MFA Program Announces Nominees for the Association of Writers & Writing Program's Intro Journals Project

Nominations announced for annual literary competition for the discovery and publication of new work by students currently enrolled in AWP member programs.

The MFA Program in Creative Writing is pleased to announce the nominees for the Association of Writers & Writing Program's Intro Journals Project, an annual literary competition for the discovery and publication of new work by students currently enrolled in AWP member programs. 

Nominee in Fiction

 “The Lark Suspending” by Elizabeth Nonemaker

Nominees in poetry

“Venerable Kassapa, 41” by Sebastian Bronson Boddie

“The Fox Confessor” by Alannah Hensley

“Missing You” by Connor Watkins

Congratulations to Beth, Sebastian, Alannah, and Connor, whose work will be sent on for final judging in the national competition. Winners will be notified in the spring of 2021 and will receive publication in a participating literary journal and a $100 honorarium.

Many thanks to our two alumni judges, Sabrina Islam and Laura Neal.

Sabrina Islam holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from University of Maryland, where she teaches college writing and creative writing. She has received scholarships from the Kentucky Women Writers Conference and the Key West Literary Seminar. Her stories can be found in Flock, Acta Victoriana, Prairie Schooner, and the minnesota review. She currently lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Laura Neal is an African-American poet from South Carolina greatly influenced by social and environmental narratives. She received her BA from Bowie State University and her MFA from the University of Maryland College Park. Her work has been published in the Academy of American Poets, Birmingham Poetry Review, Boston Art Review, FreeBlackSpace, and Green Mountains Review. She has received fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center (Provincetown, MA), CALLALOO (Providence, RI), Juniper Writing Institute (Amherst, MA), Hambidge Center for Creative Arts (Rabun Gap, GA) and the Oak Spring Garden Foundation (Upperville, VA). She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Texas in Dallas.