Next Conference
Date: Friday-Sunday, May 1-3, 2026
Place: Stone Harbor Resort & Conference Center, Sturgeon Bay
Keynote: Michael Torres, Poet
Theme: Poetry of Belonging
Please join us for next year’s poetry conference in beautiful Door County, Friday-Sunday, May 1-3, 2026.
Highlights
Headliner Michael Torres will give a generative workshop about poetry of belonging and an evening reading.
Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Wisconsin Poets Laureate program with a reading by current and former poets laureate, including Kimberly Blaeser, Brenda Cárdenas, Bruce Dethlefsen, Max Garland, Dasha Kelly Hamilton, Denise Sweet and Marilyn L. Taylor.
Share your poetry during an open mic.
Get inspired at the Writing Center at Write On Door County with mini-workshops:
Belonging in Nature with the Writer’s Walk
Art Speaks with Carrie and Peter Sherrill, Poets Laureate of Door County
Write with the spirit of Norb Blei in his writing coop
A book fair will be available to buy featured books from readings. Attendees may also display their own books.
About Michael Torres
Michael Torres
Michael Torres is a VONA distinguished alum and CantoMundo fellow. In 2016 he was a winner of the Loft Mentor Series, received an Individual Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, and was awarded a Jerome Foundation Research and Travel Grant to visit the pueblo in Jalisco, Mexico where his father grew up. In 2019 he received fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and The Loft Literary Center for the Mirrors & Windows Program. Torres was a former Artist-in-Residence at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France, a McKnight Writing Fellow, and a 2021-22 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow.
His first collection of poems, AN INCOMPLETE LIST OF NAMES, (Beacon Press, 2020) was selected by Roque Raquel Salas Rivera for the National Poetry Series, named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020, and was featured on the podcast Code Switch.
Michael was born and brought up in Pomona, CA, where he spent his adolescence as a graffiti artist. Currently, he teaches in the MFA program at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and through the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop.
Learn more on his website.
Book Your Hotel Room
Conference Hotel:
Stone Harbor Resort & Conference Center, 107 North First Ave
Sturgeon Bay
Rooms available Friday and Saturday at $189. Call (920) 746-0700 to book and ask for the “WI Fellowship of Poets” room block.
Would You Like to Sponsor the Conference?
We have a level appropriate for every business, organization, or individual.
Sponsorship is an excellent way to show your support for our mission and partner with us to advocate for poetry and poets across Wisconsin. Help us promote poetry. You can find out more about WFOP's mission, partnerships, and outreach here. If you would like to learn more, please contact Tori Grant Welhouse, Regional VP, at torigrantwelhouse@gmail.com or 920-378-0310.
About Our Conferences
The WFOP holds a conference once a year, with locations rotating around the state. Fifty to a hundred of the state's most passionate poets gather to engage in workshops, readings, open mics, and book fairs. Distinguished poets are frequent guest speakers. Former keynote speakers have included Ross Gay, Dorianne Laux, Mark Doty, Coleman Barks, Ed Bok Lee, TC Tolbert, Nickole Brown and more.
Show Your Support for WFOP
Buy our swag and show your support for WFOP with a hat, long-sleeved T-shirt or field bag. Lots of other items, too! Go to our swag site. If you have other ideas for swag items, please email Colleen at layersofmoments@yahoo.com.
