The Adroit Journal is an American literary magazine founded in November 2010. 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.
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 and Aaron Robertson, 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, Best New Poets, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Verse Daily, Poetry Daily, and Best of the Net, and have been awarded eight Pushcart Prizes.
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.
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.
EditionGenrePushcart Prize Presence2027PoetryBrenda Hillman, "In the Spaces of Secret Enclosure"2026PoetryJames Allen Hall, "Inheritance at Corresponding Periods of Life, at Corresponding Seasons of the Year, as Limited by Sex"2026PoetryMelissa McKinstry, "Late Spring Epiphany After the Georgia O’Keeffe Exhibit"2025PoetryBrian Gyamfi, "The Revival"2025PoetryDiane Seuss, "An Aria"2024PoetryJames Longenbach, "Two People"2022PoetryDorianne Laux, “Midnight is a Beautiful Curse”2017PoetryAlex Dimitrov, “Cocaine”
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 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). The Djanikian Scholars Program recognizes six emerging poets each year, beginning with 2018. YearGregory Djanikian Scholars2026Nico Amador, Ellie Black, Nina C. Peláez, Talan Tee, Prsicilla Wathington, & Ziyi Yan2025janan alexandra, Akhim Yuseff Cabey, Lie Ford, Brian Gyamfi, Tyler Raso, & Giovannai Rose2024Aliyah Cotton, Majda Gama, Melissa McKinstry, Quinton Okoro, Edythe Rodriguez, & Syd Westley2023Erik Jonah, Willie Lee Kinard III, Emily Lawson, Sarah Fathima Mohammed, Kelan Nee, & Gabriel Ramirez2022Sarah Ghazal Ali, Leyla Çolpan, Jordan Escobar, Tennessee Hill, Anni Liu, & Avia Tadmor2021Jari Bradley, Donte Collins, Jane Huffman, L. A. Johnson, Natasha Rao, & Brandon Thurman2020Bryan Byrdlong, Steven Duong, Sara Elkamel, Matthew Gellman, Ae Hee Lee, & Gabriella R. Tallmadge2019Gabrielle Bates, Bernard Ferguson, Aidan Forster, Dan Kraines, Alycia Pirmohamed, & Leslie Sainz2018K-Ming Chang, Robin Estrin, Paige Lewis, Brandon Melendez, Michael M. Weinstein, & Keith S. Wilson
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. The Veasna So Scholars Program recognizes six emerging fiction writers each year, beginning with 2023. YearAnthony Veasna So Scholars2026Adesuwa Agbonile, Courtney Bill, J. Marcelo Borromeo, Stanley Delgado, Esmé Kaplan-Kinsey, & Persimmon Tobing2025Mayookh Barua, Hiya Chowdhury, Andy Lopez, Elisa Luna Ady, Nur Turkmani, & Yun Wei2024C. Adán Cabrera, Allison Field Bell, Cristina Fries, Devon Halliday, Lu Han, & Basmah Sakrani2023Vincent Chavez, Ani Cooney, Kelly X. Hui, Gracie Newman, Tierney Oberhammer, & Marguerite Sheffer
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." YearGenreGuest JudgeRecipientInstitutionRunner-UpInstitution2026PoetryLeila ChattiTBDTBDTBDTBD2026ProseKarissa ChenTBDTBDTBDTBD2025PoetryDanez SmithNikhe BraimahYale UniversityEliza GilbertVassar College2025ProseAria AberAnnie ZhuWestwood High SchoolKaya Dierks / Eliza GilbertYale University / Vassar College2024PoetryOcean VuongMelanie ZhouStanford UniversityKaylee Young-Eun JeongColumbia University2024ProseKaveh AkbarRosie HongClements High SchoolVivian DeRosaSmith College2023PoetryNatalie DiazKinsale DrakeYale UniversityN/AN/A2023ProseOcean VuongKelly X. HuiUniversity of ChicagoN/AN/A2022PoetryArthur SzeEthan LukPrinceton UniversityNatalie JarrettNorthwestern University2022ProseKali Fajardo-AnstineNandita NaikStanford UniversitySofia MillerDenison University2021PoetryCarl PhillipsStephanie ChangKenyon CollegeDelilah SilbermanBennington College2021ProseSamantha HuntEnshia LiStanford UniversityAmal HaddadSwarthmore College2020PoetryJericho BrownTariq ThompsonKenyon CollegeStephanie ChangKenyon College2020ProseKristen ArnettYasmeen KhanGrand Oaks High SchoolCoral Bello-MartinezFranklin & Marshall College2019PoetryFranny ChoiFiona StantonInterlochen Arts AcademyDaniel BlokhAlabama School of Fine Arts2019ProseJamel BrinkleyAngelo Hernandez-SiasColumbia UniversityJason LalljeeUniversity of Chicago2018PoetryAlex DimitrovTheis AndersonUniversity of CambridgeLauren SandersonColgate University2018ProseRachel HengPolina SolovyevaNew York UniversitySarah FengPinewood School2017PoetrySafiya SinclairSafwan KhatibColumbia UniversityChristina ImSunset High School2017ProseAllegra HydeCharity YoungPrinceton UniversityAidan ForsterSC Gov. School for Arts & Humanities2016PoetryCorey Van LandinghamRachel CrueaOhio Northern UniversityTheophilus KwekOxford University2016ProseKevin MoffettBrynne Rebele-HenryHomeschoolWalker CaplanYale University2015PoetryTarfia FaizullahIan BurnetteKenyon CollegeBrynne Rebele-HenryHomeschool2015ProseAlexander MaksikLydia WeintraubPrinceton UniversityJohn StegnerUniversity of Virginia2014PoetryRichie HofmannNathan DurhamKenyon CollegeIan BurnetteKenyon College2014ProseWendy RawlingsIsabel DeBreBrown UniversityMadeleine CravensOberlin College2013PoetryGarth GreenwellShelley WhitakerHollins UniversityJacob OetSwarthmore College2013ProseMarlin BartonElizabeth MartinPrinceton UniversityLily FishmanBarnard College2012PoetryChloe HonumStephanie GuoCanyon Crest AcademyNicholas PierceTexas Tech University2012ProseN/APhoebe NirBrown UniversityFlora CollinsVassar College
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