Maria Gray
Maria Gray is a poet unconditionally supportive of Palestinian resistance and liberation. Originally from Portland, Oregon, her work is published by or forthcoming from ONLY POEMS, Best New Poets, SPACE Gallery in Portland, Maine, and others. She is the recipient of the John Tagliabue Prize for Creative Writing from Bates College and a Departmental Poetry Fellowship from New York University’s Creative Writing Program, and was named as a semifinalist for The Adroit Journal’s Djanikian Scholars Program in 2024. Her poem “Where Were You When Mac Miller Died” was selected for inclusion in Best New Poets 2022 by guest judge Paula Bohince, and she has previously been nominated for Best of the Net by The Lumiere Review, Ice Lolly Review, and COUNTERCLOCK Journal, which she later joined as Managing Editor in 2023. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she helps coordinate the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers’ National Student Poets Program.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=1acf8496)
interviews
"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
readings
Brooklyn Poets Staff Picks (with SG Huerta, Kaylee Young-Eun Jeong, Ananya Pandya, Donna Lee Davidson, and mónica teresa ortiz) — 10/16/24 @ 7:30 PM EST (virtual)
Natures of Illness, SICK magazine at Brooklyn Art Book Fair (with Ashna Ali, Leora Fridman, & Theo LeGro) — 9/21/24
selected poems
"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
"Postictal Sonnet," "The Elephant" — SICK magazine
"Rhythm 0" — The Lumiere Review
"Persephone's Menarche" — Furrow Mag
"How Dare You Leave Me" — Kissing Dynamite Poetry
"Abecedarian After the Rape of Medusa" — The Foundationalist
"Object Impermanence" — perhappened mag
the rest
Universal Red — Ghost City Press (digital microchapbook, 2023)
"Remembering Torri Santo Pelletier" — The Bates Student (2022)
honors
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)
Arts Collective Microgrant Recipient, COUNTERCLOCK Journal (2019)
Recipient, Bates College Alice Jane Dinsmore Wandke Award (2019)
fellowships & programs
Poetry Mentor, SUNHOUSE Summer Writing Mentorship (2024)
Departmental Poetry Fellow, New York University Creative Writing Program (2023)
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. Full CV available upon request.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.Please get in touch—I look forward to working with you!back to top