Description

Indigenous Nations Poets (In-Na-Po) is a national literary organization supporting the work of Native Nations poets and their efforts to overcome barriers into literary spaces and support young poets as they create careers in literary fields. In existence for two years, In-Na-Po selects a cohort of fellows annually (10-16 fellows) to provide individual mentorship and group networking with Native literary faculty experts. This grant would support the continuation and expansion of In-Na-Po programming for Indigenous poets including in-person an d online workshops, work with tribal colleges, readings, training in the profession, publication opportunities, and their annual mentoring retreats for emerging Indigenous poets. The retreat provides full fellowships for 16 emerging poets, covering the cost of food, lodging, and transportation, as well as honorariums for faculty and guest speakers.
In-Na-Po recognizes that p oetry is a part of Indigenous heritage and intellectual histories as Indigenous peoples have a long history of poetic oral tradition expressed in stories and songs. Since colonization, there have been Native poets writing in English, Spanish, Latin, and their own Indigenous languages, but they have lacked visibility and recognition for their contributions to American poetry. In-Na-Po is working to support the next generation of Indigenous poets, uplift their work and careers to advance Indigenous representation in poetry.
This grant supports program goal 1b: To ensure that knowledge makers and keepers have access to and are supported by a robust infrastructure of organizations, programs, projects, and resources . This grant will also support program goal 1a: To nurture and sustain Indigenous knowledge leaders and their work.