APRIL YU

teen writer

April Yu is a Pushcart-nominated teenage writer from New Jersey. Her work has been recognized by the New York Times, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, Wigleaf Top 50, and Ringling College of Art and Design. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Mercurial Collective and published in Peach Mag, The Lumiere Review, Milk Candy Review, The Aurora Journal, FEED, and more. She is a graduate of the Adroit Summer Mentorship Program and the Alpha Workshop for Young Writers.

Prose
Poetry
Awards
Experience

[email protected]

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SELECT PROSE

In the moments when her sobs dissolve into hiccups dissolve into silence, questions come unbidden; sometimes angry, sometimes desperate, always unanswerable. Did Rachel once look like this?

2023.
◦ "heatmap" – FEED Mag, forthcoming
◦ "among the violets" – Londemere Lit
◦ "Snowy Birthrights" – Ethos Literacy, Short Short Story Contest Honorable Mention

2022.
◦ "Miracle Baby" – Four Palaces Publishing, 2022 Fiction Anthology Contest
◦ "To Saturn and Back" – Milk Candy Review
◦ "Jack-and-Janette" – The Lumiere Review
↪ previous version in The Incandescent Review
◦ "Wild Girl" – Hallowzine
◦ "Roulette" – Lit. 202
◦ "Before I Go" – Five South

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SELECT POETRY

“dripping eyes leave stains,” mother says. she lets her tears sink into her voice box instead, a cage of cartilage. knives do not know how to twist her out.

2023.
◦ "kindness (n.): a stone of hope" – Ginosko Literary Magazine, forthcoming
◦ "midnight cravings" – Peach Mag

2022.
◦ "candlewax & cherry fire" – Hand Picked Poetry
◦ "here comes the queen" – Mid-Heaven Magazine
◦ "crickets, tell me that" – The Collidescope
↪ republished in Aôthen Magazine & The Metaworker Literary Magazine
◦ "i met an angel and forgot the rest of the sky" – Aurora Journal, Surrealism Poetry Contest Honorable Mention
◦ "blue-light kisses" – Unstamatic Mag
◦ "& beautiful" – Ice Lolly Review

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AWARDS

Winner | 9th Annual Student Review Contest, New York Times
Top 50 Longlist | Wigleaf Top 50 Longlist, Wigleaf
2x Gold Key | Scholastic Writing Awards, Alliance for Young Writers
4x Silver Key | Scholastic Writing Awards, Alliance for Young Writers
2nd Place in Genre Fiction | 8th Annual Storytellers of Tomorrow Contest, Ringling College of Art and Design
International Prose Finalist | Metamorphosis Writing Contest, SeaGlass Literary, Coexist Lit Magazine, Global Youth Review
Honorable Mention | Surrealism Poetry Contest, The Aurora Journal
Honorable Mention | Short Short Story Contest, Ethos Literacy

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EXPERIENCE

Work.
◦ private English tutor for elementary and middle school students
◦ founder & editor-in-chief, The Mercurial Collective
◦ book reviewing internal co-director, The Young Writer's Initiative
◦ essay writing intern, Daughter Zine
◦ associate editor, Neverland Lit
◦ prose reader & editor, Cloudscent Journal
◦ general editor, The Trailblazer Review
◦ former staff contributor, Cloudy Magazine
◦ former email manager, Londemere Lit
◦ former prose reader & editor, Heartbalm Lit

Programs.
◦ Kenyon Review Young Writer's Workshop, 2024
◦ The Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship for Fiction, 2023
◦ Alpha Young Writer's Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, 2022
◦ NJTeen Arts Creative Writing course, 2022

Interviews.
◦ journey to a 'New York Times' byline - TAPInto
◦ on writing graveyards & mentor figures – Pens to Palms
◦ two questions about "To Saturn and Back" – Milk Candy Review
◦ my teen writing journey – Young Eager Writers

Events.
◦ middle and high school writing workshop presentation – The Trailblazer Review x Youth4Arts, forthcoming
◦ "a definitive guide to this (how to love or lose a child)" reading – Alpha Workshop for Young Writers w/ Tamora Pierce