Council for Wisconsin Writers

Supporting Wisconsin writers from 1964 to 2022

Abby Frucht

by

Lots of WFOP News

The following is from the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets’ Cathryn Cofell-Mutschler:

Monday, SEPTEMBER 15, 6:30 p.m., Harmony Cafe, Appleton ​ – KATHRYN GAHL & WENDY SCHMIDT

Kathryn Gahl loves red lipstick, home cooking, and vintage clothing. The author of Life Drawing Class, a poetry collection, she belongs to The Poets of Mead (Sheboygan).  Find her stories and poems in many journals, including Margie, Salamander, The Notre Dame Review, and Wisconsin People & Ideas. She dances mad hot ballroom with her second and last husband, Robert–that is, when not playing with her grandson, Leonidas. More at www.kathryngahl.com.

Wendy L. Schmidt started seriously writing poetry and short stories about six year ago.  Since then, she’s been published in numerous anthologies, poetry magazines and websites including No Rest for the Wicked, Lake City Poets, B., Dark Moon Digest, Verse Wisconsin, Literary Hatchet, Twisted Dreams, Rebelle Society, Moon Magazine, Chicago Literati, and most recently was featured in The Horror Writers Association, Poetry Showcase Volume 1. She’s also a winner in the Reedsburg Farm/Art Festival and has several blogs including, She’s Got a Short Fuse and Bumpy Night Publications. She has an author page on Goodreads and is now offering up some spooky fun with her latest endeavor, a Youtube Channel entitled. Wendy L. Schmidt, Phantom Poetess.

The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets (WFOP) Fox Valley Poetry Series meets at Harmony Café, 233 E. College Ave, Appleton on the third Monday of most months. Featured reader(s) at 6:30 pm, brief open mic after.  For more information contact Sarah Gilbert at pses@sbcglobal.net .

​ON DECK AT HARMONY:

Oct 20            Paula Anderson and Mariann Ritzer
Nov 17           Joan and Jeffrey Johannes
Dec 1              2015 WFOP Calendar reading with editors Steve and Jeannie Tomasko

 ADDITIONAL READINGS

**********************************************************************************

NEW NIGHT!  TUES, SEPT 2, EDWARD SCHULTZ AT THELMA, 51 Sheboygan, Fond du Lac: The Foot of the Lake Poetry Collective in partnership with Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts begins its 10th season of readings with poet Edward Schultz at 7 pm, accompanied by avant-garde jazz, duo Frank Wildingway on stand-up bass and clarinetist Robert Perry. Edward is founding President of the Driftless Writing Center, Inc., Viroqua, and current board member of Council for Wisconsin Writers. His writing has appeared in dozens of literary journals and anthologies; Atlanta Review, Chronogram, Rosebud, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, Willow Review and has received a Contributing Editor’s Pushcart Nomination for his poetry. He has acted as preliminary judge for the Wisconsin People’s & Ideas Magazine poetry contest. Edward works as writing coach, mentor, and facilitates reading and writing workshops.

The reading is free and open to the public with an open mic following the featured reader. All readings take place on the first Tuesday of the month, September through May. For more information contact Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts or marywehner@charter.net.

NEW! FRI, SEPT 12:  Join the Fox Cities Cycling Association on our Moonlight Poetry Ride 8 pm at City Park in Appleton.  This free event will bike through the streets of Appleton in search of sidewalk poetry.  Helmet and lights required – more information at https://www.facebook.com/events/677983958950212/

SAT, SEPT 6, THE BAY AREA SPOKEN WORD POETRY NIGHT FEATURES MARYBETH MATTSON:  Help Barnes & Noble, Stadium District, Green Bay kick off spoken word poetry nights on the first Saturday of each month, 7:00 p.m.  Open to all ages and experience levels, with a special focus on youth, young adults and children. Try your hand at spoken word poetry and get tips from experts!  Singer/songwriter Marybeth Mattson first took to the stage as a performance poet in college. Moving home to Door County after completing college, Marybeth began singing with her mother (folk musician Jeanne Kuhns) before beginning to write and perform her own songs, solo at first, and later with Seth Raddatz. With lyrics that are both poetic and deliberate, Marybeth offers a new twist on the folk genre as she enchants listeners with level and lovely vocals.

