PRACTICE FELLOWSHIP: This fellowship category seeks to support an emerging poet in their writing practice through a year long mentorship with an established poet. Mentor and fellow will meet monthly one-on-one to workshop writing, discuss poetry and poetics, and explore publication opportunities. Meetings will take place in person and virtually. During the fellowship period, the recipient will also receive a $500 book allowance, may attend any Woodland Pattern workshop free of cost, and will be invited to give a culminating reading. Poets with existing manuscript projects are particularly encouraged to apply in this category.

Eligibility: Open to Milwaukee poets between the ages of 20 and 35, who are not currently enrolled in an MFA or PhD program. 

Mentorship: The Milwaukee Emerging Poet Fellow in the Practice category will be mentored by Anja Notanja Sieger. Sieger (b. 1987, BFA Kansas City Art Institute) is a predominantly analog artist living in a digital world, Sieger is known locally for custom typewriter poetry, performance art, and shadow puppetry. She also creates experimental radio as producer and host for The Subtle Forces Productions on 104.1 FM WXRW-LP (Riverwest Radio). Previous venues for her work include The Pfister Hotel; QWERTYFEST MKE; Woodland Pattern; O, Miami Poetry Festival; Quasimondo Physical Theatre; Milwaukee Opera Theatre; Renaissance Theaterworks; Saint Kate—The Arts Hotel; The Museum of Wisconsin Art; Walker’s Point Center for the Arts; and Grove Gallery.

Application Instructions: Please submit 10 poems and a cover letter discussing your writing practice and reasons for seeking this fellowship. Poems may be submitted as either a manuscript or performance recording. Please submit all 10 poems in only ONE text document.

ABOUT THE MILWAUKEE EMERGING POET FELLOWSHIPS: Drawing inspiration from both the Mary L. Nohl Fund Emerging Artist Fellowship and the Poetry Project’s Emerge Surface Be program, Woodland Pattern established the Milwaukee Emerging Poet Fellowship program in 2022 to bring greater visibility and much-needed early support to Milwaukee poets through mentorships, access to opportunities that encourage a poet’s practice and development, and investment in literary projects for which younger poets frequently lack resources. The Milwaukee Emerging Poet Fellowship program also seeks to make available alternative avenues of support for emerging poets outside traditional academic-track poetry programs and environments.

PROJECT FELLOWSHIP: This fellowship category seeks to support an emerging poet in need of financial and administrative support for an ambitious literary project such as a reading series, small press, literary journal, or interdisciplinary exhibition. Both new and existing projects are eligible for consideration. The Project fellow will receive ongoing support from our staff, along with a $1,500 project budget. Poets with a track record in DIY publishing and/or hosting performance series are particularly encouraged to apply in this category.

Eligibility: Open to Milwaukee poets between the ages of 20 and 35, who are not currently enrolled in an MFA or PhD program. 

Mentorship: The Milwaukee Emerging Poet Fellow in the Project category will work directly with Woodland Pattern’s Director of Special Projects & Initiatives, Chuck Stebelton, to realize their projects, and will receive additional support from Woodland Pattern’s Executive Directors Jenny Gropp and Laura Solomon in administrative matters such as budget planning.

Application Instructions: Please submit a project proposal, a budget, and a cover letter outlining your preparedness to execute your project and your reasons for seeking this fellowship.

ABOUT THE MILWAUKEE EMERGING POET FELLOWSHIPS: Drawing inspiration from both the Mary L. Nohl Fund Emerging Artist Fellowship and the Poetry Project’s Emerge Surface Be program, Woodland Pattern established the Milwaukee Emerging Poet Fellowship program in 2022 to bring greater visibility and much-needed early support to Milwaukee poets through mentorships, access to opportunities that encourage a poet’s practice and development, and investment in literary projects for which younger poets frequently lack resources. The Milwaukee Emerging Poet Fellowship program also seeks to make available alternative avenues of support for emerging poets outside traditional academic-track poetry programs and environments.