A series of covers from literary organizations that publish Intro Journals Project winners' poetry, fiction, and nonfiction

Intro Journals Project

The Intro Journals Project is a literary competition for the discovery and publication of the best new works by students currently enrolled in AWP member programs. Program directors are invited to nominate student work, and winners will be selected for publication in participating literary journals: Colorado Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Iron Horse Literary Review, Mid-American Review, Puerto del Sol, Quarterly West, Reed Magazine, and Tampa Review.

Entries must be uploaded to our Submittable portal by program directors. Nominations for the 2024 contest are open from October 1–December 1, 2023. Programs must have an active AWP membership for their nomination to be considered. For more information, email awp@awpwriter.org.

Learn about our 2024 judges.

2023 Intro Journals Project Winners


Poetry

Selected by Jennifer Moore

  • “Ghost Eulogy”
    Sara Verstynen
    Northwestern University
    Reed Magazine

  • "Sadie”
    Shannon Moran
    University of Missouri-Kansas City
    Hayden’s Ferry Review

  • "Visiting a Friend on a Snowy Night”
    Chengru He
    University of Utah
    Colorado Review

  • “Three Days After My Mom Starts Hospice, My Son Can't Sleep”
    Angela Voras-Hills
    University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
    Mid-American Review

  • "Countdown"
    Carrie Johnson
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    Quarterly West

  • “Etymology of Meal”
    Veronica Silva
    University of Central Florida
    Iron Horse Literary Review

  • “14 Minute Sonnet”
    Grace Smith
    West Virginia University
    Puerto del Sol

  • “Equinox”
    Brian Czyzyk
    University of North Texas
    Tampa Review

Honorable Mention

  • “Some Wound of Color”
    Nate Metz
    Santa Clara University

  • “Letters from Atlantis”
    Daniel Barton
    University of Illinois at Chicago

  • “upon viewing Hunt’s Scapegoat (1856)”
    Savannah Moix-Rogers
    Arkansas Writers MFA Workshop

  • “Hurricane Season"
    Chelsea Hill
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • “A Smile is not a convincing argument”
    Monir Gholamzadeh Bazarbash
    Purdue University

  • “Kylix”
    M. Sage Flint
    Central Washington University

  • “Apophatic Poem”
    Jennifer Loyd
    Texas Tech University

  • “Blood & Guts”
    Charlotte Smith
    St. Olaf College

Fiction

Selected by Gwen Kirby

  • “A Vanishing”
    Blake Chernin
    Purdue University
    Iron Horse Literary Review

  • “Deborah Forever”
    Kasey Peters
    University of Nebraska-Lincoln
    Hayden’s Ferry Review

  • “For Someone”
    Madeline Simms
    University of Alabama
    Quarterly West

  • “Wisdom Teeth”
    Liina Koivula
    Eastern Washington University
    Puerto del Sol

Honorable Mention

  • “Stranger”
    Jake Zawlacki
    Louisiana State University

  • “Old Queens”
    Steven Archer
    University of Central Florida

  • “My Girlfriend the Wax Specialist”
    Victoria Hulbert
    University of Mississippi

  • "Mythologies and Fruiting Bodies"
    Sasheene Denny
    University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Creative Nonfiction

Selected by Sonya Huber

  • “Hair”
    Ciara Alfaro
    University of Minnesota
    Mid-American Review

  • "Lost Wingman”
    Laura Joyce-Hubbard
    Northwestern University
    Reed Magazine

  • “The Archer”
    Jacob M. Hall
    Texas Tech University
    Colorado Review

  • “Ṣọkọyọ̀kọ̀tọ̀”
    Kanyinsola Olorunnisola
    University of Alabama
    Tampa Review

Honorable Mention

  • “Queer Paranoia at the Dua Lipa Concert”
    Kurt Ostrow
    The Ohio State University

  • “My Problem Was I Didn’t Leave Him”
    Allison Field Bell
    University of Utah

  • “What Blood Remembers”
    Akira Ritos
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • “Your Lovely Gaza”
    Tayma Al-Astal
    Marshall University