 WED, SEPT 10, JUDY ROY featured at the DICKINSON POETRY SERIES: On the second Wednesday of every month the Dickinson Poetry Series features a reading by a local or regional poet followed by an open mic and reception. The public is welcome, and admission is free.  7:00 p.m. at the UUF, 10341 Highway 42 in Ephraim.  For more information visit www.uufdc.org or call 920.854.7559.

TUES, SEPT 23, JANET LEAHY at the Caramel Crisp, 200 E City Center, Oshkosh at their new time of 6:15 p.m.   Janet is a member of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets and the American Academy of poets. Her poems have been published in a variety of print and online journals including The Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar, Wisconsin People and Ideas, Fox Cry Review and Verse Wisconsin and several anthologies including Empty Shoes, Echoes, The Clearing Speaks, Goose River Anthology, and Wingbeats II.   Her first collection of poetry was “The Storm, Poems of War, Iraq.”  Poems in her most recent book “Not My Mother’s Classroom” are drawn from her experience teaching in Milwaukee.

An open mic will follow where participants may read one or two of their own poems or poems by others that they love.   Come early and enjoy a meal or grab a cup of coffee!  For more information, contact Kay Sanders at rksanders42@gmail.com or Mandi Isaacson at mandiisaacson@gmail.com

THURS, SEPT 25, READER’S LOFT PRESENTS CATHRYN COFELL, ROBERT VAUGHN & MARILYN WINDAU, 6-8 PM:  The trio will read poems around the theme of  “New Beginnings”  — bring your own to share for the open mic!  2069 Central Ct, Suite 44, Green Bay.   Welcome All! Open to the Public.   Wine, water, coffee, light finger food available.  Call 920-406-0200 or email amy@readersloft.com for more information.

WORKSHOPS & CONFERENCES

**********************************************************************************

New at The Mill: A Place for Writers

Note that in two of the classes offered, the maximum enrollment is 8,

so don’t wait too long. All classes held at Atlas Coffee Mill (www.atlascoffeemill.com)
425 W. Water Street, Appleton, WI 54911

Monday Nights (7 to 9 p.m.)

1. Poetry Workshop – “Wearing the Mask” Poetry and Persona– with Karla Huston

8 weeks, 9/15 – 11/3. 8 students only. Fee is $200.
Contact: info@karlahuston.com

2. Fundamentals of Fiction – with Steve Polansky

10 weeks, 9/15 – 11/17. 12 students only. $250
Contact: smpolansky@hotmail.com

Wednesday Nights (7 to 9 p.m.)

1. Writing Authentically – with Nikki Kallio
8 weeks, 9/24 to 11/17. 12 students only. $200.
Contact: nikkikallio@yahoo.com

2. Poetry Workshop – with Bruce Dethlefsen

8 weeks, 9/17 – 11/5. 8 students only. $200.
Contact: bpdethlefsen@gmail.com

3. English Prose Style – with Steve Polansky

10 weeks, 9/17 to 11/19. 12 students only. $250.
Contact: smpolansky@hotmail.com

Mill Saturday with Abby Frucht

The Tarot of Character” (for fiction and non-fiction writers)
Saturday, 9/13, 9 a.m – 12 p.m. Class fee: $65, which includes lunch, tax and tip and morning coffee.
Class is open to 12

 DEADLINES & SUBMISSIONS

CALL FOR POEMS ABOUT DOOR COUNTY for an anthology to be published in 2015, tentatively titled Soundings: Door County in Poetry.  The Door County Poetry Collective invites poets who have lived, worked or visited Door County for extended periods of time to submit up to 3 poems by September 5, 2014.  We welcome original poems about specific people or places, the topography, the social, cultural, historical or political milieu and/or the “spirit” of Door County. The editors are looking for fresh, accessible poems that reflect many kinds of experiences in this place–from Brussels and Forestville all the way to Rock Island, from the Bay side to the Lake side and everywhere in-between.

