2019 Emerging Poets Fellowship!
Over the past three months, a group of talented early-career poets has been building the future of poetry at Poets House. The Emerging Poets Fellowship, now in its 8th year, has gathered ten New York City poets to work together on their craft, learning from each other and from poets who have established themselves in the field. This competitive program is designed to offer community, mentorship, and other resources to support accomplished emerging writers at a critical time in their careers.
The 2019 Poets House Emerging Poets Fellows:
Rabih Ahmed
Kiran Bath
Catherine Chen
Charlene François
James Fujinami Moore
Trevor Ketner
Shalewa Mackall
Val Rigodon
Sarah Sala
Nicole Wallace
These Emerging Poets are a vibrant presence and an essential part of the life of Poets House, which aims to support poets at all stages of their careers. The fellowship provides writing workshops, the chance to work closely with important voices in American poetry, and access to Poets House programs and library resources.
Poet Anselm Berrigan has been the instructor at the helm of the program’s weekly workshop. Earlier this spring, Guest Poets Steven Alvarez and Simone White offered their insights via lectures on poetics that were open to the public. Alvarez spoke about Charles Olson’s epic The Maximus Poems, and White discussed the intersections of feminism and black identity. Over the course of the program, the Fellows have also been meeting one-on-one with Visiting Poet Cornelius Eady to talk about their poems. In addition, Poets House has arranged for each Emerging Poet to meet one-on-one with another established poet of their choosing to discuss their work.
We are honored to present the words and accomplishments of Rabih, Kiran, Catherine, Charlene, Trevor, Shalewa, James, Val, Sarah, and Nicole on our website, and we invite you read their poems and be inspired. We also welcome you to hear more of their incredible work at the culminating Emerging Poets Fellowship Reading on Saturday, June 15 at 6:30pm.