M. Mack

M. Mack is a trans and disabled poet, editor, and fiber artist in Virginia. They are the author of Theater of Parts (Sundress Publications) and three chapbooks including Imaginary Kansas (dancing girl press). Their work has appeared in North Dakota Quarterly, cream city review, FENCE, Gargoyle Magazine, and elsewhere. They have been featured at festivals including Delta Mouth Literary Festival and Fall for the Book and reading series including The Inner Loop, Sparkle DC, Three Tents, and In Yr Ear.

PRONOUNS: they / them / theirs or ze / hir / hirs

Hallie Dong (JPYP Winner)

Hallie Dong is a high school student at Sewickley Academy, Pittsburgh Youth Poet Laureate, and activist from Pittsburgh, PA Her work has been recognized by the Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania Kelly Writers House (forthcoming), Kenyon College, Poetry Nation (as a national winner), and Harvard Crimson, among others. She's an oxymoron: Chinese and American; doer and thinker—a dichotomy of beautiful contradictions. She is fiercely supportive of the people and causes she loves. Through poetry and community engagement, she seeks to explore the intersection of emotional health in teens and educational policy, humanitarian justice, war awareness, and the convergence of two constantly evolving cultural worlds that coalesce into her identity. *Some of these works have been previously published online under my pen name.

Chelsea Zhu (JPYP Winner)

Chelsea Zhu is a sophomore attending Richard Montgomery High School. Her work has been recognized by YoungArts, The Poetry Society, Scholastic Writing Awards, Ringling College of Art and Design, The Writer’s Center, The National Poetry Quarterly, and Words Beats and Life. She has performed her poetry in the University of Virginia, Sewanee University, Young Poets Takeover, Busboys and Poets, and the Bethesda Local Writer’s Showcase Ceremony.

Ziyi Yan (闫梓祎) (JPYP Runner Up)

Ziyi Yan (闫梓祎) is a poet and performer. A National Youngarts winner for writing, Ziyi has been recognized nationally and internationally by The Poetry Society, The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, Frontier Poetry, Palette Poetry, Rider University, BreakBread Magazine, The Poetry Society of Virginia, Poetry Online, Marymount Manhattan College, The National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists, The Fitzgerald Museum, The American Library of Poetry, and more. Her work is published or forthcoming in Poetry Northwest, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Rust & Moth, Peach Magazine, Kissing Dynamite, Gigantic Sequins, and Grist– A Journal of the Literary Arts, among others. Ziyi has been invited to perform her work for over 15 events, including "A Poetry Special" by the Connecticut Office of the Arts, BreakBread Literacy Project’s reading series, and Erika Lutzner’s "Connecticut Poetry Salon." Ziyi was awarded 2nd Place in Connecticut for Slam Poetry and named Connecticut Youth Poet Laureate Runner-Up for her performance poetry engagements. In 2022, she founded The Dawn Review, an online literary magazine championing bold, new voices. An alumnus of the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship, and Kenyon Young Writers’ Studio, Ziyi is currently a senior at Greenwich High School. Website: https://ziyiyan.carrd.co/