Poems may have been published if no fee is charged for re-publication. Poems may be in free verse or forms but they should be limited to one page in 12-point type. Electronic submission in the body of an email or a Word.doc attachment is required (doorcountyanthology@gmail.com). Please put “DC Anthology Submission” in the subject line of your email. Please include a brief (50 word) bio that describes your association with Door County. Questions may be addressed to estella.lauter@gmail.com.

Call for 2015–2016 Wisconsin Poet Laureate!

Beginning August 18, 2014, applications are welcome from individual poets who are seeking the position. Applications may also be submitted by a person who is nominating a poet for the position of Wisconsin Poet Laureate. A complete application package must be sent to the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission at wipoetlaureate@gmail.com no later than October 10, 2014. Application instructions and additional information are available at www.wisconsinacademy.org/newpl.

 

 

by

WFOP Update

Here’s a reminder from Cathryn Cofell of upcoming WFOP events:

TUES, AUG 26, ABBY FRUCHT at the Caramel Crisp Café, 200 E City Center, Oshkosh at their new time:  6:15 p.m. An open mic will follow where participants may read one or two of their own poems or poems by others that they love. Abby’s new collection of stories, The Bell at the End of a Rope, was published 1 ½ years ago by Narrative Library. She is the author of five novels including SNAP, Licorice, Are You Mine?, Life Before Death, and Polly’s Ghost. Her earlier collection of stories, Fruit of the Month, which won the Iowa Short Fiction Prize in 1987, is now available in ebook form along with Abby’s other books as part of Dzanc Books’ rEprint series. She lives in Oshkosh but for twenty years has traveled regularly to Montpelier, Vermont, where she teaches at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing Program. An open mic will follow where participants may read one or two of their own poems or poems by others that they love.   Come early and enjoy a meal or grab a cup of coffee!  For more information, contact Kay Sanders at rksanders42@gmail.com or Mandi Isaacson at mandiisaacson@gmail.com

THURS, AUG 28 6-8 PM, READER’S LOFT IN GREEN BAY:  ​ Nathan Reid​, ​Phil Hansotia  & Ralph Murre​:  2069 Central Ct, Suite 44, Green Bay.   Welcome All! Open to the Public. Open Mic will follow the featured readings.  Wine, water, coffee, light finger food available.  Call 920-406-0200 or email amy@readersloft.com for more information.

On deck for future readings at the Reader’s Loft:

SEPTEMBER 25 (Thurs.)

Robert Vaughan

Cathryn Cofell

Marilyn Windau

TUES, SEPT 2:  The Foot of the Lake Poetry Collective in partnership with Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts begins its 10th season of readings on a new date each month, with the first for this season on Tuesday, September 2nd 2014. Poet Edward Schultz reads at 7 pm, accompanied by avant-garde jazz, duo Frank Wildingway, stand-up bass, and clarinetist Robert Perry.

 Edward Schultz is founding President of the Driftless Writing Center, Inc., Viroqua, WI. and current board member of Council for Wisconsin Writers. His writing has appeared in dozens of literary journals and anthologies; Atlanta Review, Chronogram, Rosebud, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, Willow Review and has received a Contributing Editor’s Pushcart Nomination for his poetry. He has acted as preliminary judge for the Wisconsin People’s & Ideas Magazine poetry contest. Edward works as writing coach, mentor, and facilitates reading and writing workshops.  The reading is free and open to the public with an open mic following the featured reader. All readings take place on the first Tuesday of the month, September through May.  For more information contact Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts or marywehner@charter.net.

SAT, SEPT 6, THE BAY AREA SPOKEN WORD POETRY NIGHT FEATURES MARYBETH MATTSON:  Help Barnes & Noble, Stadium District, Green Bay kick off spoken word poetry nights on the first Saturday of each month, 7:00 p.m.  Open to all ages and experience levels, with a special focus on youth, young adults and children. Try your hand at spoken word poetry and get tips from experts!  Singer/songwriter Marybeth Mattson first took to the stage as a performance poet in college. Moving home to Door County after completing college, Marybeth began singing with her mother (folk musician Jeanne Kuhns) before beginning to write and perform her own songs, solo at first, and later with Seth Raddatz. With lyrics that are both poetic and deliberate, Marybeth offers a new twist on the folk genre as she enchants listeners with level and lovely vocals.

