2021 Intro Journals Project Winners

2021 General Editor

Dave Essinger, University of Findlay

2021 Intro Journals Project Winners


Intro Journals Winners: Poetry

Selected by Karen Craigo

  • “Autotomy”
    J.P. Grasser
    University of Utah Creative Writing Program
    Colorado Review

  • “Dear Make-Pretender”
    Andy Sia
    University of Mississippi MFA Program
    Puerto del Sol

  • “Pandemic Haircuts”
    Cassandra Caverhill
    Bowling Green State University
    Reed Magazine

  • “What’s Inside”
    Nathaniel Ricketts
    Penn State BAMA in Creative Writing
    Tampa Review

  • “Blueshift”
    Jon Loft
    University of North Carolina Wilmington’s MFA Program in Creative Writing
    Hayden’s Ferry Review

  • “Which One”
    Skye Jackson
    University of New Orleans
    Reed Magazine

  • “Would I Rather Soften”
    Ae Hee Lee
    University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee Creative Writing
    Mid-American Review

  • “I Want To Write A Poem About My Hometown”
    Sydney Vogl
    University of San Francisco MFA in Writing Program
    Iron Horse Literary Review

Honorable Mention

  • “Talk to Me About the Deer”
    Nick McDonald
    University of Nebraska at Omaha

  • “A Recipe for Bread Pudding”
    Zoe Dudack
    College of Wooster

  • “Ode to ‘Unknown African Doll’ at the Orlando Museum of Art”
    Jada Reyes
    University of Central Florida

  • “Terminal Velocity”
    Tegan Murrell
    University of Alabama MFA Program

  • “Self-Portrait as My Grandpa’s John Deere Hat”
    Eileen Winn
    Florida Atlantic University MFA

  • “the boys with dead mothers become better with time”
    Skye Jackson
    University of New Orleans

  • “We All Wanted an Argonaut Husband”
    Katie McMorris
    Purdue University MFA

  • “the boy thinks about other boys”
    Ben Wenzl
    University of Nebraska at Omaha

Intro Journals Winners: Fiction

Selected by Mary Grimm

  • “The Most Ordinary Thing”
    Mia Yanosy
    University of Connecticut
    Iron Horse Literary Review

  • “The Blood Kettle”
    Danielle Harms
    University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
    Mid-American Review

  • “Pumpjack”
    Steven Vineis
    University of North Carolina Wilmington
    Hayden’s Ferry Review

Honorable Mention

  • “Phooka Road”
    Keith Enterante
    San Diego State University

  • “Ain't No Glory for Billy”
    Rebecca Wood
    University of Alaska Fairbanks MFA Program

  • “The Gas Station”
    Chloe McConnell
    St. Lawrence University

  • “Younger”
    Shane Inman
    New Mexico State University

  • “Bhopal, 1984”
    Samia Ahmed
    Old Dominion University MFA Program

Intro Journals Winners: Creative Nonfiction

Selected by Athena Dixon

  • “The Loneliest One”
    Nick Castro
    University of San Francisco MFA in Writing Program
    Puerto del Sol

  • “Gift”
    Jonathan Winston Jones
    Northwestern University
    Quarterly West

  • “I Never See Her Anymore”
    Emily Standlee
    University of Missouri Kansas City MFA Program in Creative Writing
    Tampa Review

  • “The Sky is a Liar Being Blue”
    Ashlee Beals
    University of New Orleans
    Reed Magazine

Honorable Mention

  • “Jaeger Lecoultre”
    Chaeyeon Park
    Creative Writing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • “Second-Hand Smoke”
    Savanna Bader
    Hendrix College

  • “Maude to Annie”
    Nicole Pendleton
    University of Central Florida

  • “Build Yourself a New Body”
    RaJon Staunton
    Marshall University