MSt alumna Laura Theis’ new collection Introduction to Cloud Care has just been published by Broken Sleep. The book blends lyrical precision with a deep sense of wonder, crafting poetry that invites readers into a world where the mundane and the magical coexist seamlessly. Her poems explore themes of nature’s quiet power, the enigma of memory, and the complexity of transformation. Often laced with humour and profound tenderness, they evoke both intimacy and expansiveness. With a voice both contemplative and playful, Theis reimagines self-discovery and connection in ways that are unexpectedly illuminating. This collection celebrates the beauty of what is seen and the irresistible allure of what lies hidden.
The National Endowment for the Arts has announced that Oxford alumna and author Sylee Gore is one of 35 writers selected to receive an FY 2025 Creative Writing Fellowship of $25,000. This year’s fellowships are in poetry and enable the recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career development. Fellows are selected through an anonymous review process and are judged on the basis of artistic excellence of the work sample they provided. These fellowships are highly competitive, with more than 2,000 eligible applications received for FY 2025.
NEA Director of Literary Arts Amy Stolls said, “The National Endowment for the Arts’ continued investment in contemporary creative writers preserves, strengthens, and advances our nation’s rich literary traditions. This new group of fellows is the latest in a longstanding legacy of support for poets and prose writers who—through the beauty and power of their words—inspire us, challenge us, and reflect back to us the heart and soul of America’s vast and varied cultural landscape.”
Sylee Gore is a poet who works as a translator for artists and museums. Maximum Summer, her first poetry chapbook, won the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize and is forthcoming from Nion Editions. She received her MSt (Distinction) in Creative Writing from the University of Oxford.
Since 1967, the NEA has awarded more than 3,700 Creative Writing Fellowships totaling over $58 million. Many American recipients of the National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, and Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and Fiction were recipients of National Endowment for the Arts fellowships early in their careers.
Visit arts.gov to browse bios from the 2025 recipients and past Creative Writing Fellows.
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