Wisconsin Poets' Calendar cover

Please visit the CWW website at www.wiswriters.org.

by

Poetry News from WFOP

Monday, AUGUST 18, 6:30 p.m., Harmony Cafe, Appleton ​ – MARGARET ROZGA & KAY SANDERS

The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets (WFOP) Fox Valley Poetry Series meets at Harmony Café, 233 E. College Ave, Appleton on the third Monday of most months. Featured reader(s) at 6:30 pm, brief open mic after.

 

A native Southerner, Kay N. Sanders married a Connecticut Yankee, and the two of them settled a potential civil war by making lovely Wisconsin their home.  Her themes include family and place of her Southern heritage and reflections from the backyard of her Oshkosh home. Her poetry has been published in several venues, including Wisconsin People & Ideas, Verse Wisconsin, Fox Cry, Wisconsin Poets’ Calendars, and Your Daily Poem.  The recipient of Wisconsin Writers’ Association jade rings, once for essay and twice for poetry, her chapbook, That Red Dirt Road, was published by Parallel Press.  Together with Mandi Isaacson, Kay helps coordinate monthly poetry readings at the Carmel Crisp & Café in Oshkosh.

 

Poet, playwright and professor emerita of English at UW Waukesha, Margaret Rozgahas published two books: Two Hundred Nights and One Day and Though I Haven’t Been to Baghdad. She served as managing editor for the chapbook TURN UP THE VOLUME: Poems About the States of Wisconsin, a project to raise money for the First Amendment Protection Fund.  Her poems have appeared recently in Stoneboat, The Avocet, The Kerf, Nimrod and as a Split This Rock Poem of the Week and her work has been included in six collaborative projects with visual artists.  She is president of the Women’s Caucus of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) and program chair for the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature. She lives in Milwaukee and offers poetry workshops at various venues in Wisconsin.

 

Sample Poem from Margaret:

 

Singing the Star Spangled Banner

My heart
                is an open

                             –Jill Breckenridge

What do you do with your mouth?
Eat       talk      kiss      yawn

What do you do with your heart?
Stay alive        Love

What does it mean for the mouth/heart to be open?
Ready to speak?      To love?

Deep speaking?
Unable to speak?

If your heart could speak, what would it say?
If it could eat, what food?

Smile widely as if      to laugh
Yawn to swallow the cry

 

​ON DECK AT HARMONY:

Sep15            Kathryn Gahl and Wendy Schmidt
Oct 20            Paula Anderson and Mariann Ritzer
Nov 17           Joan and Jeffrey Johannes

 

ADDITIONAL READINGS

**********************************************************************************

 

WED, AUG 13, CHRISTINE SWANBERG featured at the DICKINSON POETRY SERIES: On the second Wednesday of every month the Dickinson Poetry Series features a reading by a local or regional poet followed by an open mic and reception. The public is welcome, and admission is free.  7:00 p.m. at the UUF, 10341 Highway 42 in Ephraim.  For more information visit www.uufdc.org or call 920.854.7559.

 

 

TUES, AUG 26, ABBY FRUCHT at the Caramel Crisp Café, 200 E City Center, Oshkosh at their new time:  6:15 p.m.  An open mic will follow where participants may read one or two of their own poems or poems by others that they love.  Abby’s new collection of stories, The Bell at the End of a Rope, was published 1 ½ years ago by Narrative Library. She is the author of five novels including SNAP, Licorice, Are You Mine?, Life Before Death, and Polly’s Ghost. Her earlier collection of stories, Fruit of the Month, which won the Iowa Short Fiction Prize in 1987, is now available in ebook form along with Abby’s other books as part of Dzanc Books’ rEprint series. She lives in Oshkosh but for twenty years has traveled regularly to Montpelier, Vermont, where she teaches at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing Program. An open mic will follow where participants may read one or two of their own poems or poems by others that they love.   Come early and enjoy a meal or grab a cup of coffee!  For more information, contact Kay Sanders at rksanders42@gmail.com or Mandi Isaacson atmandiisaacson@gmail.com

 

 

THURS, AUG 28 6-8 PM, READER’S LOFT IN GREEN BAY:  ​ Bill Gillard, Nathan Reid

& Phil Hansotia:  2069 Central Ct, Suite 44, Green Bay.   Welcome All! Open to the Public. Open Mic will follow the featured readings.  Wine, water, coffee, light finger food available.  Call 920-406-0200 or email amy@readersloft.com for more information.

