Woodland Pattern

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Woodland Pattern Woodland Pattern is a nonprofit book center dedicated to poetry & the arts, for people of all ages.
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Woodland Pattern is a nonprofit book center dedicated to the discovery, cultivation and presentation of contemporary literature and the arts.

💟 Teaching Artists Teaching Artists 💟A series presenting Woodland Pattern’s lineup of teaching artists, who do incredibl...
10/24/2026

💟 Teaching Artists Teaching Artists 💟

A series presenting Woodland Pattern’s lineup of teaching artists, who do incredibly meaningful work within our communities as mentors, artists, and friends!

Since 1999, Woodland Pattern's Youth Literary Arts Program has worked with Milwaukee Public Schools, the Community Development Grants Administration, and youth-enrichment organizations to bring year-round multi-arts education to students who may not otherwise have access to it.

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😊 Our second teaching artist teaching artists in this series is Oscar Quinto-Zamudio ()! 😊

Oscar as Artist: My art tends to reflect my life in its current moment. Consider it my journal, with it being open to the world.

Creative Practice: Consists of several hours of research and sourcing images. Then just letting go and being open about where my brush takes me.

Themes: Self-reflection and identity tends to come up a lot within my pieces, whether I intend to or not.

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Oscar as teacher: I have a full year being a teaching artist with WP, and I just started teaching for the Community Learning Center (CLC) again this fall.

Favorite lessons taught: I enjoyed making alebrijes with the youth. It consisted of making different animals on various colored papers and then gluing them all together. It was fun seeing the youth get creative with their alebrijes.

A class that shaped Oscar: I took a digital painting course back in college. That class helped me understand the technological side of art.

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Oscar, aka Oski, is a proud Latino artist raised in the South Side of Milwaukee. Growing up he came to appreciate the various art teachers he had and decided to keep passing the knowledge down. As a painter, he has learned about the importance of process instead of just the final goal. He has been able to translate this over to his art classes.

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Follow Oscar and his art

To learn more about our Youth Literary Arts Programs, please visit: woodlandpattern.org/youth

🎉 More staff news! Today we have the pleasure to introduce you to Sindie Ho, Woodland Pattern's Book Center Fellow! 🎉Whi...
10/22/2026

🎉 More staff news! Today we have the pleasure to introduce you to Sindie Ho, Woodland Pattern's Book Center Fellow! 🎉

While reading applications for the Poetry Coalition Fellowship, we were awestruck by the sheer expanse of experiences, stories, and skills—the incredible people who were interested in literary arts nonprofit work and Woodland Pattern. So, we created this fellowship and invited Sindie to work with us.

Sindie brings a particular eye to Woodland Pattern in how he interprets visual art and book- and zine-making traditions. He is currently helping us with relocating our Book Center to Ward Street and preparing for the Grand Opening Poetry Marathon.

Sindie shares, "I volunteered at Woodland Pattern during my undergrad and it's a really special honor to be back! So many of my favorite books and poets were found during those days. I'm so excited to help usher in its new home and take its first steps in Bay View."

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Sindie Ho (.obj) is a poet-artist-educator firmly rooted in Milwaukee, WI. His studio time is spent fluttering between ceramics, textiles, neon bending, drawing, text, and the occasional performance.

Renovation work at our Ward Street location has been happening happening! This intro is decidedly short because we're ex...
10/09/2026

Renovation work at our Ward Street location has been happening happening! This intro is decidedly short because we're excited we get to share a couple of snapshots with you today!

🎨 #1 Considering colors (and finding poetry in their names): Recycled Glass, Saguaro, Crispy Gold, Raucous Orange, Paperwhite, Spinach White.

🖼 #2 A peek into the would-be gallery space (ICYM: Check out our open call for our forthcoming inaugural exhibition through the link in our bio 👀)

✨ #3 Floors, recently epoxied: glossy and smooth and mesmerizing.

🍳4 # The currently unkitcheny (but very cool) kitchenette.

🦴 #5 Bare bones of a wall.

🔪 #6 Seybold paper cutter machine, originally purchased from Chas. N. Stevens Co. Chicago: "Dealers in high grade machinery for bookbinders, printers, boxmakers, lithographers, paper mills, etc."

🍂 #7 Komorebi (sunlight leaking through trees) draping the walls.

🔨 #8 Ash shelves, which were first built for the Bindery by . Even more shelves are being crafted by Ben and !

🍕 #9 Poem chosen by Antonio for this post: "When the Sea is Moving East” from I Must Go (She Said) "because My Pizza's Cold" (Sk**ky Possum Press, 2002) by Sotère Torregian

Coming next: the moving in post!

Woodland Pattern would not exist without the generous contributions of time and labor made by volunteers throughout our ...
10/07/2026

Woodland Pattern would not exist without the generous contributions of time and labor made by volunteers throughout our organization's history.

So, we are dedicating a special spotlight series to the moving volunteers (pun intended!) that have been helping us pack our colossal collection of poetry, small-press and independent literature, and rare books, among other wonderful things!

