Council for Wisconsin Writers

Supporting Wisconsin writers from 1964 to 2022

CX Dillhunt

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Wisconsin People & Ideas Announces Contest Winners
 Congratulations to the winners of our 2016 writing contests!


1st Place Fiction:
“Open House”
Allison Slavick, Cable
2nd Place Fiction:
“Lowlife”
Richard Borovsky, Madison
3rd Place Fiction:
“Weathering the Storm”
Lange Allen, Green Bay

1st Place Poetry:
“In the Science Museum”
Karen Loeb, Eau Claire
2nd Place Poetry:
“Nighthawks“
Janet Leahy, New Berlin
3rd Place Poetry:
“Head Cheese”
Nancy Bauer-King, Racine
Winners of the 2016 Wisconsin People & Ideas writing contests receive awards of $500 (first place), $250 (second place), and $100 (third place). The first-place author and poet also receive a one-week artist residency at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point. All award-winners are invited to read their works at the 2016 Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison, and each of the prize-winning stories and poems will appear in forthcoming issues of Wisconsin People & Ideas.
This year the fiction contest was judged author BJ Hollars, and the poetry contest was judged by Kimberly Blaeser. The 2016 contests were coordinated by Jason A. Smith, editor, Wisconsin People & Ideas, and the preliminary judges were Aaron Fai, John Lehman, and CX Dillhunt. All judging was done blindly and ranking was done solely on the merit of individual submissions in the opinion of our judges.
Thank you to everyone who submitted their work to the 2016 contests. Your participation is what has made these contests the best showcase for new and emerging Wisconsin writers for over twenty years. Look for the first-place prizewinning story and the first- through third-place prizewinning poems to appear in the forthcoming summer issue of Wisconsin People & Ideas. Honorable mention poems will appear in subsequent issues of the magazine, beginning with the fall 2016 issue. Congratulations to all our winners and honorable mention writers and poets—keep on writing!
2016 Fiction Contest Honorable Mentions 2016 Poetry Contest Honorable Mentions
“Red Truck” – Judith Barisonzi, Rice Lake “Cancer is Not Cosmic Justice” – Cynthia Belmont, Ashland
“Brother’s Pride” – Jeff Esterholm, Superior “Kindergarten Graduation” – Peter Burzynski, Milwaukee
“Remedy of Fortune” – Ingrid Kallick, Madison “Breakfast With Poets” – Janet Leahy, New Berlin
“LeighLeigh’s Story” – Marilyn Shapiro Leys, Prairie du Chein “Alligators in the Basement” – Jeri McCormick, Madison
“Mercy Mercy” – Olivia Sitter, Eau Claire “The Sighting” – Jeri McCormick, Madison
“Woman in the Third Space” – Kathleen Stark, Madison “Her Statement” – Georgia Ressmeyer, Sheboygan
“Kissing Marilyn Monroe” – Richard Roe, Middleton
“Dead Porcupine: No Metaphor” – Steve Tomasko, Middleton
“Working for Eugene” – Ann F. Wenzel, Madison
“Altar boy, circa 1959” – Ed Werstein, Milwaukee

Wisconsin People & Ideas thanks lead and preliminary judges for volunteering their time and efforts to the 2016 contest, and extends a special thanks to our writing contest sponsors Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point for donating a weeklong artist residency for the first-place winner of each contest, the Wisconsin Book Festival for hosting our annual contest winners’ reading, andWisconsin Public Radio for promotional support. More information on the contests, prizes, and sponsors can be found at wisconsinacademy.org/contests.

Thanks to our contest sponsors!

About Wisconsin People & Ideas
Wisconsin People & Ideas publishes fiction and poetry from Wisconsin writers, highlights new works from our visual artists and photographers, and covers science and environmental issues that affect Wisconsin’s people, lands, and waters. The magazine hosts annual fiction and poetry contests that award up to $500, publication in the magazine, a reading at the Wisconsin Book Festival, and more. Since 1954, the independent Wisconsin People & Ideas magazine has been a trusted resource for people who care about the issues and ideas that shape life in Wisconsin. Wisconsin People & Ideas is available at Wisconsin Academy events and exhibitions as well as our James Watrous Gallery, and is delivered quarterly to Wisconsin Academy members and libraries across the state.
Wisconsin People & Ideas  l  1922 University Avenue  l  Madison, WI  53726  l  608.263.1692
Questions and manuscript submissions to:  jsmith@wisconsinacademy.org 

 

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CWW Board Member Wins Poetry Award