On deck for future readings at the Reader’s Loft:

SEPTEMBER 25 (Thurs.)

Robert Vaughan

Cathryn Cofell

Marilyn Windau

 

 

SAT, SEPT 6, THE BAY AREA SPOKEN WORD POETRY NIGHT FEATURES MARYBETH MATTSON:  Help Barnes & Noble, Stadium District, Green Bay kick off spoken word poetry nights on the first Saturday of each month, 7:00 p.m.  Open to all ages and experience levels, with a special focus on youth, young adults and children. Try your hand at spoken word poetry and get tips from experts!  Singer/songwriter Marybeth Mattson first took to the stage as a performance poet in college. Moving home to Door County after completing college, Marybeth began singing with her mother (folk musician Jeanne Kuhns) before beginning to write and perform her own songs, solo at first, and later with Seth Raddatz. With lyrics that are both poetic and deliberate, Marybeth offers a new twist on the folk genre as she enchants listeners with level and lovely vocals.

 

 

 

 

WORKSHOPS & CONFERENCES

**********************************************************************************

 

 

DEADLINES & SUBMISSIONS

Poetry submissions accepted to The Scene: Oshkosh.  Erin Heiling is very enthusiastic about receiving your poetry with an eye towards publication.  Poets may contact Erin at: artsy_erin@yahoo.com.

 

 

Call for 2015–2016 Wisconsin Poet Laureate!

Beginning August 18, 2014, applications are welcome from individual poets who are seeking the position. Applications may also be submitted by a person who is nominating a poet for the position of Wisconsin Poet Laureate. A complete application package must be sent to the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission at wipoetlaureate@gmail.com no later than October 10, 2014. Application instructions and additional information are available at www.wisconsinacademy.org/newpl.

 

 

by

WFOP Jan. News

Here’s some January news from the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, including the Council for Wisconsin Writers contest deadline, which is January 31. Get details at www.wiswriters.org/rules:

Make a point of coming out on January 21 to help us kick off the Harmony Cafe/WFOP Poetry Series in style…Brent (driving all the way over from Rhinelander!!) and David (from Ripon!!) are two of Wisconsin’s (and the nation’s) FINEST poets. 

The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets (WFOP) Fox Valley Poetry Series meets at Harmony Cafe in Appleton (233 E. College Ave) on the third Monday of most months.  Each evening begins at 6:30 p.m. with the featured reader(s), followed by an open mic open to anyone who wishes to read 1-2 poems.  

Monday, January 21, 6:30 p.m. – Brent Goodman and David Graham

 

Brent Goodman is the author of Far From Sudden and The Brother Swimming Beneath Me. His poems have appeared in Pleiades, Sou’wester, Pank, Poetry, Barn Owl Review, and elsewhere. Brent lives in Rhinelander WI, where he works as a creative professional and serves as an assistant editor for the online journal Anti-.  For sample poems and more, visit www.brentgoodman.info/ 

David Graham has published six collections of poetry, including Stutter Monk (Flume Press) and Second Wind (Texas Tech University Press).  He also co-edited (with Kate Sontag) the essay anthology After Confession: Poetry as Confession from Graywolf Press.  Essays, reviews, and individual poems have appeared widely for over thirty years.  Recently anthology appearances include Seriously Funny: Poems about Love, Death, Religion, Art, Politics, Sex, and Everything Else; Aspects of Robinson:  Homage to Weldon Kees; Poetry from Paradise Valley:  Poems from the First Decade of Valparaiso Poetry Review; and 180 More:  Extraordinary Poems for Every Day.  He has served on the Advisory Board of Verse Wisconsin, as poetry editor for Blue Moon Review and as poet-in-residence at the Frost Place, in Franconia, New Hampshire.  He is Professor of English at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin.  For more on David, visit http://www.ripon.edu/faculty/grahamd/ 

