prize to $500.

UAS Writing Center student tutors manage the publishing process, including soliciting submissions, reviewing works in collaboration with a faculty panel, creating the layout and printing. The 2026 edition features a cover design by student Kaida Irvin.

The event is open to the public, and refreshments will be served. A Zoom livestream will be available for those who cannot attend in person.

Copies of Summit will be available for checkout at the UAS Egan Library in Juneau beginning the week after the launch. The Juneau Public Library will also receive copies for its collection in the coming weeks. Copies are not available for individual sale.