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Poetry in the Woods: Application Deadline
September 13 @ 11:59 pm
Applications for the October 2026 Poetry in the Woods Workshop are open through September 13. Work one-on-one with award-winning poets, draw inspiration from nature walks, and hone your craft while immersed in the Missouri woods!
Poetry in the Woods takes place on October 3 & 4 at Washington University’s Tyson Research Center. 2026 faculty includes Kristin Emanuel, Justin Hamm, Elizabeth Hoover, Andrea Scarpino, Jason Vasser-Elong, and Amie Whittemore.
APPLICATION INFO
Application takes only a couple minutes and is free!
Financial aid and scholarships available.
Only 20 seats available.
Early submission is recommended. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and seats are first-come, first-served.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Poetry in the Woods provides poetry workshops and author events to the St. Louis Region that bridge the space between wildness, place, and poetry. The 2026 workshop includes:
- A mix of new and returning faculty members
- Faculty-led poetry discussions
- Inspiring nature hikes
- Open air readings and participant poetry readings
For more information, visit the FAQ section on the PITW Workshop Information Page.
ABOUT THE FACULTY
KRISTIN EMANUEL is a PhD candidate at Washington University in St. Louis. Her debut poetry collection, Birdwatching in the 4th Dimension, was selected by Shann Ray as the winner of the 2025 Emma Howell Rising Poet Prize. Her poems have appeared in Ecotone, Boston Review, and Poetry Northwest.
JUSTIN HAMM is the current Missouri Poet Laureate (2025-2027). He is the author of five books of poetry—O Death, Drinking Guinness With the Dead: Poems 2007–2021, The Inheritance, American Ephemeral, and Lessons in Ruin—as well as the creator of Poet Baseball Cards and founding editor of the museum of americana.
ELIZABETH HOOVER is a poet, essayist, and critic. Her first collection of poetry, the archive is all in present tense, received the 2021 Barrow Street Book Prize and her creative nonfiction has appeared in Southeast Review, North American Review, and StoryQuarterly. She is an Assistant Professor at Webster University in Saint Louis.
ANDREA SCARPINO has published the poetry collections Once Upon Wing Lake, What the Willow Said as it Fell, and Once, Then, and the co-edited anthology Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice. She received a PhD in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University, and an MFA from The Ohio State University. She teaches at Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School.
JASON VASSER-ELONG is the author of Shrimp (2Leaf Press, 2018), a collection of poetry that examines identity in a post-colonial context. His newest collection Lavendar is forthcoming this year. He holds a degree in anthropology, a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing with an emphasis in poetry and is a doctor of education.
AMIE WHITTEMORE (she/her) is the author of three poetry collections, most recently Nest of Matches (Autumn House Press), and the chapbook Hesitation Waltz (Midwest Writing Center). She was the 2020-2021 Poet Laureate of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. She teaches creative writing at Eastern Illinois University.
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
