As a think tank for the arts at UC Berkeley, the Arts Research Center acts as a facilitator and connector between the campus and the many flourishing regional poetry communities. This two-year Poetry and the Senses initiative will explores the relevance and urgency of lyrical making and storytelling in times of political crisis, and the value of engaging the senses as an act of care, mindfulness, and resistance.

Current applications are for a one-year fellowship, January through December 2020. The deadline to apply is Nov. 15, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. PT. There will be a second cohort chosen in fall 2020 for the 2021 year.


The fellows program will encompass the following:

Modeled on the pre-existing ARC Fellows Program, the core of the grant will fund working groups that bring together faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students, and local poets. Each group will convene over the course of a year to share creative work/research/discussion/critique, organized around a wide-ranging theme.

Every year:

  • 8 Fellows will be chosen, including 2 UC Berkeley graduate students, 2 UC Berkeley undergraduate students, 2 UC Berkeley faculty, and 2 community poets.
  • Stipends for each fellow are $5,000.

The theme for 2020 is emergency. What kinds of poetic modes of address might be recruited in times of global catastrophe? How does poetry help us think through and within crisis? “Emergency” implies urgency, sudden harm, life-threatening violence, and extreme circumstances, but embedded within it is the word “emergence;” suggesting rebirth and new beginnings. How can we understand moments of emergency as catalysts for renewal, as ruptures that signal massive—if painful—change?

Groups will also have the opportunity to meet with visiting writers, help organize public presentations, readings, and a large conference that is free and open to the public. Fellows will also have the opportunity to assist in curating a chapbook with a regional press. Current applications are for a one-year fellowship from January through December 2020. There will be a second cohort chosen in fall of 2020 for the 2021 year.

To apply, please fill out this application, and attach 1) a CV/resume, and 2) up to 4 samples of creative writing/poetry (6-8 pages maximum) OR 1 scholarly writing sample (no more than 20 pages). Applications close Friday, November 15 at 11:59 p.m.

Apply online by Nov. 15, 2020. Application FAQs available here.