Before we share upcoming events and opportunities for March, we’d love to get your feedback on Poetry Unlocked moving back to in-person events for April – December. We’re tentatively planning to meet at Acoca on College Avenue in Appleton. We’re also contemplating shifting our start time to 6:30 pm so that we can be out of Acoca before 8:00pm, their regular closing time.
Are you ready to return to in-person readings? Would 6:30 pm work for you? Let us know!
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Monday, March 14
ELIZABETH KEGGI & CRISTINA M.R. NORCROSS
THE WOMEN OF POETRY UNLOCKED
7:00 pm
Virtual – see link below
Elizabeth Keggi is a lifelong musician, reader, and writer. She works with dyslexic children and teens in the Appleton, Wisconsin area and loves opening the doors to reading and writing for her students.
Cristina M. R. Norcross lives in Southeast Wisconsin with her husband and their two sons and is the editor of the online poetry journal, Blue Heron Review. Author of 9 poetry collections, a Pushcart Prize nominee, and an Eric Hoffer Book Award nominee, her most recent books are The Sound of a Collective Pulse (Kelsay Books, 2021) and Beauty in the Broken Places (Kelsay Books, 2019). Cristina’s work appears in: Visual Verse, Your Daily Poem, Poetry Hall, Verse-Virtual, Silver Birch Press, The Ekphrastic Review, and Pirene’s Fountain, among others. Her work also appears in numerous print anthologies. Cristina has helped organize community art/poetry projects, has led writing workshops, and has hosted many open mic readings. She is the host of the Facebook writing prompt group, Connection and Creativity in Challenging Times and is the co-founder of Random Acts of Poetry & Art Day. Find out more at her author website: www.cristinanorcross.com
A limited open mic will follow (one piece, two if they are short).
TO REGISTER FOR THE KEGGI & NORCROSS READING, CLICK ON THIS ZOOM LINK:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwude-grTMuH9OFqzWo4fM6jIwroBsikGiA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
ON DECK FOR POETRY UNLOCKED:
4/11/22: MaryAnn Hurtt and Lisa Vihos (fingers crossed, in person at Acoca Coffee!)
These events are brought to you, in part, by the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets (WFOP), an organization founded for the creation, promotion and enjoyment of poetry throughout the state of Wisconsin. To learn more, visit www.wfop.org.
OTHER READINGS & EVENTS IN THE AREA
Belonging Through Poetry at the Appleton Public Library
Every 4th Wednesday, the library is supporting a monthly, virtual group that will explore life’s big topics in poetry with the hopes of creating connections and a sense of belonging in the community.
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwoc-qhrj8iGdxObAwqie5iqvYkbKKGobjX
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Are you passionate about education, meeting people from different backgrounds, and helping others? Become a tutor! Fox Valley Literacy is a non-profit organization that provides free, confidential, one-on-one tutoring for adults in reading, writing, English Language, and U.S. citizenship as well as small group English language classes. We currently have a waiting list of +50 students ready to be matched with a volunteer. No teaching background or bilingual skills are required! Tutors receive initial training and ongoing support and education from staff.
Fox Valley Literacy students have a broad range of goals! You will be matched with a student based on your interest and availability. Meet with your student once a week for one hour. Email our volunteer coordinator, Paola, for more information! paola@foxvalleylit.org
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WFOP Spring Conference, April 29-30, 2022
The WFOP is planning for an in-person conference this spring.
Place: The Pointe Hotel and Suites, Minocqua WI
Theme: Getting the Word Out
Features: Keynote Speaker Dasha Kelly, the current WI Poet Laureate, plus panels on publishing and bringing poetry to communities, jails, schools, and other institutions.
Cost: The early bird rate is $65 for members, $95 for non-members, which includes breakfast and lunch on Saturday. After April 15 and at the door, rates go up $10. For more on the event including hotel accommodations, visit here: https://www.wfop.org/conferences
CONTESTS & SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITIES
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WI People & Ideas Poetry & Fiction Contest, Deadline March 15
We encourage emerging and established writers to send in their best works of fiction and poetry for a chance to win up to $500 and other prizes along with publication in Wisconsin People & Ideas, a reading at the Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison, and a one-week residency at the lovely Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point.
https://www.wisconsinacademy.org/content/writing-contests
This list of poetry readings, workshops, submissions and more comes to you from the women of Poetry Unlocked: Katie Chicquette, Cathryn Cofell, Sarah Gilbert, Bobbie Lee Lovell and Laura Winkelspecht. You are receiving this email because you are a member of the Central Fox-Valley Region of the WFOP or you or someone you know has asked me to include you. We will always blind cc you, so your email address is not shared. If you wish to be removed from this list, please reply to this email and we’ll remove you from future emails.
