Undocupoets

The Undocupoets are a group of poets who are currently or formerly undocumented immigrants in the United States who support other undocumented poets. The group was originally co-founded in 2015 by Castillo, Javier Zamora, and Christopher Soto aka Loma. Undocupoets united to petition against citizenship requirements in book prizes, but have grown to include a fellowship and more. It is currently co-organized by poets Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Janine Joseph, and Esther Lin.

First book petition
In 2015, the Undocupoets published a petition with the literary journal Apogee, with over 400 signatures from writers, readers, editors, and organizers. The point of this petition was to encourage major literary presses to remove the "proof of citizenship" requirement from their first book contests. The petition was focused on eleven press prizes including: Letras Latinas (Andres Montoya Poetry Prize), BOA Editions, the National Poetry Series, the Academy of American Poets, Persea Books, the Poetry Society of America, the Poetry Foundation, Sarabande Books, Crab Orchard Review, and Yale University Press. Many prizes ended up changing their requirements, including the National Poetry Series, who said, "What really persuaded us is the fact that we did share the desire to find the best poetry out there and help get it published, which is one of the hardest things to do.” In 2016, they were awarded the Barnes and Noble Writers for Writers Award for their work.

Fellowships and more
After the success of their campaign, the Undocupoets expanded their mission to include a fellowship in partnership with Sibling Rivalry Press. In 2015, Southern Humanities Review created a feature on the Undocumented writers, inspired by the Undocupoets.

Previous and Current Fellows
 Beatriz Yanes Martinez José Felipe Ozuna Claudia Rojas Jesús I. Valles Frankie Concepcion Aline Mello Jan-Henry Gray Tobi Kassim</li> <li>laurel c.</li> <li>Juan Rodriguez</li> <li>Anni Liu</li> <li>Oswaldo Varvas</li> <li>Yosimar Reyes</li> <li>Wo Chan </li>

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