The Gregory Djanikian Scholarships

Gregory Djanikian was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and came to the United States when he was eight years old. He has published seven poetry collections, the latest of which is Sojourners of the In-Between (CMU Press). His work appears in American Poetry Review, Best American Poetry, Boulevard, Poetry, Southern Review, and TriQuarterly, among others. Until retiring, he was the longstanding Director of Creative Writing at the University of Pennsylvania, where he greatly enriched both the Adroit Journal as well as its staff of emerging writers.

We recognize and encourage the gift of such support by offering it ourselves; in honor of Greg’s contribution to emerging student and non-student writers at Penn and around the world, we recognize six emerging poets as Gregory Djanikian Scholars in Poetry each year.

All emerging writers who have not published full-length collections are eligible (regardless of age, geographic location, or educational status), and are encouraged to submit. Writers with forthcoming debut full-length collections are eligible so long as collections won’t appear earlier than April 2023.

Gregory Djanikian Scholars receive $100 and publication of their portfolios of poems in a future issue of the Adroit Journal. Finalists will be awarded copies of Greg’s latest collection, Sojourners of the In-Between, and a list of semifinalists determined by the editors will be released with results.

*            *            *

The deadline to submit to Djanikian Scholars 2023 was January 12, 2023. Results will be announced this spring.

*            *            *

Sign Up for Updates!

We’ll notify you when one month, two weeks, and five days remain in the submission window. Note: If you are subscribed to our mailing list, you will already receive these updates.

*            *            *

Submission Guidelines

During our entry window, please send your entries via Submittable using this link.

Submissions may include up to six poems (max of ten single-spaced pages). Simultaneous submissions, previously published submissions, and submissions recognized by outside organizations are accepted, provided that a) a full catalogue of publication history for enclosed poems is included in the submission and b) at least one poem in the submission remains unpublished. Submitters should promptly add a note to their entry on Submittable if work disclosed as unpublished is accepted elsewhere.

Writers are welcome to additionally submit enclosed work to the Adroit Prizes as well as through our general submission portal. We are also happy to consider revisions of work previously submitted to the Adroit Prizes, to the Djanikian Scholars opportunity, or through the general submissions portal (including work currently in progress or work that has recently received an editorial decision). Finally, please note that each writer may not send more than one entry per year for Djanikian Scholars.

As mentioned above, all emerging writers who have not published full-length collections are eligible (regardless of age, geographic location, or educational status), and Gregory Djanikian Scholars will receive $100 and publication in a future issue of the Adroit Journal.

We have set a non-refundable submission fee of $15. If you require financial assistance, you may submit a fee waiver with this form. Due to fee waivers’ processing time, fee waivers were only accepted until January 8, 2023 @ 11:59pm PT.

Please direct any questions to editors@theadroitjournal.org. 

*            *            *

Announcing the 2022 Djanikian Scholars in Poetry!

We are thrilled to announce our 2022 class of Gregory Djanikian Scholars in Poetry!

2022 Scholars

Sarah Ghazal Ali, of Fremont, California
Leyla Çolpan, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jordan Escobar, of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Tennessee Hill, of Katy, Texas
Anni Liu, of Minneapolis, Minnesota
Avia Tadmor, of New York, New York

2022 Finalists

Megan J. Arlett, of Denton, Texas
Asa Drake, of Ocala, Florida
K. Iver, of Madison, Wisconsin
Jessica Kim, of La Canada Flintridge, California
Chiwenite Onyekwelu, of Anambra State, Nigeria
Zuleyha Ozturk Lasky, of Tallahassee, Florida
Jessica Poli, of Lincoln, Nebraska
Fiona Stanton, of Boise, Idaho

2022 Semifinalists

Janan Alexandra, of Nicosia, Cyprus
Aishvarya Arora, of Middle Village, New York
Jamaica Baldwin, of Lincoln, Nebraska
Kaveh Bassiri, of Fayetteville, Arkansas
Akhim Y. Cabey, of Columbus, Ohio
Christian J. Collier, of Chattanooga, Tennessee
Michaela Coplen, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Steven Espada Dawson, of Austin, Texas
Joshua Garcia, of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Gustav Parker Hibbett, of Dublin, Ireland
Patrycja Humienik, of Seattle, Washington
Anthony Immergluck, of Madison, Wisconsin
Willie Lee Kinard III, of Newberry, South Carolina
You Li, of New Haven, Connecticut
Sarah Fathima Mohammed, of Los Gatos, California
Tawanda Mulalu, of New York, New York
Elena Ramirez-Gorski, of Roseville, Minnesota
David Joez Villaverde, of Ann Arbor, Michigan

