720 E Locust Street is now closed.
As of Saturday, July 11, we are now CLOSED FOR THE SUMMER. For deliveries or to reach a staff person, please call 414-263-5001. Staff will be working onsite Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM. We'd love to see you at our off-site events! Scroll down for event info, including Poetry in the Park. We look forward to opening our doors at Woodland Pattern’s new Bay View home at 347 E. Ward Street later this year. Please stay tuned!
OPPORTUNITY
Call for Applications: Poetry Coalition Fellow
Woodland Pattern, a founding member of the Poetry Coalition, is accepting applications for a paid Poetry Coalition Fellowship position! This position is 20 hours per week from September 2, 2026, to June 30, 2027. The total stipend is $20,000 plus $1,100 toward health care. Applications are due by July 27.
The Poetry Coalition is a national alliance of nearly thirty 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.
Position overview: The central responsibility of Woodland Pattern’s Poetry Coalition Fellow will be to assist with special projects related to our vast small-press poetry collection as we move into a new space with a much larger footprint after nearly fifty years in our former site. We expect to complete the move in the fall of 2026.
In addition to the large multi-room collection of books and media available for sale to the public, the new facility will have a new Permanent Collection featuring a Rare Books Reading Room and an archival library of authors and artists who have presented with us from 1979 to the present. The Fellow will work with our Book Center Manager, providing assistance in the creation, organization, and physical and digital cataloguing of the Permanent Collection. The Fellow will also assist the Book Center Manager in the digitization and renovation of Woodland Pattern's book consignment system as we move into the new space.
The Poetry Coalition Fellow will also be involved in staff-wide efforts, such as Woodland Pattern’s annual Poetry Marathon, and may be engaged in any number of other administrative activities supporting programming and operations.
We are looking for a poet with an active reading and writing practice, familiarity with and/or knowledge of 20th and 21st century poets and small-presses, interest in literary arts programming, administration, and management, and attention to detail.
Workshop: Over the Prairie//Under the Prairie series with Lily Lalios: "Move Your (Poetic) Feet"
*OFF-SITE at Lynden Sculpture Garden*
Sat. July 18 | 2–4 pm CDT for HOME Family Workshop Day | Free with registration
Reading Group: Readshop
*ONLINE on Zoom*
Wed. July 22 | 6-7:15 pm CT | Open to the public
Film: Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World *Milwaukee Film at ORIENTAL THEATER*
**Woodland Pattern is one of the official Community Partners**
July 25-28 | Tickets Required
Reading Group: Readshop
*ONLINE on Zoom*
Wed. Aug. 5 & 19 | 6-7:15 pm CT | Open to the public
Poetry Reading: Poetry in the Park featuring Kelsey Marie Harris, Grace Mitchell, Eileen Stillwell, and Jackie Valadez
*IN PERSON at Juneau Park*
Tue. Aug. 11 | 6:30 pm CT | $Give What You Can
Poetry Reading: Solitary Plover | Summer 2026
*ONLINE on Zoom*
Thurs. Aug. 13 | 6:30 pm CT | $Give What You Can
Concert: Swans with Lia Kohl and Jess Bass
*OFF-SITE at Veterans Park Lagoon*
Sun. Aug. 30 | 2 pm CDT | Open to the public
Opportunity: Wisconsin Poet Laureate Project
Wisconsin's 2025-2027 Poet Laureate, Brenda Cárdenas—also a Woodland Pattern board member!—invites you to participate in her Poet Laureate Project, which brings Wisconsin poets and visual artists together in a relay of ekphrastic works. Ekphrastic poems are simply those that are inspired by visual art, and ekphrastic visual art is that which is inspired by a poem.
Brenda encourages all Wisconsin poets and visual artists to submit to this open call, and welcomes those who have already seen their poetry published or their art exhibited, as well as those who are beginning to explore writing poems or creating visual art.
All who wish to participate must register under their regions (the same regions the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets uses) on the project’s website. Once you've registered, you will find all of the materials you will need to guide you—an introduction to the mode of ekphrasis, reading and writing prompts, sample ekphrastic pairings, etcetera.
A note from Brenda: Please email me at wisconsinpoetlaureate [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions you may have. This is a brand new website, and while we've tried to anticipate any kinks in the project, I doubt we have anticipated them all. Finally, I would be most grateful if you would spread the word about the project to any and all of your poet and visual artist friends and acquaintances. And, most importantly, have fun!
Browse Wisconsin Books to Prisoners Wishlist
Wisconsin Books to Prisoners (WBTP) is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster a love of reading behind bars, encourage the pursuit of knowledge and self-empowerment, and to help break the cycle of recidivism.
From WBTP's website: "Incarcerated people face significant barriers to being able to access books and information. Prison libraries are often antiquated and poorly funded, and educational and vocational programs for prisoners are nearly non-existent. WBTP volunteers love to read and want to ensure the same freedom for those living behind bars. We believe that books are tools for learning and can open minds to new ideas and possibilities."
Please consider purchasing books as a donation to the organization Wisconsin Books to Prisoners to be delivered to incarcerated persons.
We acknowledge that in Milwaukee we live and work on traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, and Menominee homelands along the southwest shores of Michigami, part of North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes, where the Milwaukee, Menominee, and Kinnickinnic rivers meet and the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida, and Mohican nations remain present.
We further acknowledge the iniquity and suffering colonialism introduced to these lands through genocide and slavery, as well as through racist and xenophobic beliefs, laws, and practices that continue to inflict harm upon Black, brown, Indigenous, and immigrant lives. We honor those who have lived—and live now—at these intersections of identity and experience.
720 E. Locust Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212
Phone: 414 263 5001
Hours:
Temporarily Closed for our move
Building Accessibility: Despite the age of our physical location, and attendant limitations to access, Woodland Pattern is committed to making its programs and facilities available for as many as possible. Please call for more information.
Events Accessibility: Woodland Pattern is able to offer captioning services for its online events and with advanced notice can provide ASL interpretation for live events. Please contact us with accommodation requests and questions.
© Woodland Pattern 2026