Erika Meitner

Erika Meitner is a Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she also directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing and the Conney Project on Jewish Arts. She earned an AB in Creative Writing and English Literature from Dartmouth College, an MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) from the University of Virginia, and an MA in Religious Studies (Jewish Studies) from the University of Virginia. Her research specializations include poetry, creative nonfiction, contemporary American poetics, poetry and performance, documentary poetry, hybrid forms, new media creative writing, the arts and social justice, and Jewish American literature and culture.

Meitner has authored six books of poems, including Inventory at the All-Night Drugstore (Anhinga Press, 2003), Ideal Cities (Harper Perennial, 2010; winner of the 2009 National Poetry Series), Makeshift Instructions for Vigilant Girls (Anhinga Press, 2011), Copia (BOA Editions, 2014), Holy Moly Carry Me (BOA Editions, 2018; winner of the 2018 National Jewish Book Award in Poetry and finalist for the 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry and the 2019 Library of Virginia Award in Poetry), and Useful Junk (BOA Editions, 2022; finalist for the Wisconsin Library Association Literary Award). Her poetry has appeared in leading publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, Poetry, The New Republic, Oxford American, Orion, and The Believer, and has been widely anthologized. Additionally, she creates documentary photo-text projects on urban environments in collaboration with photographers, such as those featuring Detroit, the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and Miami amid rising sea levels. Among her honors are the 2025 Emily Mead Baldwin Award in the Creative Arts from UW–Madison, the 2015 US-UK Fulbright Distinguished Scholar in Creative Writing at Queen’s University Belfast, fellowships from MacDowell, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Hermitage Artist Retreat, and others, the 2022 Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellowship, and the 2023-2025 Mandel Institute Cultural Leadership Fellowship. Meitner’s work has significantly influenced contemporary poetry through its engagement with social issues and innovative forms.

Professional Email: esmeitner@wisc.edu