Please meet today: Tanvi Bharadwaj (she/her/they/them) ( )!

Tanvi Bharadwaj is a multidisciplinary artist who works with themes of heritage, culture, maternal legacy, identity, and memory. She works within the archive of her past, and includes materials passed on. Her practice heavily relies on memory as a source for medium and prioritises experimentation.

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Interested in volunteering too (and helping us with our big move)?

After fifteen hours of service, volunteers are eligible for a 30% discount on all book purchases and free admittance to special events like our fall gala. We also offer volunteer work-exchanges to cover fees for workshops and master classes.

[Link in bio]

Just as we are thrilled to have new members joining our team, we are sad to have recently bid farewell to Book Center Ma...
10/01/2026

Just as we are thrilled to have new members joining our team, we are sad to have recently bid farewell to Book Center Manager Lewis Freedman, who accepted an opportunity elsewhere. Lewis made indelible, inimitable contributions to Woodland Pattern, for which we are deeply grateful.

Given his departure, we are opening a national search to fill the Book Center Director position.

Please share this post with anyone you know who might be interested—or maybe that person is you! We look forward to reading applications as they come in. 🔍🔍🔍

POSITION SUMMARY: The Book Center Director is a full-time, exempt position that works to promote and support Woodland Pattern’s mission through the ongoing care and development of its unique collections of poetry and small-press literature. This position reports to the Managing Director.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Serve as the Primary Curator and Caretaker of the Book Center and Libraries; Lead Book Center Volunteers, Interns, and Fellows
Manage Inventory & Online Store; Steward Financial Accounts Related to the Book Center; Contribute to Woodland Pattern’s Collective Environment and Collaborative Projects

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:
Extensive knowledge of and passion for contemporary American poetry
Knowledge of small-press publications and publishers, past and present; Experience working in a library or bookstore, with a small press or literary journal, or for a nonprofit literary arts organization; Graduate degree in creative writing, literature, book arts, library studies, or related field; Backgrounds of study in Native American literature, and/or African American, Asian American, Latinx, and/or Q***r literatures a plus; Must possess excellent writing and editorial skills

ACCESSIBILITY: This position requires some physical activity. The selected candidate must be able to lift up to 40 lbs, navigate a bookshelf ladder, and sit for extended periods of time while working on a computer.

⏬ [Salary, application instructions, and more continue below in comments] ⏬

🎥📚🎤 Woodland Pattern is partnering with Arts @ Large in support of their Creative Careers Internship program! This paid ...
09/29/2026

🎥📚🎤 Woodland Pattern is partnering with Arts @ Large in support of their Creative Careers Internship program! This paid opportunity invites MPS high school students ages 15–18 to explore creative career paths, develop their writing, and connect with Milwaukee's vibrant poetry community.

For the Creative Writing track: From November through April, interns will meet twice a month to write original poetry and collaborate with fellow young writers in creating an anthology inspired by their perspectives on Milwaukee. Through workshops led by local poets in Woodland Pattern's extensive network, students will explore new forms of poetry, discover influential and contemporary writers, and learn how different creative disciplines intersect. Interns will also have opportunities to perform their work and develop portfolios to support their future creative and professional pursuits.

✅ The deadline to apply is Tuesday, October 6th at 11:59pm.

The application form / more details about the program can be found in our bio link 😃

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✨ Milwaukee Emerging Poet Fellowships ✨We are currently accepting applications for the fifth year of our Milwaukee Emerg...
09/27/2026

✨ Milwaukee Emerging Poet Fellowships ✨

We are currently accepting applications for the fifth year of our Milwaukee Emerging Poet Fellowship program, with awards given in Practice and Project. Each will run from January 2027 through December 2027. The application deadline for both categories will be November 1, 2026.

Eligibility: Open to Milwaukee poets between the ages of 20 and 35, who are not currently enrolled in an MFA or PhD program.

This year’s mentoring poet for the Practice Fellowship will be Sean Enfield. Sean is an essayist, poet, gardener, bassist, and educator. His debut essay collection, Holy American Burnout!, was published by Split/Lip Press in December 2023 and was a finalist for the CLMP Firecracker Award and winner of the Writer’s League of Texas Discovery Prize in Nonfiction. Currently, he is a PhD candidate in English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, where he served as the editor in chief of Permafrost Magazine. Now, he serves as an assistant nonfiction editor at Terrain.org. You can find more of his work at seanenfield.com.

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Drawing inspiration from the Mary L. Nohl Fund Emerging Artist Fellowship and the Poetry Project’s Emerge Surface Be program, Woodland Pattern established the Milwaukee Emerging Poet Fellowship in 2022 to bring greater visibility and much-needed early support to Milwaukee poets through mentorships, access to opportunities that encourage a poet’s practice and development, and investment in literary projects for which younger poets frequently lack resources. The Milwaukee Emerging Poet Fellowship program also seeks to make available alternative avenues of support for emerging poets outside traditional academic-track poetry programs and environments.

