UC Riverside MFA Student Sara Hovda Wins Trio Award for Poetry Collection

In response to the news, Hovda expressed her joy, stating, “I was honestly beside myself. After I received the call, I took a two-hour walk, came home, couldn’t sleep, and then took a three-hour walk.”

Hovda credited her success to the supportive environment of the MFA program, saying, “I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the MFA program here at UC-Riverside, and I’m very thankful to my professors here.”

The Trio Award is presented by Trio House Press and is open to writers submitting their first or second poetry manuscript. The award includes a $1,000 prize, publication of the winning manuscript, and 20 copies of the finished book.

Kinsale Drake, the judge for this year's contest, praised “Night’s Grammar,” describing it as “lush, haunted, and at times stunningly funny,” and remarked that it is “a gift — a forest of language intent on becoming and unbecoming.”

The book is scheduled for publication on July 1, 2027. However, early copies will be available at the 2027 Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference & Bookfair in Chicago, taking place from March 17-20, where Hovda will read from her collection and sign copies at a Trio House Press booth.

Hovda previously earned her master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2018 and a bachelor’s degree from Winona State University in Minnesota in 2014. Her poetry has been featured in several literary magazines, including Passages North, Nimrod, and Shō Poetry Journal.