*            *            *

Previous Djanikian Scholars in Poetry

2021—

Scholars

Jari Bradley, of Madison, Wisconsin
Donte Collins, of Minneapolis, Minnesota
Jane Huffman, of Iowa City, Iowa
L. A. Johnson, of Santa Monica, California
Natasha Rao, of Brooklyn, New York
Brandon Thurman, of Fayetteville, Arkansas

Finalists

JD Debris, of Jersey City, New Jersey
Jai Hamid Bashir, of Salt Lake City, Utah
Ghinwa Jawhari, of Brooklyn, New York
Jacob Lindberg, of Victoria, Minnesota
Hannah Perrin King, of Cool, California
Rob Shapiro, of New York, New York

Semifinalists

Kemi Alabi, of Chicago, Illinois
Austin Araujo, of Bloomington, Indiana
S. Erin Batiste, of Brooklyn, New York
Armen Davoudian, of Stanford, California
Victoria C. Flanagan, of Madison, Wisconsin
Sam Herschel Wein, of Chicago, Illinois
Karisma Price, of New Orleans, Louisiana
Gaia Rajan, of Andover, Massachusetts
Daniel Schonning, of Fort Collins, Colorado
Courtney Faye Taylor, of Kansas City, Missouri
Joshua Tvrdy, of Raleigh, North Carolina
Lydia Wei, of North Potomac, Maryland

2020—

Scholars

Bryan Byrdlong, of Ann Arbor, Michigan
Steven Duong, of San Diego, California
Sara Elkamel, of Brooklyn, New York
Matthew Gellman, of Brooklyn, New York
Ae Hee Lee, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Gabriella R. Tallmadge, of Murrieta, California

Finalists

Imani Davis, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Chelsea B. DesAutels, of Minneapolis, Minnesota
Jacob Lindberg, of Victoria, Minnesota
Zach Linge, of Tallahassee, Florida
Emily Lee Luan, of Brooklyn, New York
Sahar Romani, of Jackson Heights, New York

Semifinalists

Jessica Abughattas, of Altadena, California
Kiran Bath, of New York, New York
Daniel Barnum, of Columbus, Ohio
Stephanie Chang, of British Columbia, Canada
Amanda Gunn, of Cambridge, Massachusetts
Hannah Perrin King, of Cool, California
Max McDonough, of New York, New York
Hua Xi, of Brooklyn, New York

2019—

Scholars

Gabrielle Bates, of Seattle, WA
Bernard Ferguson, of Brooklyn, NY
Aidan Forster, of Greenville, SC
Dan Kraines, of Brooklyn, NY
Alycia Pirmohamed, of Edinburgh, Scotland
Leslie Sainz, of Lewisburg, PA

Finalists

Hannah Perrin King, of Brooklyn, NY
T. J. McLemore, of Boulder, CO
Chad Morgan, of Chicago, IL
Avia Tadmor, of New York, NY

Semifinalists

Threa Almontaser, of Raleigh, NC
Antonio de Jesús López, of East Palo Alto, CA
Kathryn Hargett, of Birmingham, AL
Kaja Rae Lucas, of Laurel, MD
John Paul Martinez, of Madison, WI
Evan McGarvey, of Dallas, TX
Megan Denton Ray, of Chattanooga, TN
Lauren Schlesinger, of Oak Park, IL
Seth Simons, of Walnut Creek, CA
Jess Smith, of Lubbock, TX
Rushi Vyas, of Brooklyn, NY

2018—

Scholars

K-Ming Chang, of Bronxville, NY
Robin Estrin, of Santa Cruz, CA
Paige Lewis, of Tallahassee, FL
Brandon Anthony Melendez, of Cambridge, MA
Michael M. Weinstein, of New Haven, CT
Keith S. Wilson, of Chicago, IL

Finalists

Grady Chambers, of Philadelphia, PA
Aidan Forster, of Greenville, SC
Shelley Wong, of Long Beach, CA

Semifinalists

Alex Chertok, of Dryden, NY
Lyrik Courtney, of Decatur, GA
Kate Gaskin, of Montgomery, AL
Matthew Gellman, of Brooklyn, NY
Alycia Pirmohamed, of Scotland
Joey Reisberg, of Towson, MD