Erik(a) Jonah
read their poems / see a list of publications
Erik(a) Jonah has work published or forthcoming in The Adroit Journal, Ecotone, Foglifter, the Hopkins Review, Poetry Northwest and elsewhere.
Their chapbook, School for Runaways, is forthcoming in October 2026 from Black Lawrence Press. It was also named a finalist by Two Sylvias press and Frontier Poetry.
See the cover and blurbs for School for Runaways or order your copy!
Their debut collection, Questions for Crickets, was a 2026 finalist for the Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize from Kent State University and a finalist for the 2026 Tammis Day Prize from 9 Syllables Press, Smith College. It is still available for publication.
A nonbinary writer and teacher, you might see them listed as Erik or Erika, and their legal last name is Johnson, but there are too many Johnsons out in the world. Hence Erik(a) Jonah, or EJ for short.
A 2016 MFA scholar at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, they were a finalist for the 2018 Francine Ringold Award for New Writers, were nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the journal Cave Wall, and were awarded a residency at The Mineral School in Washington in 2022. BA in Theatre Studies from Yale University; MFA from the University of Oregon, studying under thesis advisor Garrett Hongo.
Erika has taught kids in foster care in Connecticut, queer youth in the Bronx, dancers in Ohio, poets in Oregon, and more. After spending four years running a school for runaway and homeless youth, Erik is currently bouncing around, helping marginalized youth in one way or another in various schools around Eugene, Oregon.
Their mentor in art and life, James Thornton, sent them over 1,000 pages of email in their first few years of teaching (much needed advice!) Erik collected bits of these and later designed and published a book: Letters to a Young Teacher.
EJ has two kids and is married to a beautiful tomboy. They like to wander in the woods and write in the shed.
Contact them at erikalbertjonah at G mail dot com
author photo on top of page by Anna Ball
