Evan Wang (王潇)
"Wang's deftness in telescoping vast swathes of time, while sustaining both mythic and quotidian proportions for experience is remarkable."
- Divya Victor, 2022 PEN America Open Book Award Winner
王潇/Evan Wang is a writer, performer, community arts advocate, and was the first Youth Poet Laureate of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and the Northeastern Regional Youth Poet Laureate Runner-Up. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in POETRY, The Kenyon Review, The Journal, RHINO, Waxwing, The Margins, Poet Lore, Fugue, The Harvard Advocate, and elsewhere, and was exhibited at the Montgomery County Community College. He is a 2024 National YoungArts Winner in poetry, a 2024 Scholastic National Gold Medalist, a commended 2024 Foyle Young Poet of the Year, the 2023 Jacklyn Potter Young Poet, an alum of the Iowa Young Writers' Studio, the 2024 Pennsylvania Poetry Out Loud Runner-Up, longlisted for the Gregory Djanikian Scholars in Poetry, and winner of the 2022 Button Poetry Short Form Poetry Contest and the 2024 Fugue Poetry Prize, selected by Divya Victor. He serves as the editor-in-chief of Hominum Journal, the youngest appointed member of the Montgomery County Commission for LGBTQIA+ Affairs, the Director of the Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate Program, and a member of the Indian Valley Arts Foundation Board of Directors. Evan is working on a chapbook manuscript titled, “Slow Burn.”Evan has performed his work at various venues such as the Oval XP, Love Park, Miami Book Fair, U.S. Department of Education, Kelly Writers House, Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Convention Center, ArtWRKD, the State Museum of Pennsylvania, Chinatown Friendship Arch, and The Rotunda at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a featured artist at the Our America Now: Expressions of Freedom event and the Our America Now: World Refugee Day event as part of the Wawa Welcome America festival, the largest Fourth of July celebration in the country, performing with legendary poets such as Ursula Rucker, and was invited by Urban Word to attend the 2024 White House Youth Policy Summit, where Evan was among 90 young people across the country invited to the White House for the first-ever interagency Youth Policy Summit: Cultivating Possibilities. Evan was also a featured artist at the YèShì Chinatown Night Market, voted fifth best cultural festival in the nation by USA Today, and welcomed over 20,000 attendees. In 2021, he was included on the Expressions of Freedom Firework Soundtrack, which played during a firework show under the Ben Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia. In 2023, his poem, "Mother is a Verb," was featured on the Healing Verse Poetry Line.His work has been featured at and recognized by the White House, Button Poetry, NPR, WXPN, NBC10, TEDx, the Miami Book Fair, WHYY, the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists, the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, the National Council of Teachers of English, Philadelphia Contemporary, Urban Word, the Free Library of Philadelphia, Columbia University Press, the Montgomery County Community College, American Educational Research Association, Gregory Djanikian Scholars in Poetry, Susquehanna University, Gwynedd Mercy University, The Word Works, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Senator Amanda Cappelletti, Montgomery County Commissioner Jamila H. Winder, former Montgomery County Commissioner Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr., Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, Poetry4Progress, Philly Loves Poetry, The Pulitzer Center, PhillyVoice, The Mercury, The Times Herald, The Reporter, the Interlochen Arts Academy, 1455 Literary Arts, Walt Whitman Birthplace Museum, the Moonstone Arts Center, and the ruth weiss foundation.
Evan Wang (王潇)
"...with luck in the mouth and tender words on the lips,
Evan Wang shows the way forward."
