Mission

Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets (WFOP) is a non-profit organized around reading, writing, and advocating poetry. WFOP was created exclusively for literary purposes with the hope that Wisconsin could become more aware and appreciative of our poets and poetic heritage. Our mission in more detail can be summarized as follows:

To secure fuller recognition of poetry as one of the important forces making for a higher civilization and to create a finer appreciation of poetry by the public at large.
To help Wisconsin poets through seminars, constructive feedback and study to perfect their work.
To encourage the study of poetry in the schools of the state.

Mission-in-Action-Statement

As a volunteer organization, the members of WFOP gather in fellowship to share poetry, support each other as poets and readers of poetry, and bring that love of poetry to communities across the state.

See our Board Code of Ethics for how the mission and mission-in-action-statement guides leadership actions.

When members gather, whether in person, virtually, or through any other means of communication, we strive to keep the idea of “fellowship” first and foremost in our interactions. This means we recognize that each of us arrives with diverse needs and interests, different ways of sharing our love of poetry, and at varied stages in our journeys with language and the ways it can work. Each of us can bring something to the community, can learn something, and can find ways to be in relationship with others.

When we engage in outreach, through our contests, programming, and publications, we endeavor to think about how our efforts can help our communities engage with poetry. This means we think about how we can offer our skills, energies, time, and passions to fulfill our mission. We also recognize the work of other members in these initiatives and honor their work.

When we read and write poetry, we strive to be continual learners—respectful of the past, looking toward the future, and intellectually curious about what we do not know. This means that while we carry with us our favorite lines by beloved poets, we remain open for the next image and moment of inspiration.