Former CWW Board Member Receives Honor
This is great news about past CWW board member and author Shauna Singh Baldwin:
The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
Our latest Literary Patron is Canadian-American novelist, Shauna Singh Baldwin! 👏 Our literary patrons are distinguished writers who have pledged their support to our cause for supporting and uplifting women writers.
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Shauna Singh Baldwin is the author of three novels: What the Body Remembers, The Tiger Claw and The Selector of Souls. Her short fiction collections are: English Lessons and Other Stories, and We Are Not in Pakistan.
Her awards include The Writers’ Union of Canada prize for short fiction, the CBC Literary Prize, The Friends of American Writers Prize, the Commonwealth Prize for Best Book (Canada-Caribbean), The South Asian Literary Association Distinguished Achievement award, and a shortlisting for the Giller Prize. Her play, We Are So Different Now premiered in Canada in 2016. Reluctant Rebellions: New and Selected Non-fiction was published in 2016.
Shauna received her MBA from Marquette University, and her MFA from the University of British Columbia. Find out more about Shauna on her website, ShaunaSinghBaldwin.com!
LOVE & ANTI-LOVE POEMS & More
Information in this post provided by poetryunlockedappleton@gmail.com.
Monday, February 14
LOVE & ANTI-LOVE POEMS FEATURING
THE WOMEN OF POETRY UNLOCKED
7:00 pm
Virtual – see link below
We can’t think of a better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than a feature of our own lovable crew from Poetry Unlocked. We’ll be sharing our poems on love and not-love and hope you’ll share yours too during the open mic!
Katie Chicquette is one of the newest members of Poetry Unlocked but has quickly become our hosting goddess! Her work has appeared in First Review East, Bramble, Wallopzine, and Portage Magazine, and in the anthology, Halfway to the North Pole: Door County Poetry. One of her poems was a recent “Honorable Mention” for the 2022 Wisconsin People & Ideas Writing Contest. She is a live storyteller and emcee with Storycatchers, and works as an English teacher for at-risk young adults at Appleton’s public alternative high school, with hopes they will remake their own stories, and become friendly with at least one poem.
Cathryn Cofell is one of the founders of Poetry Unlocked and is our PR maven. She has a history of poetry activism in Wisconsin, as founder and former Chair of the WI Poet Laureate Commission, VP of Letters with the WI Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters, and in multiple leadership roles with the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. She’s the author of two full full-length collections including Stick Figure With Skirt, winner of the 2019 Main Street Rag Poetry Award, six chapbooks, and a music/poetry CD called Lip. www.cathryncofell.com
Sarah Gilbert began hosting the twice-monthly poetry readings at Conkey’s Bookstore when the host went on maternity leave in 2007. The readings became once per month and moved to Harmony Cafe, Copper Rock Cafe, then morphed into Poetry Unlocked at The Draw, and in pandemic times, Zoom. She is much relieved to now be part of such a vibrant group of women poets who share the hosting and all that goes on behind the scenes. Sarah has one chapbook, Tendril (Finishing Line Press) and is very lazy about submitting her work. Quite happily married to Pete, she celebrates Valentine’s Day with family RARVABs,* some of which will be shared at this reading.
*Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue…
Bobbie Lee Lovell is the graphic design guru for Poetry Unlocked. Her poetry honors include Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations, and she won the 2020 Janet Dee Wullner-Faiss Memorial Prize for Poetry from The Mill: A Place for Writers. Her chapbook, Proposition at the Walk-In Infinity Chamber, was published in 2017 by Finishing Line Press. She works in a corporate marketing department, is the mom of two teenagers and loves a challenging hike. More at bobbieleelovell.com.
Laura Winkelspecht is a newish member of Poetry Unlocked who has brought some exceptional ideas for readers and featured programming. She’s a poet and writer from Wisconsin who writes with the hope of finding lightning among the lightning bugs. She has been published in Anti-Heroin Chic, One Sentence Poems, Rat’s Ass Review, Poets Reading the News, and others. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee.
A limited open mic will follow (one piece, two if they are short).
TO REGISTER FOR THE CALENDAR READING, CLICK ON THIS ZOOM LINK:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwude-grTMuH9OFqzWo4fM6jIwroBsikGiA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
ON DECK FOR POETRY UNLOCKED:
3/14/22: Elizabeth Keggi and Cristina Norcross (virtual)
4/11/22: MaryAnn Hurtt and Lisa Vihos (fingers crossed, in person at Acoca Coffee!)
These events are brought to you, in part, by the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets (WFOP), an organization founded for the creation, promotion and enjoyment of poetry throughout the state of Wisconsin. To learn more, visit www.wfop.org.
OTHER READINGS & EVENTS IN THE AREA
Belonging Through Poetry at the Appleton Public Library
Every 4th Wednesday, the library is supporting a monthly, virtual group that will explore life’s big topics in poetry with the hopes of creating connections and a sense of belonging in the community.
