FNPL POet-in-Residency program
The FNPL Poet-in-Residency program provides poets with a space in which to study, read, write, and mingle with our Nashville community of creatives at our home inside The Packing Plant, located in the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood of South Nashville.
In addition to unlimited access to our library of over 3,000 texts, zines, and chapbooks, poets in residence have the chance to work with our team of volunteer librarians to shape, implement, and lead programming, participate in established, recurring events, collaborate with FNPL community members, and takeover all of our social media accounts. Lastly, poets in residence receive a WeGo transit pass for free bus travel throughout metro Nashville, as well as a humble stipend.
Residencies range in duration from 1 week to 1 month. At this early point in our program, we are not able to offer housing, unfortunately, so the FNPL Poet-in-Residency program is best suited for local poets, or poets with prearranged housing.
Caitlin Shannon (August, 2024)
During her time at FNPL, Caitlin worked on the collections "Untitled Moments of Divinity (Or, We All Wind Up In The River I Guess)" & "Clothe," which reflect her deep engagement with themes of love, nature, and the concept of Self and offer profound insights into reconciling the dualistic nature of being.
Caitlin Shannon is a multifaceted creative focusing on the communion of movement and words. Caitlin as poet, weaves intricate narratives that capture our nuanced and paradoxical human experience. Through yoga practice and instruction, she embodies physical expression through those lyrical acts. In this marriage of the somatic and the imagination, she hopes to translate an authentic expression of her unique perspective of contemporary life.
IG: caitlinsays___/
Claire Médard (December, 2023)
During her Petite Résidence de Poési at FNPL, Claire worked on a two part poetry project (in French) about the U.S. The first spans from 2000 to just prior to Trump's election, focusing on popular U.S. destinations, as well as more remote and unusual parts of the country, through the eyes of a young, queer Parisian woman in her twenties. The second project is an immersive study in Southern life in and around Tennessee.
Claire Médard is a French author living in Paris, France. She's had four books released: a play and three poetry collections. Her poems have also been featured in French magazines and on the Belgian and French Radio. Her favorite themes include: nature, being a woman in the city, and anything kitsch. All this seasoned with rhythm and irony. Her Poetry Collection Demi-soupir et des poussières is currently being translated to English.
IG: @clairemedardugong
"The density and diversity of Poetry in such a tiny space is exciting."
Mathias Svalina (February, 2020)
During his residency at FNPL, Mathias Svalina operated the Dream Delivery Service.
Mathias Svalina is a writer & artist. His primary current project is the Dream Delivery Service, a nomadic literary arts project of permeable dreaming, delivering daily dreams to subscribers for a month at a time. The Dream Delivery Service developed a dream-audiotour of the city of Denver with the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art, & has worked with the Poetry Foundation, the University of Arizona Poetry Center, Austin Modern, Tucson MOCA, among others. He is the author of seven books of mostly poetry, most recently The Depression (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2020), a collaboration with the photographer Jon Pack of photographs & fables that explores life with chronic depression, & America at Play (Trident Press, 2020), a collection of instructions for absurdist children’s games. He is currently at work on a surrealist cookbook, with the photographer Jon Pack.
Mike Young (November, 2019)
Mike Young is the author of two poetry collections: 2014’s Sprezzatura (Publishing Genius Press), and 2010’s We Are All Good If They Try Hard Enough (Publishing Genius Press), which was selected by readers of The Believer as one of the Top 20 Poetry Books of 2010.
He is also the author of the 2010 story collection Look! Look! Feathers (Word Riot Press), which Publishers Weekly called “relevant, wise, and immensely enjoyable.”
In 2005, Young co-founded the literary magazine NOÖ Journal, which in its ~fifteen year run published 600+ authors and artists, including multiple Pulitzer Prize winners. It was distributed online and in print (for free!) all over the country.
In 2007, he started Magic Helicopter Press, which puts out chapbooks and full length books of genre-scuttling poetry, prose, and interactive art. Work published by Magic Helicopter has received acclaim from the New York Times, Nylon, The Rumpus, American Book Review, The Poetry Foundation, Best American Poetry, VICE, BOMB, and more.
He’s been a guest writer and featured performer at Treefort, Brown, Cal Poly, Emory, the Center for Fiction in NYC, and elsewhere. He lives in a blue turn and plays music with Clementine Was Right.
Mathias Svalina (February, 2020)
During his residency at FNPL, Mathias Svalina operated the Dream Delivery Service.
Mathias Svalina is a writer & artist. His primary current project is the Dream Delivery Service, a nomadic literary arts project of permeable dreaming, delivering daily dreams to subscribers for a month at a time. The Dream Delivery Service developed a dream-audiotour of the city of Denver with the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art, & has worked with the Poetry Foundation, the University of Arizona Poetry Center, Austin Modern, Tucson MOCA, among others. He is the author of seven books of mostly poetry, most recently The Depression (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2020), a collaboration with the photographer Jon Pack of photographs & fables that explores life with chronic depression, & America at Play (Trident Press, 2020), a collection of instructions for absurdist children’s games. He is currently at work on a surrealist cookbook, with the photographer Jon Pack.
Mike Young (November, 2019)
Mike Young is the author of two poetry collections: 2014’s Sprezzatura (Publishing Genius Press), and 2010’s We Are All Good If They Try Hard Enough (Publishing Genius Press), which was selected by readers of The Believer as one of the Top 20 Poetry Books of 2010.
He is also the author of the 2010 story collection Look! Look! Feathers (Word Riot Press), which Publishers Weekly called “relevant, wise, and immensely enjoyable.”
In 2005, Young co-founded the literary magazine NOÖ Journal, which in its ~fifteen year run published 600+ authors and artists, including multiple Pulitzer Prize winners. It was distributed online and in print (for free!) all over the country.
In 2007, he started Magic Helicopter Press, which puts out chapbooks and full length books of genre-scuttling poetry, prose, and interactive art. Work published by Magic Helicopter has received acclaim from the New York Times, Nylon, The Rumpus, American Book Review, The Poetry Foundation, Best American Poetry, VICE, BOMB, and more.
He’s been a guest writer and featured performer at Treefort, Brown, Cal Poly, Emory, the Center for Fiction in NYC, and elsewhere. He lives in a blue turn and plays music with Clementine Was Right.