Write On, Door County — 2027 Lorine Niedecker Fellowship

Overview
The Lorine Niedecker Fellowship is a biennial residency jointly administered by Write On, Door County and the Friends of Lorine Niedecker. It is designed to support research into the life and writing of Lorine Niedecker, a singular figure in twentieth-century American poetry, and to foster new work that explores the poetry of place. The fellowship is open to poets at any stage of their career, though applicants must demonstrate a publishing history and a substantive familiarity with Niedecker's oeuvre and her position in modern poetics. The selected fellow receives a two-week residency from May 2 to 16, 2027, divided between Write On, Door County and Niedecker's hometown of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. The award includes a $1,000 stipend, a travel grant of up to $800, a $200 food stipend, and lodging. This structure allows the fellow to engage directly with the landscapes and archival materials that shaped Niedecker's work, while also benefiting from the retreat environment of Write On, Door County. The fellowship's curatorial vision is rooted in the intersection of scholarly inquiry and creative practice. It seeks a poet whose work is informed by a deep reading of Niedecker—her formal innovations, her attention to the natural world, and her rootedness in place—and who can translate that engagement into new poetry. The residency is not merely a retreat but a research opportunity, encouraging the fellow to draw on local resources and to contribute to the ongoing appreciation of Niedecker's legacy.