Meet the 2026–27 Fellows, Councilors, and Editors

A sincere thank you to everyone who applied for Fellowship, as well as to those who shared our call for submissions. We have completed selections for our third year and are happy to announce the following poets as this year's Fellows:

• John Wojtowicz, USA
• Joy Hallinan, USA
• Martina Matijević, Croatia
• Meredith Ackroyd, USA
• Namkeen Peshawri, Pakistan
• Sathya Venkatesh, India
• Taofeek Ayeyemi, Nigeria

This year’s contingent of Fellows is highly creative and spans five countries (and four continents). As in previous years, the Fellows will provide commentary for each other's body of work, and we hope our readers will join in by leaving your own commentary on the issues as they're released. We also look forward to bringing back several elements of last year's Fellowship, including the renku sessions, collaborative writing events, the end-of-year Fellows’ reading, and the Council of established poet mentors.

We welcome back some of our returning Councilors and a few new names, some of whom were Fellows last year:

• Billie Dee, USA
• Colleen M. Farrelly, USA
• Kala Ramesh, India
• Maeve O’Sullivan, Ireland
• Pravat Kumar Padhy, India
• Vidya Premkumar, India
• Yvette Nicole Kolodji, USA

We are thrilled to have such a diverse Council and anticipate this year’s Councilors will provide much nourishment to the Fellows, as well as the editorial team. We look forward to the rich poetry that will be created and the knowledge that will be passed on.

We are also pleased to welcome two of last year's Fellows—Cynthia Bale and Margaret Walker—as editors. Their presence on the team reflects our hope for the Fellowship: not just a one-time publication opportunity, but an enduring community of poets. Cynthia and Margaret will join the existing team: former Fellows Rowan Beckett Minor and David Green, Matt Snyder, and Ryland Shengzhi Li. With six editors, we're now able to expand our programming and bring haiku into more local communities. More to come on this soon.

While confluence subscribers have increased significantly over the last year, we still hope to continue expanding our readership. When you enjoy an issue of confluence, please also consider sharing it with someone who might be interested. If you’re not already a subscriber, you may also sign up for free at our website. Stay tuned for our first issue of the 2026-27 Fellowship year, which will be out later this month!