- Karla Kelsey, Fulbright Scholar
PUBLICATIONS
Selected Poems (Online & Print)
"I Hate it Everywhere," "Night Elegy," & "Brood" in Waxwing (forthcoming)
"Wreck" in The Poetry Society (forthcoming)
"I Could Be So Good" in The Margins (forthcoming)
"母念 // 思母" in POETRY (forthcoming)
"中秋奏鸣曲 / Mid-Autumn Sonata" in Fugue (forthcoming)
"新传统" in Pigeon Pages (July 2024) *Nominated for Best of the Net
"After I Was Shot" in The Harvard Advocate (April 2024)
"Slow Burn" in Poet Lore (April 2024)
"The Whale" in Frontier Poetry (January 2024)
"我疼你" in The Kenyon Review (April 2024)
"Dog Years" in The Journal (January 2024)
"BREAKING NEWS: GHOST OF MICHELLE GO HAUNTS THE AFTERIMAGES" in RHINO (August 2024)
"Psalm for Plastic Jesus" in Rust + Moth (May 2023)
"Mother is a Verb" in Philadelphia Contemporary (April 2023)
"Nocturne With High Waters" in COUNTERCLOCK Journal (March 2023) *Nominated for Best of the Net
Reviews
A Review of Savannah Brown's "Closer Baby Closer" (2023)
A Review of Eugenia Leigh’s “Bianca” (2023)
A Review of Gabrielle Bates's "Judas Goat" (2023)
A Review of Cynthia Dewi Oka's "A Tinderbox in Three Acts" (2023)
Evan Wang (王潇)
AWARDS & HONORS
Nominee, Best of the Net Anthology - (October 2024)
Commended, Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award - (September 2024)
Winner, Montgomery County Art and Prose of Freedom Contest - (June 2024)
Semifinalist, Finishing Line Press Open Chapbook Competition - (May 2024)
National Gold Medal, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards - (May 2024)
National Silver Medal, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards - (May 2024)
Winner, Fugue Poetry Contest, selected by Divya Victor - (May 2024)
Semifinalist, Button Poetry Chapbook Contest - (May 2024)
Superior, National Council of Teachers of English - (May 2024)
Winner, Columbia Granger's World of Poetry Student Poetry Contest - (May 2024)
Finalist, Fugue Poetry Contest - (April 2024)
Honorable Mention, Pigeon Pages Poetry Contest, selected by Chen Chen - (April 2024)
Recipient, The Hamilton Award - (April 2024)
Longlist, Gregory Djanikian Scholars in Poetry - (April 2024)
Honorable Mention, Walt Whitman Student Poetry Prize - (April 2024)
13 Gold Keys, 13 Silver Keys, 22 Honorable Mentions, Scholastic Art & Writing Awards - (2023 - 2024)
State Runner-Up, Pennsylvania Poetry Out Loud - (March 2024)
State Winner, Pennsylvania Poetry Ourselves - (March 2024)
Regional Winner, Pennsylvania Poetry Out Loud- (January 2024)
Runner-Up, Northeast Regional Youth Poet Laureate Competition - (January 2024)
National Winner, National YoungArts Competition - (November 2023)
Heartivist of the Week, The Pollination Project Foundation - (November 2023)
Semifinalist, Adroit Prize for Poetry - (October 2023)
Nominee, Best of the Net Anthology - (September 2023)
Runner-Up, 1455 Young Poets Contest - (July 2023)
Winner in Outstanding Poetry, Apprentice Writer, selected by Karla Kelsey - (June 2023)
Winner, Jacklyn Potter Young Poets Competition, selected by M. Mack - (May 2023)
Finalist, Sandy Crimmins National Prize for Poetry - (March 2023)
Winner, Poetry Society of Virginia Jenkins Prize, selected by Michelle Garcia - (March 2023)
Finalist, COUNTERCLOCK Emerging Writers' Award - (February 2023)
Recipient, President's Volunteer Service Award Gold Medal (December 2022)
Finalist, Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Scholarship Competition - (December 2022)
National Winner, National High School Poetry Contest - (October 2022)
Winner, Button Poetry Short Form Poetry Contest - (October 2022)
Honorary Winner, Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate Competition - (October 2022)
Finalist, Youth Poet Award - (September 2022)