ON DECK AT HARMONY – 2013 

******************************************************************

Feb 18           FICTION LIKE POETRY:  Abby Frucht and Don Wydeven

Mar 18           Bobbie Lovell and Michael Koehler

Apr 15           Marilyn Annucci and Susan Elbe                       

OTHER KEY HAPPENINGS 

**********************************************************************************

JANUARY 22 (TUES), APPLEBLOSSOM BOOKS, OSHKOSH FEATURES MARILYN ZELKE-WINDAU:  A retired art educator who lives in Sheboygan, Marilyn likes to paint with words.  Her work has been published in many journals including Brawler Lit, Qarrtsiluni, Your Daily Poem, Verse Wisconsin, Seems, and Stoneboat. Marilyn will be giving a poetry reading at 6:30 pm at Apple Blossom Books, 200 E City Center, Oshkosh.  An open mic will follow where participants may read one or two of their own poems or poems by others that they love.   Come early and enjoy a meal or grab a cup of coffee at Caramel Crisp and Café whose inner doors connect with the bookstore.

CONTESTS

**********************************************************************************

Wisconsin Writers Awards DEADLINE JANUARY 31!

Contact: Robin Chapman rschapma@wisc.edu   608-238-6932
For the 49th year, the Council for Wisconsin Writers sponsors its contests for work published by Wisconsin writers in the prior year.  Entries published in 2012 are invited in the categories of book-length fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; short fiction and nonfiction; a set of five poems; outdoor writing; and children’s literature.  Authors who enter must be current Wisconsin residents. First-place winners will receive $500 and week-long writers’ residencies at Shake Rag Alley Center for Arts and Crafts or Maplewood Lodge in Mineral Point. CWW also sponsors an Essay Award for Young Writers (1500 word maximum) for Wisconsin high school students; there is no entry fee, and the award is $250 this year. Members of the board will judge. Postmark deadline for the student essay contest is also January 31, 2013. Nominations are also open for the $1000 Major Achievement Award, which is given to recognize a Wisconsin writer who deserves special recognition for literary merit. Specific guidelines, entry forms, and important additional information for each award category are available on the website, www.wiswriters.org.   

WFOP 2013 CHAPBOOK PRIZE DEADLINE FEB 1!:  The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets honors the best chapbook published in the previous year by a Wisconsin resident.  Visit http://wfop.org/contests.html for details.

WFOP MUSE PRIZE FOR POETRY DEADLINE FEB 1:  Open to any Wisconsin resident (you don’t need to be a member of the WFOP).  Visit http://wfop.org/contests.html for details.

Cathryn Cofell, PR Coordinator for 

Sarah Gilbert, Poetry Reading Series Coordinator (and WFOP Regional VP)

 

 

 

by

WFOP News

Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets PR Coordinator Cathryn Cofell sends the following news:

The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets (WFOP) Fox Valley Poetry Series meets at Harmony Cafe in Appleton (233 E. College Ave) on the third Monday of most months.  Each evening begins at 6:30 p.m. with the featured reader(s), followed by an open mic open to anyone who wishes to read 1-2 poems.

Monday, January 21, 6:30 p.m. – Brent Goodman and David Graham

Brent Goodman is the author of Far From Sudden and The Brother Swimming Beneath Me. His poems have appeared in Pleiades, Sou’wester, Pank, Poetry, Barn Owl Review, and elsewhere. Brent lives in Rhinelander WI, where he works as a creative professional and serves as an assistant editor for the online journal Anti-.  For sample poems and more, visit www.brentgoodman.info/ 

