We welcome submissions to a new series that will feature creative writings about trails in the KMTA Heritage Area. Contributors will pick one trail to write about. Published on the KMTA website, and incorporated into an interactive Map, these celebratory accounts of historic trails will spur hikers to connect to new paths. We are seeking accounts of established trails, as well as unmarked routes. Any walk in the wild that you would like to promote.
As far as style and structure, we encourage you to find your own way. Forming a literary trail guide, these personal essays and poems will invite readers to travel in another’s muddy shoes. To experience the trail through the writer’s senses.
Here are some optional prompts to get you thinking. Even though you’re already starting down the trail in your mind – rain pattering leaves, fresh tracks in snow, a spruce grouse around the bend glowing in dusty sun.
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- The trail is the main character.
- The trail is a living thing.
- The same trail is different every time you hike it.
More Details:
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- Trail-related essays and poetry welcome!
- 1,000 words is the suggested word count. However, we are open to submissions of any length (shorter/longer).
- The writer will submit photos or visual art to accompany their words. 2 image minimum. 10 maximum. Editors will make final decisions on which images to include.
We are proud to bring this series to life in partnership with Sean Ulman, the creator and editor of the Trail Mix Journal.
Sean lives in Seward and is the author of the novel Seward Soundboard (Cirque Press 2020). He hosts a radio show featuring local writers reading their work live on the air, Seward Sound Words (91.7 KIBH FM).
A founding member of the Seward Writers Collective, Ulman grew up in Massachusetts and fell for hiking in Bar Harbor Maine’s Acadia National Park. When people ask him how he ended up in Alaska he says, “The trails. And the birds.”
To submit a story or poem for consideration in the Trail Mix Project, first contact Sean Ulman at seanulman@gmail.com about your idea. Sean will work with you on editing and finalizing your piece for publishing. Once it is in final form, you can submit your story and corresponding photos using the link below.
