ABOUT

Erika is a poet and essayist from New York living in Philadelphia. A 2026 recipient of the AWP Intro Journals Project Award in Nonfiction, her work can be found or is forthcoming in Tampa Review, DIAGRAM, Ninth Letter, Passages North, and elsewhere. A former poetry editor of Black Warrior Review and cofounder of A Velvet Giant, Erika is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama's MFA in Creative Writing.

Erika wrote a collection of fairytale-inspired poetry, titled Be My Friend. She is also working on a nonfiction manuscript, titled I Feel Just Like Mary Toft, about pain, performance, exploitation, and Mary Toft, a woman who gave birth to seventeen rabbits in 1726.

She is interested in flora, fauna, fairies, and ghost stories, as long as they're not too scary. Connect with her on Instagram @erika4evaa or on her website at erikamwalsh.com.