Evan Wang (王潇)
EXPERIENCE
Performances & Media
Moderator, HealthSpark Foundation Conference (2024)
Reader, Writers Read for Change (2024)
Host, NYPL Conversation with Ada Limón and Stephanie Pacheco (2024)
Reader, Elkins Park Public Library (2024)
Interviewee, The Reporter (2024)
Reader + Interviewee, NPR (2024)
Performer, AERA 2024 Conference (2024)
Reader, LIVE at the Writers House (2024)
Reader, Montgomery County Commissioners Board Meeting (2024)
Reader, State Museum of Pennsylvania (2024)
Special Guest, No Rivers Twice, (2024)
Performer + Panelist, U.S. Department of Education (2024)
Reader + Workshop Leader, The Welcome Project PA (2024)
Reader, Upper Merion High School Scheduling Forum (2024)
Interviewee, Pens to Palms (2024)
Reader + Interviewee, Poetry4Progress Podcast (2023)
Reader + Interviewee, Philly Loves Poetry (2023)
Panelist, Miami Book Fair (2023)
Interviewee, The Pollination Project (2023)
Reader + Writing Workshop Leader, Gwynedd Mercy University (2023)
Speaker, TEDxYouth@CobbsCreek (2023)
Reader, Arts in the Park (2023)
Performer, YèShì Chinatown Night Market (2023)
Reader + Writing Workshop Leader, In the Company of Laureates (2023)
Open Mic Leader, Woori Center (2023)
Speaker, Union Library of Hatboro (2023)
Workshop Leader, Woori Center (2023)
Featured Performer, Our America Now: World Refugee Day (2023)
Featured Poet, Café Muse Literary Salon (2023)
Guest Speaker, Montgomery County Pride Flag Raising Ceremony (2023)
Featured Guest Poet, Hallowell Elementary School (2023)
Reader, Towne Book Center (2023)
Workshop Leader, Elkins Park Free Library (2023)
Reader with Casa de Duende, Independence Branch Library (2023)
Reader + Writing Workshop Leader, Lansdale Public Library (2023)
Reader + Writing Workshop Leader, Conshohocken Public Library (2023)
Reader, Indian Valley Public Library (2023)
Reader + Writing Workshop Leader, Abington Free Library (2023)
Reader + Writing Workshop Leader, Upper Dublin Library (2023)
Reader, New Voices: Emerging Poets (2023)
Reader, 26th Annual Poetry Ink (2023)
Reader + Open Mic Leader, Upper Merion Township Library (2022)
Reader, New Voices: Emerging Poets (2022)
Special Guest Poet, No Rivers Twice Reading Series (2022)
Featured Performer, Two Rivers Reading Series (2022)
Featured Guest + Workshop Leader, Forgotten Voices Poetry Group (2022)
Featured Artist, Expressions of Freedom Waterfront Firework Soundtrack (2022)
Featured Performer, Our America Now: Expressions of Freedom Festival (2022)
Featured Performer, Performance Anxiety Reading Series (2022)
Reader, New Voices: Emerging Poets (2022)
Positions
Member, Montgomery County Commission for LGBTQIA+ Affairs (2024-Present)
Communications Intern, Urban Word (2024-Present)
Director, Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate Program (2024-Present)
Committee Member, Young Writers for Democratic Action (2024-Present)
Editor-in-Chief, Hominum Journal (2023-Present)
Junior Board Member, Indian Valley Arts Foundation (2023-Present)
Inaugural Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate (2022-2024)
Executive Poetry Editor, The Dawn Review (2022-2023)
Student Poetry Editor, Philadelphia Stories Junior (2022-Present)
Student Intern, Moonstone Arts Center (2021-2023)
Workshops & Programs
Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop, under Kirsten Ogden (2023)
Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship, under Jacques J. Rancourt (2023)
Ellipses Writing Mentorship, under Peter LaBerge (2022)
Anaphora Writing Residency, under Phillip B. Williams (2022)
Iowa Young Writers' Studio, under Gilad Jaffe (2022)
Civics Unplugged Fellowship (2022)
Evan Wang (王潇)
CONTACT
Booking Requests/General Inquiries: [email protected]
