Indigenous Nations Poets, a member of the Poetry Coalition, is accepting applications for a paid Poetry Coalition Fellowship position. This position is 20 hours per week from September 13, 2021 to June 30, 2022. The stipend is $18,720 plus $1,000 toward health care. We welcome all applicants, including those who are enrolled in or have recently graduated from MFA programs in creative writing.

Location:   Remote

About In-Na-Po:
Indigenous Nations Poets is a national Indigenous poetry community committed to mentoring emerging writers, nurturing the growth of Indigenous poetic practices, and raising the visibility of all Native Writers past, present, and future. In-Na-Po recognizes the role of poetry in sustaining tribal sovereign nations and Native languages.

Position Overview:
The Poetry Coalition Fellow will assist the Director, Board, and Operations Manager with various elements of the tasks identified below. One of their primary project responsibilities will be assisting with the planning and fundraising for, implementation of, and on-site work at a mentoring retreat to be held in Washington, D. C. the last week of April 2022. The fellow will also participate in assessment of the retreat and in generating follow-up reports and best-practices for future retreats.

• Committing to 20 hours per week for the entire ten-month fellowship

• Adhering to rules and policies of In-Na-Po as appropriate

• Assisting with some or all of the following:

  • Community outreach

  • Marketing and promotion, including materials development

  • Grant writing and/or fundraising

  • Content production for websites and social media

  • Programming and curating live events, such as poetry readings and workshops

  • General administration

• Assisting with the host organization’s Poetry Coalition joint programming in March

• Attending and participating in meetings

• Attending and participating in monthly Zooms with other Poetry Coalition fellows and Academy staff to foster community, professional development, and create a peer learning group to learn about the following:

  • Community outreach

  • Marketing and promotion, including materials development

  • Grant writing and/or fundraising

  • Content production for websites and social media

  • Programming and curating live events, such as poetry readings and workshops

  • General administration

• Participating in the Poetry Coalition’s fall convening and professional development trainings

• Completing evaluations at the end of the fellowship year

Fellow Qualifications

• Passion for poetry and familiarity with and/or knowledge of contemporary poets. A familiarity with Indigenous Nations Poetry and/or the BIPOC poetry community.

• Interest in literary arts programming, administration, and management.

• Demonstrated experience in and/or interest in the work identified above in “Fellow Responsibilities” section.

• Strong communication skills. Ability to proof written materials for accuracy.

• Familiarity with social media platforms.

• Ability to work independently, organize and track multiple tasks simultaneously. Attention to details.

To Apply
Please submit a cover letter, resume, and 2-3 references to in-na-po@uwm.edu by July 6th, 2021. Applicants may also submit a work sample that illustrates related past experience or showcases the desired skills. No calls please.

About the Poetry Coaliation Fellowship:
The Poetry Coalition is a national alliance of more than 25 organizations dedicated to working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture and the important contribution poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds. Members are nonprofit organizations whose primary mission is to promote poets and poetry, and/or multi-genre literary organizations that serve poets of specific abilities, ethnic, gender, or racial identities, backgrounds, or communities. All members present poets at live events. Each March, members present programming across the country on a theme of social importance. The Poetry Coalition is coordinated by the Academy of American Poets and we are grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for its support of this work.

The Poetry Coalition Fellowship Program is a three-year pilot program. The goals of this program are to help:

• diversify the leadership of the nonprofit literary field by encouraging more inclusion of individuals from under-represented communities;

• develop future literary leaders regardless of educational background;

• introduce the individuals who are interested to nonprofit literary arts management, fundraising, programming, and editorial work, providing experiences that will be useful as they seek jobs and inspiring them to consider working in the literary field; and

• increase the capacity of our individual organizations by having additional assistance.

Paid fellowships will not “level the playing field.” Opportunity in our country is not equally distributed across ability, class, ethnic, gender, and racial lines. And we alone cannot erase and undo the biases, barriers, discrimination, and prejudice that exist in our country. But we hope poetry organizations can be out front in building equity and inclusivity in literary arts organizations and spaces.

*Indigenous Nations Poets is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on organizational needs, job requirements and individual qualifications. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, marital status, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.