Established in 2024, Winnow Literary is an interdisciplinary journal of poetry and occupation housed within the occupational therapy program (School of Education) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Occupations are “everyday activities that people do as individuals, in families and with communities to occupy time and bring meaning and purpose to life. Occupations include things people need to, want to and are expected to do,” (World Federation of Occupational Therapists, 2024). As defined by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), occupations “are the activities that people do every day to give their life meaning and purpose. Occupations can be done alone or with family members and friends. Occupations can be done at home, at work or school, and in the community,” (AOTA, 2020).


We seek poetry submissions that reflect the full range of the human experience with occupation across the lifespan. We seek poetry that honors meaning in the daily ordinary; the complexity of the quote-unquote “simplest” tasks; the intersection of environments in which we live, learn, work, and play with our own needs, values and roles as individuals, groups, and global societies. We invite submissions from all writers, new, emerging, or established. Occupational therapy practitioners, occupational therapy faculty, and OT/OTA students are encouraged to submit, as well as past, present, or future clients, patients, or consumers of occupational therapy services. Interprofessional health care providers, transdisciplinary collaborators, and writers-at-large are also highly encouraged to SUBMIT.