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Apply or learn more by visiting woodlandpattern.org/opportunities or the link in our profile! 🌠🌠🌠

🤩 More staff news! 🤩Today we are ecstatic to announce two new full-time hires: Caryl Pagel has signed on as our first-ev...
09/26/2026

🤩 More staff news! 🤩

Today we are ecstatic to announce two new full-time hires: Caryl Pagel has signed on as our first-ever Managing Director and will arrive in Milwaukee via Cleveland in January 2027 (though our co-scheming is already running deep!). Caryl will serve as a key part of our leadership team, providing executive support, programmatic vision in the literary arts, and daily operational oversight. Additionally, since July, Ae Hee Lee has been working with us as our Communications Director—yet another brand-new position at Woodland Pattern. Ae Hee’s contributions to our public transmissions have already been vast and visionary, and we couldn’t be luckier to have her on board.

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🐦 Caryl Pagel () is the author of four books of poetry and prose, most recently Free Clean Fill Dirt (University of Akron Press, 2022) and Out of Nowhere Into Nothing (FC2 / University of Alabama Press, 2020). Pagel has worked as a teacher, organizer, editor, and publisher at small presses, lit mags, universities, and arts organizations for over twenty years. She is a co-founder and editor at Rescue Press, an independent small press with an interest in generative editing and unclassifiable forms. For ten years she co-edited the poetry journal jubilat, and for eleven years she was the director of the CSU Poetry Center, a publisher of contemporary literature and a site of community outreach and creative writing programming. Pagel is currently writing a book about Niedecker, the Great Lakes, and small-press networks.

🌻 Born in South Korea and raised in Peru, Ae Hee Lee (.lee.kim) currently lives in Wisconsin. She is the author of ASTERISM, which was selected for Tupelo Press’ Dorset Prize in 2022, and the poetry chapbooks Bedtime || Riverbed (Compound Press, 2017), Dear bear, (Platypus Press, 2021), and Connotary (Bull City Press, 2021). She has received scholarships and honors from the Academy of American Poets, AWP, Bread Loaf, and Sewanee Writers’ Conference, among others. Before coming on full-time as Woodland Pattern’s Communications Director, Ae Hee volunteered for three years and served as the organization’s 2025–26 Poetry Coalition Fellow.

🌟WUWM🌟 brought together our Milwaukee Youth Poet Laureate extraordinaire Jodie Jasim, lifelong Millwaukeean, poet and mu...
09/25/2026

🌟WUWM🌟 brought together our Milwaukee Youth Poet Laureate extraordinaire Jodie Jasim, lifelong Millwaukeean, poet and musician Bryon Cherry, and radio legend Bob Reitman to discuss what the practice of poetry means to them and share some of their work.

Check out the link in our bio to listen to the full conversation if you missed the air date! 😉

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Bryon Cherry and Jodie Jasim will be reciting their poetry for 12th House in Twilight, a special launch celebration at the Pabst Theater bringing together local performers and artists to honor Bob Reitman’s lasting impact on Milwaukee’s music and radio community. Tickets can be found in the Pabst Theater's website.

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🎉 Today we begin rolling out a series of staff news, starting with an introduction of our 2026–27 Poetry Coalition Fello...
09/23/2026

🎉 Today we begin rolling out a series of staff news, starting with an introduction of our 2026–27 Poetry Coalition Fellow, Teja Sudhakar! 🎉

Teja is currently assisting with packing up the Book Center at Locust Street and with our expansion as we move into Ward Street. At Ward, Teja will be instrumental in helping install two new on-site libraries—a special collections room and an archival repository of authors and artists who have presented with us from 1979 to the present. Teja is also assisting with preparations for the Poetry Marathon. (More from us on the Marathon soon!)

Teja shares, “I moved to Milwaukee just last summer to begin a PhD program at UWM. As a relatively new Milwaukeean, I am excited to broaden my community here and learn from other artists and writers. I feel grateful to work with a space that expands people's access to poetry, and count myself lucky to be part of this process!”

We also count ourselves lucky to work with Teja, and we’re thankful to the for connecting us with them through this program.

Finally, we’d like to extend our congratulations to the entire group of fellows and host organizations! Read more about the Poetry Coalition and this year's fellows in the link in our bio or at The Academy of American Poets

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Teja Sudhakar is an interdisciplinary artist pursuing their PhD at UW–Milwaukee. Originally from Chennai, India, and long-time Kentuckian, Teja's work explores q***r and immigrant narratives from the Transnational South. In both their poetry and darkroom photography, Teja asks questions about silence, loss of first language, intergenerational womanhood, tenderness, and memory. When they are not writing, Teja enjoys cooking new recipes, walking around Riverwest, and hanging out with their partner and three cats. Teja's poems and photography can be found at tejasudhakar.com

Address

347 E Ward Street
Milwaukee, WI
53207

Opening Hours

Tuesday 12pm - 7pm
Wednesday 12pm - 7pm
Thursday 12pm - 7pm
Friday 12pm - 7pm
Saturday 12pm - 7pm
Sunday 12pm - 7pm

Telephone

+14142635001

Website

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