David Graham has published six collections of poetry, including Stutter Monk (Flume Press) and Second Wind (Texas Tech University Press).  He also co-edited (with Kate Sontag) the essay anthology After Confession: Poetry as Confession from Graywolf Press.  Essays, reviews, and individual poems have appeared widely for over thirty years.  Recently anthology appearances include Seriously Funny: Poems about Love, Death, Religion, Art, Politics, Sex, and Everything Else; Aspects of Robinson:  Homage to Weldon Kees; Poetry from Paradise Valley:  Poems from the First Decade of Valparaiso Poetry Review; and 180 More:  Extraordinary Poems for Every Day.  He has served on the Advisory Board of Verse Wisconsin, as poetry editor for Blue Moon Review and as poet-in-residence at the Frost Place, in Franconia, New Hampshire.  He is Professor of English at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin.  For more on David, visit http://www.ripon.edu/faculty/grahamd/

ON DECK AT HARMONY – 2013 

Feb 18           FICTION LIKE POETRY:  Abby Frucht and Don Wydeven

Mar 18           Bobbie Lovell and Michael Koehler

Apr 15           Marilyn Annucci and Susan Elbe

OTHER KEY HAPPENINGS 

FOOT OF THE LAKE POETRY COLLECTIVE READING AT THE WINDHOVER:  NO EVENT IN JANUARY – RETURNING FEBRUARY 12

JANUARY 9 (WED), DICKINSON POETRY SERIES FEATURES ESTELLA LAUTER:  Since her retirement from teaching in the UW System, Estella has published two chapbooks with Finishing Line Press in Georgetown, KY.  Some of her latest work may be seen online at www.versewisconsin.org in Issue 110, “It’s Political.”  She will read at 7:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Door County, 10341 Water Street, Hwy 42, Ephraim (On the south end of the Shops of Green Gables) An open mic for other poets will follow.  New poets and listeners are welcome.

 

 

JANUARY 22 (TUES), APPLEBLOSSOM BOOKS, OSHKOSH FEATURES MARILYN ZELKE-WINDAU:  A retired art educator who lives in Sheboygan, Marilyn likes to paint with words.  Her work has been published in many journals including Brawler Lit, Qarrtsiluni, Your Daily Poem, Verse Wisconsin, Seems, and Stoneboat. Marilyn will be giving a poetry reading at 6:30 pm at Apple Blossom Books, 200 E City Center, Oshkosh.  An open mic will follow where participants may read one or two of their own poems or poems by others that they love.   Come early and enjoy a meal or grab a cup of coffee at Caramel Crisp and Café whose inner doors connect with the bookstore.

CONTESTS

Wisconsin Writers Awards Contests Open

Contact: Robin Chapman rschapma@wisc.edu   608-238-6932

For the 49th year, the Council for Wisconsin Writers sponsors its contests for work published by Wisconsin writers in the prior year.  Entries published in 2012 are invited in the categories of book-length fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; short fiction and nonfiction; a set of five poems; outdoor writing; and children’s literature.  The Council contests open November 1, 2012 and will close January 31, 2013 (postmark deadline).  Authors who enter must be current Wisconsin residents. The entry fee is $20. Out-of-state judges will make the selections. Awards will be presented in a banquet at the Wisconsin Club in Milwaukee in May 2013. First-place winners will receive $500 and week-long writers’ residencies at Shake Rag Alley Center for Arts and Crafts or Maplewood Lodge in Mineral Point. CWW also sponsors an Essay Award for Young Writers (1500 word maximum) for Wisconsin high school students; there is no entry fee, and the award is $250 this year. Members of the board will judge. Postmark deadline for the student essay contest is also January 31, 2013. Nominations are also open for the $1000 Major Achievement Award, which is given to recognize a Wisconsin writer who deserves special recognition for literary merit. Specific guidelines, entry forms, and important additional information for each award category are available on the website, www.wiswriters.org.  CWW is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of published Wisconsin writers and encouraging an appreciation of Wisconsin writing.

WFOP 2013 CHAPBOOK PRIZE:  The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets is dedicated to promoting poetry in Wisconsin and seeks to expand its contest offerings by honoring the best chapbook published in the previous year by a Wisconsin resident.  DEADLINE:  2/1/13.  Visit http://wfop.org/contests.html for details.

WFOP MUSE PRIZE FOR POETRY:  Open to any Wisconsin resident (you don’t need to be a member of the WFOP).  DEADLINE:  2/1/13.  Visit http://wfop.org/contests.html for details.