February 19, 2025: The Friends of Lorine Niedecker and Write On, Door County are pleased to announce the selection of Ohio poet Caryl Pagel as the recipient of the 2025 Lorine Niedecker Fellowship. The fellowship provides a two-week residency, one week at Write On, located on Wisconsin’s northeast peninsula, and one in Niedecker’s hometown of Fort Atkinson, WI, along with a $1,000 award and a travel stipend.
Caryl Pagel is the author of four books, most recently Free Clean Fill Dirt (poetry, University of Akron Press) and Out of Nowhere Into Nothing (essays, FC2). She is a publisher and editor at Rescue Press and the director of the Cleveland State University Poetry Center. Pagel teaches creative writing at Cleveland State University and in the NEOMFA program.
The selection committee commented on the strength of all the applications and had a difficult time selecting one writer for the award. They commented on Pagel’s demonstrated interest in Niedecker and her desire to promote Niedecker’s work and to share it with the larger community. The selection committee consisted of Wisconsin poets Tom Montag and Nicholas Gulig.
A poet and essayist, Montag was a Founding Contributing Editor of the Pushcart Prize. His poem, “Lecturing My Daughter in Her First Fall Rain,” is incorporated in the design of the Milwaukee Convention Center. Gulig served as the 2023-24 Poet Laureate of the State of Wisconsin and is Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Administered jointly by the Friends of Lorine Niedecker and Write On, the fellowship is offered every two years to an established or emerging poet familiar with the work of poet Lorine Niedecker. The purpose of the fellowship is to encourage research into Niedecker’s life and writing and to promote new work that deals with the poetry of place. Pagel will spend the week of May 4 – 11 at Write On and the week of May 11 – 18 in Fort Atkinson. She will present public programs at both locations.
The Friends of Lorine Niedecker is dedicated to preserving and expanding the legacy of the 20th century poet. They offer access to research archives and education material and publish The Solitary Plover, a semiannual newsletter, and the monograph series What Region. Visit www.lorineniedecker.org.
Write On, Door County is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire and engage writers and readers of all ages at all stages. Write On conducts programs at various venues throughout Door County and offers residencies to emerging and established writers of all genres. Visit www.writeondoorcounty.org.