The 2025 Frontier OPEN Winner and Finalists
We’re thrilled to congratulate Anna Flores, the winner of Frontier Poetry’s 2025 Frontier OPEN! Her poem “Poem Wedged into the Brittlebush or Poem that Eats What Happened,” was selected by our editorial team as the first place winner. Our readers and editors were struck by the power and vision of the poems submitted to Frontier’s biggest contest of the year—submissions that truly embody our mission to platform poetry that pushes toward the outer edges of what language can explore. As always, we are so grateful for the continued support of our submitters, readers, and friends.
Anna Flores has been awarded the first-place prize of $5,000. Find the full list of our winner and finalists below—we look forward to publishing their work throughout the month of October
Thank you to all who submitted, it was a pleasure to consider your work.
WINNER
Anna Flores
“Poem Wedged into the Brittlebush or Poem that Eats What Happened“
Anna Flores is a border-dwelling poet and writer, born in Nogales, Arizona, and raised in West Phoenix. Her work has appeared in The Nation, Red Tree Review, and Huizache Magazine. She currently teaches at a community college and lives between border cities, often writing from the immediate shadow of the wall.
The Finalists
John Carpentier
Vuong Pham
S Asher Sund
Ariana Yeatts-Lonske
Louie Alexander
Carleen Liu
Shane Emery
Mahal Garcia Liu
