Welcome Poets (2026)

A lyrically crafted documentary traces the journey of Nicholas Gulig, the 2023-24 Wisconsin Poet Laureate, as he comes back to his home state after twenty years abroad, five of which were spent teaching in Thailand. Settling into a professorship in poetry at UW-Whitewater and making a home in Fort Atkinson, Gulig wrestles with a sense of alienation in a politically fractured landscape. He discovers an anchoring force in the deep connection between the region and Lorine Niedecker, the celebrated 20th-century Wisconsin poet.