diff --git a/CONTRIBUTORS.md b/CONTRIBUTORS.md
index 78910eb5a9a4..c62a28b52e8f 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTORS.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTORS.md
@@ -166,6 +166,7 @@ Created by running `./pants run build-support/bin/contributors.py`.
 + Kyle Derr
 + Kyujin Cho
 + Larry Hosken
++ Lasse Alm
 + Lawrence Finn
 + Le Nucksi
 + Lei Wang
@@ -179,7 +180,9 @@ Created by running `./pants run build-support/bin/contributors.py`.
 + Marc Abramowitz
 + Marcelo Trylesinski
 + Marcin Podolski
++ Marcus Lim
 + Marek Żarnowski
++ Marijn Valk
 + Marilyn Cruz
 + Marius Eriksen
 + Mark Chu-Carroll
diff --git a/src/python/pants/VERSION b/src/python/pants/VERSION
index ecb1ac39e205..741aea5f3308 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/VERSION
+++ b/src/python/pants/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.17.0.dev5
+2.17.0a0
diff --git a/src/python/pants/notes/2.17.x.md b/src/python/pants/notes/2.17.x.md
index 9038c6ca2c92..e29b60e0eb09 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/notes/2.17.x.md
+++ b/src/python/pants/notes/2.17.x.md
@@ -1,5 +1,57 @@
 # 2.17.x Release Series
 
+## 2.17.0a0 (May 18, 2023)
+
+### New Features
+
+* Add a workunit logging plugin ([#18984](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/18984))
+
+* javascript: Add `yarn@v1` support ([#18928](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/18928))
+
+* javascript: Support Node.js subpath imports ([#18934](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/18934))
+
+* Add Taplo toml formatter ([#18865](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/18865))
+
+* Include the Pants native client in released wheels ([#18957](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/18957))
+
+* Extract Python dependencies in an intrinsic ([#18854](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/18854))
+
+### User API Changes
+
+* Do not publish wheels for all SHAs, and publish to PyPI from Github Actions. ([#19028](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/19028))
+
+* Support Python requirement target addrs in tool requirements. ([#19014](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/19014))
+
+* javascript: Add an explicit `npm_distribution` target instead of coupling to `node_package` ([#18925](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/18925))
+
+* Shorten the deprecation for `export` without `--resolve`. ([#19000](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/19000))
+
+* Upgrade Pex to 2.1.137. ([#19003](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/19003))
+
+* Remove the underlying implementation of `anonymous-telemetry` ([#18952](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/18952))
+
+### Plugin API Changes
+
+* Port Django migrations inference away from `PythonDependencyVisitorRequest` ([#19008](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/19008))
+
+* fmtrequest -> abstractfmtrequest ([#18935](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/18935))
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* Use `{bin_name()} run` as `$0` in `run_shell_command` ([#19020](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/19020))
+
+* Make `DigestSubset` symlink-aware ([#18963](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/18963))
+
+* javascript: Do not add literal {chroot} to pnpm cache path ([#18921](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/18921))
+
+### Documentation
+
+* Clarify how to set $0 properly in `run_in_shell_command` ([#19019](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/19019))
+
+* Docs tweaks for 2.16.x ([#19009](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/19009))
+
+* Fix example `first_party_dependency_version_scheme` in docs ([#18993](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/pull/18993))
+
 ## 2.17.0.dev5 (May 08, 2023)
 
 ### New Features