The 2025 Misfit Poems Prize Winners and Finalists
We’re thrilled to congratulate JH Grimes, the winner of Frontier Poetry’s 2025 Misfit Poems Prize! Their poem “Appalachian Conjure,” was selected by our guest judge Marianne Chan as the first place winner. The Frontier Poetry reading and editorial team were deeply inspired by the craft-based experimentation and innovation submitters demonstrated in their poetry submissions. As always, we are so grateful for the continued support of our submitters, readers, and friends.
JH Grimes has been selected for the first place $2,000 prize. Fatema Alzari was selected as the second-place winner and Kristina Kim as the third-place winner. We look forward to publishing the winners throughout late August and early September!
Thank you to all who submitted, it was a pleasure to consider your work.
WINNER
JH Grimes
“Appalachian Conjure”
JH Grimes is a trans Appalachian poet based between Virginia and Minneapolis. The author of keepsake (Bottlecap Press, 2024), their work also appears in Poetry Wales, poets.org, Devastation Baby, Meniscus, and elsewhere. They are the recipient of an Academy of American Poets Prize, the Norma Lowry Memorial Prize, and the Roger Conant Hatch Prize for Lyric Poetry. Currently an MFA candidate at the University of Virginia, they work to center the trans experience in explorations of class struggle, climate disaster, and queer intimacy.
Second Place
Fatema Alzari
“Fragments”
Fatema Alzari was born and raised in Bahrain. She is a writer and illustrator with a background in law. Growing up bilingual, it has created a unique sense of fragmentation and fusion of the self. This is reflected in her poems—exploring identity through the lens of language, writing often in both English and Arabic. During her years of immigration, she has accumulated a newfound understanding of what it means to belong and long to that which we perceive as home. Her work can be found in Crannóg Magazine, Sekka Magazine, Orangepeel Magazine, Bahr Magazine, Liverpool Art Festival amongst other print publications.
Third Place
Kristina Kim
“[FLASHCARDS FOR WHEN I START FORGETTING]”
k.kim is a tashkent-born, brooklyn-raised writer and dancer. she has been a finalist for the korean american story’s ‘roar’ story slam, a featured poet at luya poetry’s open mic, and has published works with the foundationalist, porch water press, and more. she is a water-bearer, a first-time auntie and is always up for some good trouble.
The Finalists
Yashmita Ananthan
Lourdes Figueroa
Kian Seh Low
Alexis Deese-Smith
Kianna Greene
James Dickson
Madeleine Simmons
Eric Odynocki
Iris Lee
