Rod Jellema (1927–2018) was an American poet, teacher, and translator.

[1] He began teaching at the University of Maryland, College Park in 1955, where he founded and directed the creative writing program.

His work was awarded the Hart Crane Memorial Poetry Contest, the Pieter Jelles Prize (Piter Jellespriis) (Friesland) and a Columbia University Translation Prize for his translations of Frisian poetry.

He was the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and Yaddo.

His work appeared in various publications including Atlanta Review, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Field, Many Mountains Moving, Plum Review, and Poet Lore.