I’m Emily. Hi. I’m a writer, a wonderer, a starer into space, and a shameless partaker in delights. I am not a proficient roller skater, a fan of pastels, or an expert at anything.

I have been honored to have my poems selected as:

Poem of the Month at ONLY POEMS, November 2025

winner of Peatsmoke Journal’s 2025 Summer Editor’s Contest and the 2022 Ellen Conroy Kennedy Poetry Contest,

runner-up for the 2024 Ruth Stone Poetry Prize,

finalists in:

• the 2026 American Literary Review Awards in Poetry

• the 2025 Pinch Literary Awards in Poetry

• Breakwater Review’s 2025 Peseroff Prize in Poetry

• the 2024 Muriel Craft Bailey Poetry Contest

• the 2024 Milton Kessler Memorial Prize for Poetry

• the 2024 Sand Hills Poetry Contest

• the 2023 Sublingua Prize for Poetry

• the 2022-2023 Tennessee Williams SAS Poetry Contest

• the 2022 Poetry International Prize,

semi-finalists in the 2025 Crab Creek Review Poetry Prize and the 2024 Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize,

and honorable mention in Writer’s Digest’s 2025 Annual Writing Competition.

Venice, Italy Photo Credit: Emily Portillo