Maria Gray
is an Oregonian poet in New York who supports the Palestinian liberation struggle. Her work is forthcoming from or published by ONLY POEMS, Best New Poets, Foglifter, Epiphany Lit, and others, and she has previously been nominated for inclusion in Best of the Net and Best Spiritual Literature. She edits COUNTERCLOCK Journal and works for the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, where she helps run the National Student Poets Program. She is the recipient of fellowships and awards from Bates College, New York University, and Hunter College, where she is a Thomas Hunter Fellow in Poetry. Her digital microchapbook Universal Red is available from Ghost City Press.publications & honors • editorial • instagram • contacthelp the alghorah family evacuate gaza
![Best New Poets 2022 cover—red and pink, portrait of Emily Dickinson [short dark hair, smizing] on the cover. "Best New Poets: 50 poems from emerging writers. Guest editor: Paula Bohince. Series editor: Jeb Livingood."](assets/images/gallery01/2f2c809f.jpg?v=de184bed)
interviews & reviews
"Grief to Light: Maria Gray's Poetic Praxis of Hope and Resistance" — ONLY POEMS, with Karan Kapoor
"A Q&A With COUNTERCLOCK's Next Managing Editor" — COUNTERCLOCK Journal, with Rachel Lu
"In Review: Universal Red by Maria Gray" — Vagabond City Lit, reviewed by Lux Alexander
readings & events
Moderator, A Wound That Fights: Poetry for Liberation featuring National Student Poets Program Alumni, presented by Narrative 4 (with Darius Atefat-Peckham, RC Davis, Madelyn Dietz, Maya Salameh, & David Xiang) — 11/20/24
Reader, Brooklyn Poets Staff Picks (with SG Huerta, Kaylee Young-Eun Jeong, Ananya Pandya, Donna Lee Davidson, & mónica teresa ortiz) — 10/16/24
Reader, Natures of Illness with SICK magazine at Brooklyn Book Art Fair (with Ashna Ali, Leora Fridman, & Theo LeGro) — 9/21/24
selected poems
"Matador," "I Was As Dead" — Foglifter (forthcoming)
"Proof of Life" — Epiphany Magazine (forthcoming)
"I May Be Stupid" — underblong (forthcoming)
"[Years of pelvic floor therapy]" — having a poem with you on Instagram, originally published by ONLY POEMS
"Drone Among Birds" — A POEM IS A GARDEN, independently distributed by Laetitia Keok
"Target Practice" — SPACE Gallery 2024 Poetry Hotline
"Sonnet with Dead Pansy and Double Yolk" — The Columbia Review
"Where Were You When Mac Miller Died" — Best New Poets 2022, originally published by Snaggletooth Magazine
"Postictal Sonnet," "The Elephant" — SICK magazine
"Rhythm 0" — The Lumiere Review
"Persephone's Menarche" — Furrow Mag
the rest
Universal Red — Ghost City Press (digital microchapbook, 2023)
"Remembering Torri Santo Pelletier" — The Bates Student (2022)
honors
Semifinalist, Nine Syllables Press Chapbook Contest (2024)
Nominee, Best Spiritual Literature, ONLY POEMS: "Light Being Light" (2024)
Top 30, ONLY POEMS, Poet of the Year Prize (2024)
Semifinalist, The Adroit Journal, Djanikian Scholars in Poetry (2024)
Finalist, poetry.onl, 2024 Chapbook Series Fellowship (2023)
Longlist, surging tide mag, Annual Summer Writing Contest (2023)
Recipient, Bates College, John Tagliabue Award for Creative Writing (2023)
Nominee, Best of the Net: The Lumiere Review, Ice Lolly Review, COUNTERCLOCK Journal (2022)
Finalist and contributor, Best New Poets: "Where Were You When Mac Miller Died" (2022)
Winner, The Lumiere Review, Open Writing Contest: "Rhythm 0" (2022)
Semifinalist, The Adroit Journal, Adroit Prizes for Poetry: "Where Were You When Mac Miller Died" (2021)
Recipient, Bates College, Alice Jane Dinsmore Wandke Award (2019)
fellowships & programs
Thomas Hunter Fellow in Poetry, CUNY Hunter College (2025)
Poetry Mentor, SUNHOUSE Summer Writing Mentorship (2024)
Departmental Poetry Fellow, New York University (2023-2024)
Writing Fellow, COUNTERCLOCK Arts Collective (2019)
work with me!
I provide editorial services including developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading. I can help you with anything from artist bios to poetry chapbooks to application essays. Please contact me via email for rates and work samples.I currently serve as Managing Editor of COUNTERCLOCK Journal, and have previously held positions at Washington Square Review, Snaggletooth Magazine, and Black Lawrence Press. I also perform editorial work within my position at the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers' National Student Poets Program.I provide writing consultations in exchange for donations to the Alghorah family in Gaza, Palestine, on a sliding scale. Please email me for more information on this option, and consider adopting a fundraiser yourself on Gaza Funds.Please get in touch—I look forward to working with you!back to top