The winner of this year’s Alta California Chapbook contest is Michelle Moncayo for her chapbook, Here on this 76L, forthcoming from Gunpowder Press! From our distinguished final judge Richard Blanco:
“Michelle Moncayo’s poems burn strong with authentic feeling and personal icons swirling with wings, food as a form of prayer, and the poignant music of heritage. There is a radiating center to this collection, one that speaks to the power of where we come from and how we carry our origin stories with us in painful and beautiful ways. This is a voice that spoke to me with intimacy and truth.”
Honorable Mention and Finalists: The judges also selected Memorias de un país en peligro de extinción by Leonora Simonovis for Honorable Mention.
Nine manuscripts were distinguished as Finalists:
- Eneida P. Alcalde for Cariño
- Erika Ayón for Create Birds
- Michaela Chairez for Zest!
- Brenda Delfino for Oraciones
- Matthew Gonzales for Human Non-Portraiture
- José Enrique Medina for Haunt Me
- Elizabeth Pérez for Refugee Lotteries
- Melinda Palacio for Camino
- Luis Torres for Brief Encounter

Winner Michelle Moncayo is a Dominican/Ecuadorian poet in New Jersey. Her work explores diaspora, queer identity, and mental/physical illness. She graduated with her MFA from Randolph College in 2024. She received a 2020 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She has received fellowships from SPACE at Ryder Farm, Vermont Studio Center, Sundress Academy for the Arts, CantoMundo, and VONA. Her poetry has appeared in Até Mais: An Anthology of Latinx Futurisms, Broadsided Press, No Tender Fences: An Anthology of Immigrant & First-Generation American Poetry, Palette Poetry, & Ninth Letter. You can find her at michellemoncayoart.net and @mmon1392.
About the series editor: Emma Trelles is the 9th poet laureate of Santa Barbara and the daughter of Cuban immigrants. She is the author of Tropicalia (University of Notre Dame Press), winner of the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize. Emma is an Established Artist Fellow at the California Arts Council and a Poet Laureate Fellow at the Academy of American Poets. For more, visit emmatrelles.com