The Adroit Journal

The Adroit Journal is an American literary magazine founded in November 2010.^[1] Published five times per year by founding editor Peter LaBerge, The Adroit Journal is currently based in Philadelphia. The journal was produced with the support of the University of Pennsylvania's Kelly Writers House from 2013 to 2017 and was based in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City from 2017-2019 and 2020-2023 respectively.^[2]

Contributors and Staff

Authors featured in The Adroit Journal include Fatimah Asghar, NoViolet Bulawayo, K-Ming Chang, Chen Chen, Franny Choi, Alex Dimitrov, Mark Doty, Rita Dove, Terrance Hayes, Sarah Kay, Dorianne Laux, Lydia Millet, D. A. Powell, Diane Seuss, Danez Smith, Arthur Sze, Ned Vizzini, and Ocean Vuong.

The journal has published numerous United States Poet Laureate selectees, MacArthur Fellow honorees, Pulitzer Prize winners, and National Book Award winners, and contributors are regularly recognized by the Best American Series, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation’s Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowships, the Pushcart Prize Anthology, Stanford University’s Wallace Stegner Fellowships in Poetry and Fiction, the Whiting Foundation’s Whiting Awards, and many more organizations that offer industry-leading funding and support.

Previous or current staff members of The Adroit Journal include Anthony Veasna So, Kinsale Drake, Leila Chatti, Aria Aber, Jim Whiteside, Rhodes Scholars Russell Bogue^[3] and Aaron Robertson,^[4] and Michele Selene Ang of 13 Reasons Why.

Anthology and Press Presence

Pieces from the journal have been selected for inclusion in The Best American Poetry,^[5] Best New Poets,^[6] The Best American Nonrequired Reading,^[7] Verse Daily,^[8] Poetry Daily,^[9] and Best of the Net,^[10] and have been awarded eight Pushcart Prizes.^[11]

Work first published in The Adroit Journal has also been discussed and featured in or by the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Paris Review, American Life in Poetry, the Slowdown, Teen Vogue, PBS NewsHour, NPR, and College Board.

The Adroit Journal has peaked at #3 (2026) on Clifford Garstang's annual literary magazine ranking in the poetry genre, behind the American Poetry Review and Poetry Magazine.^[12]

A video recording of Jim Parsons reading Max McDonough's poem "Egg Harbor", originally published in The Adroit Journal, was featured by The New York Times in February 2018.^[13]

The Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program

The Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program is an online program that pairs experienced writers with high school and secondary students. Mentees have been recognized through the National YoungArts Foundation & United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts designation, the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and the Foyle Young Poet of the Year Awards. Participants have also been featured in Teen Vogue^[15] and NPR, among other publications.

The Gregory Djanikian Scholars Program

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, 2020).^[16] The Djanikian Scholars Program recognizes six emerging poets each year, beginning with 2018.

The Anthony Veasna So Scholars Program

Anthony Veasna So (1992-2020) was an American writer of short stories that often drew from his upbringing as a child of Cambodian immigrants. His debut short story collection, Afterparties, was published posthumously by HarperCollins in 2021 and was named a New York Times Bestseller and a winner of the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize for Best First Book.^[18] The Veasna So Scholars Program recognizes six emerging fiction writers each year, beginning with 2023.

The Adroit Prizes for Poetry and Prose

The Adroit Prizes are awarded annually to two students of secondary or undergraduate status "whose written work inspires the masses to believe beyond feeling the work."^[20]

References

1. ^ "Adroit Journal - Young Poets Network". Retrieved 2017-12-17.
2. ^ "The Adroit Journal". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
3. ^ "UVA's Russell Bogue Among 2016 Class of Rhodes Scholars". UVA Today. November 23, 2015. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
4. ^ "Princeton senior Robertson awarded Rhodes Scholarship". Princeton University. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
5. ^ "Nkosi Nkululeko Selected for Best American Poetry". Retrieved 2018-01-22.
6. ^ "Best New Poets". Retrieved 2017-12-17.
7. ^ Handler, Daniel (October 7, 2014). "The Best American Nonrequired Reading of 2014". HarperCollins. ISBN 9780544129986. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
8. ^ "Verse Daily: Web Weekly Archives". Retrieved 2017-12-17.
9. ^ "Poetry Daily". Poetry Daily. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
10. ^ "2016 Best of the Net Anthology". Retrieved 2017-12-17.
11. ^ "Literary MagNet: Alex Dimitrov". Poets & Writers. April 12, 2017. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
12. ^ "2026 Literary Magazine Ranking–Poetry – Clifford Garstang". Clifford Garstang. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
13. ^ Chee, Alexander (February 26, 2018). "'The Boys in the Band' Cast Reads Queer Poetry". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
14. ^ "2026 Literary Magazine Ranking–Poetry – Clifford Garstang". Clifford Garstang. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
15. ^ Dwyer, Kate. "These 9 Young Poets Are Actually Making the Genre Cool Again". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
16. ^ "Gregory Djanikian". Gregory Djanikian. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
17. ^ "Kristin Chang '20 Named a 2018 Gregory Djanikian Scholar in Poetry". Sarah Lawrence College. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
18. ^ Anthony Veasna So (June 7, 2022). "Afterparties". www.harpercollins.com. ISBN 9780063049895. Archived May 27, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
19. ^ "Kristin Chang '20 Named a 2018 Gregory Djanikian Scholar in Poetry". Sarah Lawrence College. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
20. ^ "Patience and Commitment: ONU junior Rachel Cruea is the recipient of the 2016 Adroit Prize for Poetry.". Ohio Northern University. Retrieved 2017-12-17.

External links

Official website