The Adroit Prizes are awarded annually to two students of secondary or undergraduate status. We’re fortunate to receive exceptional work from emerging writers in high school and college, and the best of the best will be recognized by the Adroit Prizes.
The 2019 Adroit Prize for Poetry was selected by Franny Choi, author of Floating, Brilliant, Gone (Write Bloody Press, 2014) and author of Soft Science (forthcoming from Alice James Books). The 2019 Adroit Prize for Prose was selected by Jamel Brinkley, author of A Lucky Man (Graywolf Press, 2018).
Winners will be awarded $200, and their work—along with the work of runners-up—will be featured in the Adroit Journal. Runners-up and finalists will receive a copy of their judges’ latest book.
2019 —
Poetry: Fiona Stanton: “The Devout Childhood of St. Elizabeth of Hungary”, selected by Franny Choi.
Runner Up: Daniel Blokh | Alabama School of Fine Arts, ’19
Prose: Angelo Hernandez-Sias: “Gift”, selected by Jamel Brinkley.
Runner Up: Jason Lalljee | University of Chicago, ’20
Finalists:
Via Bleidner | Fiction | University of California – Santa Barbara, ’21
Lucy Catlett | Poetry | University of Virginia, ’19
Amelia Chen | Fiction | Williams College, ’22
Yujane Chen | Poetry | University of California – Berkeley, ’20
Lexi Covalsen | Fiction | Oglethorpe University, ’20
Grace Gilbert | Poetry | State University of New York – Geneseo, ’19
Becca Lambright | Nonfiction | University of Pennsylvania, ’19
Annalise Lozier | Poetry | Yale University, ’21
Brennan Sprague | Poetry | Monroe Community College, ’20
Bianca Zhou | Fiction | Emory University, ’22
Semifinalists:
Anna Butcher | Fiction | Alabama School of Fine Arts, ’19
Ethan Chua | Poetry | Stanford University, ’20
Alex Clifford | Fiction | Charleston County School of the Arts, ’20
Bailey Cohen | Poetry | New York University, ’20
Vivian DeRosa | Fiction | Communications High School, ’19
Taylor Fang | Poetry | Logan High School, ’20
Sarah Feng | Poetry | Pinewood School, ’20
Ava Goga | Poetry | Smith College, ’20
Sabine Holzman | Poetry | Orange County School of the Arts (Gap Year), ’19
Eileen Huang | Poetry | Yale University, ’22
Angela Hui | Fiction | Harvard University, ’20
Yasmeen Khan | Fiction | Grand Oaks High School, ’22
Sarah Lao | Poetry | The Westminster Schools, ’21
Natalie Love | Nonfiction | Phillips Exeter Academy, ’19
Sahara Sidi | Nonfiction | Wesleyan University, ’22
Thomas Waddill | Fiction | Davidson College, ‘19
About the Recipients
Fiona Stanton is a recent graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy originally from Boise, Idaho. Her writing has appeared in the Red Wheelbarrow, Valley Visions, and the Henry’s Fork Journal. She was also a finalist for the Lake Effect National High School Poetry Contest, and received a National Gold Medal and an American Voices Medal from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. This fall, she will attend Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, as the Patricia Cornwell Scholar in Creative Writing.
On Fiona’s “The Devout Childhood of St. Elizabeth of Hungary”, Franny says, “At once a moving persona piece and an inquiry into the politics of portraiture, this poem is totally unflinching in its emotional immediacy. I’m impressed with the care of craft that’s maintained in service of the urgency at its heart; it’s a poem that’s constantly discovering itself, embarking on each new image with the ecstasy of a mystical experience. I’m equally thrilled by this poem’s questions about violence as I am by the strangeness of the feelings it renders.”
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Angelo Hernandez-Sias is from Muskegon, Michigan. His stories, essays, and songs have appeared in Quarto Magazine, the Columbia Journal of Literary Criticism, Ratrock Magazine, and Teen Vogue’s “Youth Organizing Guide to the Midterm Elections.” He is a recipient of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, the Beinecke Scholarship, and Quarto’s 2018 Best Fiction Prize, judged by Rebecca Curtis. In 2017, he was a finalist for the Adroit Prize for Prose. He lives in New York, where he studies English and creative writing at Columbia University. His work lives at elqixote.com.
On Angelo’s “Gift”, Jamel Brinkley says, “I’m very impressed by the keenness of the narration here, the clarity of observation and the flexibility of language. In the end, I couldn’t stop thinking with pleasure about specific moments and sentences in this story. It may have a delicate touch, but the effects of Angelo Hernandez-Sias’s ‘Gift’ are lasting.”
About The Adroit Journal
At its foundation, The Adroit Journal has its eyes focused ahead, seeking to showcase what its global staff of writers sees as the future of poetry, prose, and art. The journal hosts the annual Adroit Prizes for Poetry and Prose, the Gregory Djanikian Scholars Program, and the free Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program.
Featured in Best American Poetry, Pushcart Prizes: Best of the Small Presses, Poetry Daily, Best of the Net, and Best New Poets, and by the New York Times, the Paris Review, Teen Vogue, PBS, and NPR, the journal has featured the voices of Terrance Hayes, Franny Choi, D. A. Powell, Alex Dimitrov, Lydia Millet, NoViolet Bulawayo, Ocean Vuong, Ned Vizzini, Fatimah Asghar, Danez Smith, and beyond.
For more, visit theadroitjournal.org, or visit us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Please direct any questions or requests to editors@theadroitjournal.org.
