Select Works

“In Retrospect, Blackstreet’s Card Tower was Wildly Incomplete,” November 2025 Poem of the Month, ONLY POEMS

https://www.onlypoems.com/poem-of-the-month/november-2025-theme-heartbreak

“The Gift,” finalist for Naugatuck River Review’s 17th Annual Contest

https://naugatuckriverreview.com/2025/12/21/naugatuck-river-reviews-17th-annual-contest-winners/

“When Asked If She's Afraid of Anything, Nikki Giovanni Answers,” Common Ground Review

https://www.cgreview.org/magazine/when-asked-if-shes-afraid-of-anything-nikki-giovanni-answers

“Ding Dong,” semi-finalist for the 2025 Crab Creek Review Poetry Prize

https://www.crabcreekreview.org/crabcreekrevblog/previous/3

“The Odds,” winner of Peatsmoke Journal’s 2025 Summer Editor’s Contest

https://www.peatsmokejournal.com/2025-poetry-contest-winner/emily-portillo

“Evolution Didn’t Plan for This,” runner-up for Hunger Mountain’s 2024 Ruth Stone Poetry Prize

https://hungermtn.netlify.app/issues/hunger-mtn-31/poetry

“GED,” finalist for Breakwater Review’s 2025 Peseroff Poetry Prize

https://www.breakwaterreview.com/copy-8-of-seventeen-years-old-in-the-a

“After the 527th Anti-LGBTQ Bill This Year, I Remind Myself,” semifinalist for the 2024 Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize

https://www.deanza.edu/english/creative-writing/documents/2024-red-wheelbarrow-eighth-annual.pdf

“Paradox,” finalist for the Sand Hills Magazine’s 2024 Poetry Contest

https://sandhillsmagazine.com/store/p/style-01-ej5na-wny55

“Eleven,” Rattle Magazine

https://rattle.com/eleven-by-emily-portillo/