Celebrating the 2026 Poetry Contest Finalists with Poet Lore

Join us to celebrate the finalists of the 2026 Poetry Contest, judged by Poet Lore. Christina Daub, Nnenna Aduaka, Christina Borgoyn, and Carol Buell will read, and the Executive Editor of Poet Lore, Emily Holland, will emcee.

About the Poets:

Christina Daub, winner of the 2026 Poetry Contest, is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net–nominated poet who has taught poetry at George Washington University and at several schools in the Maryland and Virginia poets-in-the-schools programs. She co-founded and co-edited The Plum Review, a national poetry magazine, and curated The Plum Reading Series and Plum Writers Retreats. Her work has been translated into German, Greek, Italian, and Russian. She is also a translator of poetry from Spanish and German. Currently she is the co-editor of the hunger poems anthology (due out later this year) titled Turning Poetry into Food: A Collection Of Poetry X Hunger Poems, the proceeds of which will go to anti-hunger causes. You can find her at christinadaub.com.

Nnenna Aduaka, who received an honorable mention in the contest, is a Maryland based poet currently studying Technology and Information Design at the University of Maryland, College Park. When writing, she enjoys exploring themes such as memory, migration, color, and inheritance. While completing her undergraduate degree, she is also working on her own poetry collection.

Christina Borgoyn, who received an honorable mention in the contest, is a nonbinary poet living in the Baltimore area. They are a collector of ink and piercings. When not working for the Maryland Department of the Environment, they can be found relaxing at home with a good book.

Carol Buell, who received an honorable mention in the contest, decided in seventh grade, while working on the requirements for her Girl Scout poetry badge, that she was a poet, and was influenced even earlier by her grandfather's encouragement to memorize poems for a reward of 50 cents each. She revels in her love of language itself—of words and the simple letters of the alphabet, of their sounds and their meanings, their histories and their look upon the page—all at once separate and a whole. Ms. Buell lives in Columbia, Maryland.
Emily Holland (they/she) is a genderqueer lesbian writer. They are the author of Notifications On (Washington Writers’ Publishing House, forthcoming 2027). Emily’s work appears in publications including HAD, Shenandoah, DIALOGIST, and Black Warrior Review. They are the Executive Editor of Poet Lore, America’s oldest poetry journal.

About the Program:

• Doors will open to registered attendees at 5:30 pm.
• Copies of Poet Lore will be available for purchase.
• Free parking vouchers are available to program attendees who park at the Franklin Street Garage (15 W. Franklin Street) after 4 pm. Ask Pratt event staff for your parking voucher prior to or after the program.
• There is no registration required for virtual attendance. Simply visit the Enoch Pratt Free Library's Facebook or YouTube page.
• For more information, email [email protected].

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