In 2024, Kai Coggin was named an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. Coggin’s project, Sharing Tree Space, creates a seasonal generative writing environment for four cohorts of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ teens, with a focus on accessing the natural world. Coggin will partner with rangers and scientists of Hot Springs National Park, enlisting their expertise on “wonder hikes” that Coggin will take with the teens. The cohorts will read and write poems within natural elements and spaces, enriching connection to the outdoors. Upon completion, the teens will read together at a public event, and an anthology of their poems will be published.