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwoc-qhrj8iGdxObAwqie5iqvYkbKKGobjX
CONTESTS & SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITIES
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Looking for something different, maybe a little challenging, to fuel your creative practice?
ArtAsPoetryAsArt (coordinated by the Lakeshore Artists Guild) could be just the thing.
Here is how it works:
· Artists and poets enter by submitting 1 piece of work between now and February (digital file of artwork/poem)
· Artists look at the “submitted” poems, and poets look at the “submitted” art, and choose the ‘Top 3’ works that appeal to them
· Each artist is paired with a poem and must create a new art work “inspired” by the poem
· Each poet is paired with an art work and must create a new poem “inspired” by the art work
· In June 2022, all the “submitted” and “inspired” pairs of art and poetry will be exhibited online and at the Manitowoc Public Library in Manitowoc, WI
Entries are due on February 6, 2022.
Details about the event and forms to register to participate are at this link:
ArtPoetryArt 21-22 Entry Form
What does this end up looking like? Here are the art and poetry pairings from last year:
ArtPoetryArt 20-21 Online Exhibit
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2023 WFOP Poets’ Calendar Is Now Open For Submissions, through February 1, 2022
The theme is the “Mythos of Wisconsin,” with guest editors Tom & Ethel Davis and Michael Orlock. Check out the detailed Submission Guidelines & How to Enter.
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2022 WFOP Chapbook Prize is now open, through February 1, 2022
A contest for chapbooks published in 2021 by Wisconsin authors. This year’s judge is Margaret Haase. For guidelines, visit here.
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Muse Prize for Excellence in Poetry is Now Open to Wisconsin Poets, through February 1, 2022
Check out the detailed Submission Guidelines & How to Enter.
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WFOP Student Contest is Now Open through February 1, 2022
For Wisconsin students grades 6 – 12. Check out the detailed Submission Guidelines & How to Enter.
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Council for Wisconsin Writers Contest, deadline Jan. 31, 2022!
Wisconsin writers are invited to enter work published during the 2021 calendar year in multiple categories, including book-length poetry and a set of five poems.
First-place winners in all categories except the Young Writers Award will receive $500 and a one-week writer’s residency at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point WI. Honorable mention recipients will receive $50 and a one-week writer’s residency at the Painted Forest Study Center Valton WI.
Specific guideline, entry forms and important additional information for each award category are on the CWW website.
Enter CWW Contest Now!
Tomorrow, Jan. 31 — today if you’re reading this on Monday — is the deadline for the Council for the Wisconsin Writers Contest.
Wisconsin writers, don’t miss entering your work published during the 2021 calendar year in multiple categories.
First-place winners in all categories except the Young Writers Award will receive $500 and a one-week writer’s residency at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point WI. Honorable mention recipients will receive $50 and a one-week writer’s residency at the Painted Forest Study Center Valton WI.
Specific guidelines, entry forms and important additional information for each award category are on the CWW website.
CWW Contest Jan. 31 Deadline is Monday!
Monday.
That’s the deadline for Wisconsin writers to get their work entered in the Council for Wisconsin Writers Awards Contest for work published in 2021.
Categories include:
– Book-length poetry,
– Set of five poems, two of which must have been published in the contest year,
– Book-length fiction,
– Short fiction,
– Book-length nonfiction,
– Short nonfiction,
– Children’s literature,
– Young Writers Award.
First-place winners in all categories except the Young Writers Award will receive $500 and a one-week writer’s residency at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point WI.
Honorable mention recipients will receive $50 and a one-week writer’s residency at the Painted Forest Study Center Valton WI.
Specific guidelines, entry forms and important additional information can be found at CWW’s website, http://wiswriters.org.
CWW Awards Contest Entry Deadline is Jan. 31, 2022
Attention, Wisconsin Writers!
Only a couple of weeks left to get your entries mailed to Counsel for Wisconsin Writers awards contest coordinators for work published in 2021.
After a year’s hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council for Wisconsin Writers is holding its 56th annual awards contest.
All entries must be postmarked no later than Jan. 31, 2022.
This contest is for work published during the 2021 calendar year.
– Categories include:
– Book-length poetry,
– Set of five poems, two of which must have been published in the contest year,
– Book-length fiction,
– Short fiction,
– Book-length nonfiction,
– Short nonfiction,
– Children’s literature,
– Young Writers Award.
First-place winners in all categories except the Young Writers Award will receive $500 and a one-week writer’s residency at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point WI.
Honorable mention recipients will receive $50 and a one-week writer’s residency at the Painted Forest Study Center Valton WI.
Specific guidelines, entry forms and important additional information can be found at CWW’s website, http://wiswriters.org.