Exploring the Edges of Contemporary Poetry
Poetry: “Abecedarian with Barack Obama” by Camilo Loaiza Bonilla
For the children of immigrants to America, seeing their parents become citizens can open an envelope full of mixed feelings. The speaker of Camilo Loaiza Bonilla’s poem, in “Loose & flawed Spanglish,” relays congratulations from Barack Obama to his mother…
Poetry: “Bloat” by Ava Chen
In a poem comprised of couplets interrupted by one tercet, Ava Chen plumbs the depths of a desire which has inflated beyond the bounds of its relationship of origin. Chen captures this inflation through both the poem’s imagery—”a mouth with…breath…
In a poem comprised of couplets interrupted by one tercet, Ava Chen plumbs the depths of a desire which has inflated beyond the bounds of its relationship of origin. Chen captures this inflation through both the poem’s imagery—”a mouth with…breath…
2026 Frontier OPEN Winner: “Parasitic Haibun” by Amanda Nicole Corbin
In “Parasitic Haibun” by Amanda Nicole Corbin, they invoke apocalyptic language to create a complex depiction of love, infidelity, desire, and secrecy. The speaker engages in “greedy-freedom.” Amidst the murderous heat, growling air, and blood-letting mosquitos, the lovers in the…
In “Parasitic Haibun” by Amanda Nicole Corbin, they invoke apocalyptic language to create a complex depiction of love, infidelity, desire, and secrecy. The speaker engages in “greedy-freedom.” Amidst the murderous heat, growling air, and blood-letting mosquitos, the lovers in the…
2026 Frontier OPEN Finalists Part Three: Nirvana Shahriar, Ricardo Moran, and Osmani Ochoa
In “Living Room Lessons,” Nirvana Shahriar moves through a smoke-hazed, searching consciousness where family, memory, and politics begin to blur into one another. Cigarette ash, cardamom tea, a grandmother’s body, a father’s music, and a photograph of Paul McCartney in…
In “Living Room Lessons,” Nirvana Shahriar moves through a smoke-hazed, searching consciousness where family, memory, and politics begin to blur into one another. Cigarette ash, cardamom tea, a grandmother’s body, a father’s music, and a photograph of Paul McCartney in…
Read Our Award Winning Chapbooks
Opportunity Cost
read and download our 2021 Chapbook Contest winner
selected by Kazim Ali
// by Abby Johnson //
IN THE YEAR OF OUR MAKING & UNMAKING
read and download our 2020 Chapbook Contest winner
selected by Carl Phillips
// by Frederick Speers //
Shadow Black
read and download our 2019 Chapbook Contest winner
selected by Jericho Brown
// by Naima Tokunow //
How Often I Have Chosen Love
read and download our 2018 Chapbook Contest winner
selected by Joshua Roark
// by Xiao Yue Shan //
