![Josiah “Chip” Roberts and Abigail Finch [Franklin] smile for a photo](/sites/default/files/styles/basic_page/public/images/IMG_8472.JPG?itok=4y21odEb)
Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) is proud to announce that two students from its Master of Arts in Writing (MAW) program have been recognized in the prestigious 2025 AWP Intro Journals Awards.
Josiah “Chip” Roberts has been named a prose winner for his nonfiction essay, to Shoulder the Weight, which will be published in Mid-American Review. Abigail Finch [Franklin] earned Honorable Mention in poetry for her poem, What the Surgeon Recommended.
Each year, creative writing programs nationwide — including Ph.D. and MFA programs — nominate only a few top students for this highly competitive prize. It is a historic moment for PLNU to have not one, but two MAW students honored this year.
“This is a huge deal for our program and our students," said Robbie Maakestad, Program Director for the Master’s in Writing. "The AWP Intro Journals Project is the biggest prize awarded to students by our guild. Each program gets to nominate just one graduate or undergraduate student per genre, with a few extra slots in poetry. For our M.A. students to win out over students in MFA and Ph.D. programs across the country is a tremendous and unprecedented achievement. We're incredibly proud of Chip and Abigail.”
The AWP Intro Journals Project is widely recognized as one of the leading national competitions for emerging writers in higher education. You can view the full list of winners and judges at AWP Intro Journals Project Winners.