Finalists

Our fifty poets for the 2025 anthology appear below. Please join us in congratulating them!

  • Sam Bailey, “Why I’m a Xtian”
  • Jessica Bowdoin, “Wintering”
  • Shelly Stewart Cato, “River, Heron, Doe”
  • Letitia Chan, “Inheritance”
  • James Ciano, “The Committee of Men (Haze)”
  • Acie Clark, “Self-Portrait as Orpheus on T”
  • Laura Cresté, “Between 5,000 and 12,000 Years after the Eruption”
  • Brian Czyzyk, “Equinox”
  • Kate DeLay, “Repair”
  • Jonathan Diaz, “Your Old Men Shall Dream Dreams, Your Young Men Shall See Visions”
  • Courtney DuChene, “On Culling”
  • emet ezell, “Has Your Spirit Dried Up”
  • José Felipe Ozuna, “Undocumented Sonnet”
  • Mckendy Fils-Aimé, “the lougawou discusses repetition”
  • Katey Funderburgh, “Dinner Party”
  • Harrison Hamm, “Ghost of a Peacock”
  • Michael Hurley, “Vespers or Orison or Haven”
  • L. A. Johnson, “Birthmark”
  • Tobi Kassim, “Heavyweight”
  • Anya Kirshbaum, “Letter from the Edge of Every Known Thing”
  • Hannah Kosak, “Portrait Returning to the Fog”
  • Peter LaBerge, “California Avenue”
  • Caroline Laganas, “Champagne or Maggots?”
  • Kent Leatham, “America’s Last Hometown”
  • Alexander, “Memorial Day & How We Fight”
  • Lindsay Li, “悲怆五阶段 (heritage study)”
  • Janiru Liyanage, “The Deer”
  • Elizabeth Loudon, “Renunciation”
  • Alejandro Lucero, “When I search ‘Sapello,’”
  • Cate Lycurgus, “Martingale”
  • Brittany Male, “Case Study”
  • Melissa McKinstry, “Late Spring Epiphany after the Georgia O’Keeffe Exhibit”
  • Lenna Mendoza, “You can’t really clean the piercing gun at Claire’s,”
  • Brooke Middlebrook, “Après L’Ondée”
  • Lo Naylor, “object permanence”
  • Jupiter Nesky, “Kiddush Levana—for S.”
  • Sophie Pedersen, “feast on your life”
  • Chi Pham, “Italian Lambskin Leather Gloves”
  • G.H. Plaag, “Televised”
  • Dora Prieto, “Girls of the Now [Garments]”
  • Justin Rigamonti, “Failure”
  • Rachel Rothenberg, “Blessings over the Bodies of My Father’s Murderers”
  • Jackie Sabbagh, “Having a Great Time Being Transgender in America Lately”
  • Jen Siraganian, “Thinking about My Father’s Erector Set from 1948”
  • Mary Spooner, “Here in My Unincorporated Plot”
  • D. M. Spratley, “The Collector of Debts”
  • Nur Turkmani, “Animal Grief”
  • Benjamin Voigt, “Grief”
  • Genevieve Watson, “Last Supper”
  • Mason Wray, “After Birds”

Updated Sept. 21, 2025