Greetings from In-Na-Po, Indigenous Nations Poets. We are a recently formed national organization committed to mentoring emerging writers, nurturing the growth of Indigenous poetic practices, and raising the visibility of all Native Writers. We invite Native writers who have published at least one book to apply for an In-Na-Po fellowship to attend the 2021 Sewanee Writer’s Conference.

Here are some details about the conference and the fellowship:

The Sewanee Writers’ Conference, July 20–August 1, 2021, is located at The University of the South in Sewanee, TN and offers workshops in fiction, poetry, playwriting, and nonfiction. The program also includes an individual meeting with a faculty member, readings, craft lectures, and master classes.

The Conference is offering one In-Na-Po fellowship. Fellows are waived the $1800 cost to attend, which includes room and board, and are only responsible for their travel costs. Each fellow is asked to be an active member in workshop, give a 15-minute reading at Sewanee, and meet individually with six writers from their workshop for half hour manuscript consultations. Fellows also have an opportunity to teach a one-hour master class at Sewanee, for which they would receive a $500 honorarium.

This summer’s faculty will include poets Tarfia Faizullah, Mark Jarman, Nate Marshall, Carl Phillips, A.E. Stallings, and Monica Youn; fiction writers Chris Bachelder, Jamel Brinkley, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, Adrianne Harun, Vanessa Hua, Katie Kitamura, Jill McCorkle, Claire Messud, Jess Walter, and Stephanie Powell Watts; nonfiction writers Alexander Chee, Amitava Kumar, Elena Passarello, and Aisha Sabatini Sloan; and playwrights Naomi Iizuka, Dan O’Brien, Liliana Padilla, and Lloyd Suh.

Sewanee hopes to hold the conference as usual, but are well aware that circumstances may intervene. So, they are planning for a standard conference, for a socially distanced conference, and for the worst-case scenario of cancellation. Should they have to cancel, they will honor 2021 admissions in 2022.

Applications are open now through March 15, 2021. Details on how to apply can be found at www.sewaneewriters.org/apply. Fellows must have books in print by the time of the Conference in order to apply and can’t have attended the conference as a poetry fellow before. Writers interested in applying for an In-Na-Po fellowship should please note that they are applying as such in the first sentence of their statement of interest. Sewanee staff will make the final selection from those Native writers who complete the application process.

We wish you luck with your application. Welcome to this new Native Poetry community.