Jia-Rui Cook

Jia-Rui Cook is a Chinese American writer, editor, and producer in Los Angeles. She is the 2025 winner of the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, awarded by Fresno State’s Master of Fine Arts Program. Black Lawrence Press will publish her debut poetry book, Soft Beasts, in 2027. Jia-Rui is a 2026 Periplus Fellow and won the 2013 Zócalo Public Square Poetry Prize. Her poetry has recently appeared in Black Fox Literary Magazine, Mom Egg Review, Missouri Review, Puerto del Sol, SWWIM Every Day, and ONLY POEMS. Once a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, she is currently a senior communications officer at the California Wellness Foundation. Jia-Rui can be found on Instagram @funjiable.