Nature in Words

Central Michigan University student Weston Wise, a double major in Anthropology and English with a Creative Writing minor, has won the coveted Pierce Cedar Creek Institute Nature in Words Fellowship. He is the fifth CMU student writer to win this award in four years.

Department of English Language and Literature faculty member Robert Fanning is thrilled to hear this news.

“We are incredibly excited that Weston has won the Pierce Cedar Creek Fellowship—especially being the fifth CMU student writer in recent years to receive this award,” said Fanning. “Having the chance to write in nature will deepen his already-strong connection to the natural world, and inspire more of his fantastic poems.”

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute is an environmental education center located ten miles south of Hastings. It offers a competitive Creative Fellowship program that lets students spend five weeks at the institute, immersed in Michigan’s breathtaking natural environment. Fellows are given opportunities to work with mentors and be inspired by the beauty around them.

“I felt thrilled when I found out I had won,” said Wise. “This is an amazing opportunity and I feel lucky to be offered it. Through this fellowship, I hope to learn more about the natural world, make new friends, and produce writing that I'm excited about.”

This fellowship is another accolade added to Wise’s already overflowing portfolio. Wise is the author of two chapbooks that have been published in the last two years.

 The first, "A Gentle and Modern Ape," was selected by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS) in their College Undergraduate Poetry Competition as a winner of the Edna Meudt Memorial Award in the spring of 2023. His second chapbook, "The Songs of the Long Land," was published by Beyond Words Magazine in February of 2024.