Wisconsin People & Ideas magazine announced today that Council for Wisconsin Writers board member Lisa Vihos of Sheboygan, Sean Avery of Madison and Kathleen Dale of Milwaukee are winners of the magazine’s 2015 Poetry Contest. Vihos took first place for her “Lessons at the Checkpoint,” Avery’s “Prayer ( Song ) for Magic,” placed second, and Dale won third place for her “The Self-organizing Universal Nail Salon,”  In addition, Vihos and Dale received honorable mentions for other poems they entered in the contest.  Here is the WP&I  news release:
Congratulations to the Winners of the
Wisconsin People & Ideas 2015 Poetry Contest:
Winners of the 2015 Wisconsin People & Ideas Poetry Contest receive cash awards of $500 (first place), $250 (second place), and $100 (third place). The first-place author also receives a one-week artist residency at Shake Rag Alley School for Arts and Crafts in Mineral Point, and all three award-winning poets will read at the 2015 Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison and will have their prizewinning poems (and one other, selected by the editor) appear in Wisconsin People & Ideasmagazine.
Our 2015 contest honorable mention poems and poets:
  • “Hooked,” by Sharon Foley—Whitefish Bay
  • “Annunciation,” by Lisa Vihos—Sheboygan
  • “Neighbors,” by Jeri McCormick—Madison
  • “Sand County,” by Jessi Peterson—Eau Claire
  • “What Remains,” by John Pidgeon—Green Bay
  • “Let’s Intuit Something,” by Jess Williard—Madison
  • “Some People,” by Molly Murphy–Madison
  • “A Few Miles Outside Warroad, Several Weeks Before the Fall,” by Christine Holm—Oconomowoc
  • “We Were Wrong, But Were Given Five Ruins to Consider for Winter,” by Christine Holm—Oconomowoc
  • “Homeless in August,” by Kathleen Dale—Milwaukee
Wisconsin People & Ideas publishes fiction and poetry from Wisconsin writers, highlights new works from our visual artists and photographers, and covers science and environmental issues that affect Wisconsin’s people, lands, and waters. The magazine hosts annual fiction and poetry contests that award cash prizes up to $500, publication in the magazine, and a reading at the Wisconsin Book Festival, and more.  Since 1954, the independentWisconsin People & Ideas magazine has been a trusted resource for people who care about the issues and ideas that shape life in Wisconsin. Wisconsin People & Ideas is available at Wisconsin Academy events and exhibitions as well as selected bookstores, and is delivered quarterly to Wisconsin Academy members and libraries across the state.
This year the poetry contest lead judge is Kara Candito (right). The 2015 contest was coordinated by Jason A. Smith, editor, Wisconsin People & Ideas, and the preliminary judges were John Lehman, Zachary Carlson, and CX Dillhunt . The contest received 568 poem submissions from across the state of Wisconsin. All judging was done blindly and ranking was done solely on the merit of individual stories in the opinion of our judges.
Thank you to everyone who submitted their work to the 2015 poetry contest. Your participation is what has made this contest one of the best showcases for Wisconsin poets for over twenty years. Look for the first- through third-place poems to appear in the forthcoming spring/summer double issue of  Wisconsin People & Ideas . Honorable mention poems will appear in subsequent issues of the magazine, beginning with the Fall 2015 issue. Congratulations to all our winners and honorable mention poets—and keep on writing!
Wisconsin People & Ideas thanks lead and preliminary judges for volunteering their time and efforts to the 2015 contest, and extends a special thanks to 2015 contest sponsors Shake Rag Alley School for Arts and Crafts in Mineral Point for donating a weeklong artist residency for the first-place winner, the Wisconsin Book Festival for hosting our contest winners’ reading, and Wisconsin Public Radio for promotional support. More information on the contest, prizes, and sponsors can be found at wisconsinacademy.org/poetrycontest.
Thanks to our contest sponsors!
Wisconsin People & Ideas  l  1922 University Avenue  l  Madison, WI  53726  l  608.263.1692

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WFOP Coming Attractions

Here’s news of upcoming events for the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets:

MON, JAN 12, the WFOP Poetry Series moves to its new home at Copper Rock Café, 210 W. College Ave, Appleton.  We invite you to arrive by 6:45 or earlier to get refreshments and sign up for the open reading, with the featured readers beginning promptly at 7, followed by an open reading.  First up:  Thomas J. Erickson and C. Kubasta.  

Thomas J. Erickson grew up in Kohler, Wisconsin.  He received a BA from Beloit College in English Composition and a law degree from Marquette University.  His poems have appeared in numerous publications including The Los Angeles Review, Quiddity International Literary Review, Mad Poet’s Review, The New Poet, and Slant. , His chapbook, “The Lawyer Who Died in the Courthouse Bathroom” (Parallel Press, 2013) was awarded second place in the 2014 Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Chapbook Contest.    He is an attorney in Milwaukee where he is a member of the Hartford Avenue Poets.

C. Kubasta attended Wells College and received an MFA in poetry from The University of Notre Dame.  Her work experiments with hybrid forms, excerpted text, and shifting voices. A Lovely Boxwas published by Finishing Line Press in 2013 and won the 2014 Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Chapbook Prize. Her poems and translations have appeared in numerous journals, including So To Speak, Stand, The Spoon River Poetry Review, Verse Wisconsin, and The Notre Dame Review. Check out her website: http://ckkubasta60.wix.com/ckubasta She currently teaches English and Gender Studies at Marian University, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She lives with her beloved John, cat Cliff, and dog Ursula.

For more information, contact Sarah Gilbert at pses@sbcglobal.net.

​ON DECK at COPPER ROCK:

Feb 16: Andrew McSorley, Melissa Hope Range, Charles Austin Segrest

Mar 16: Richard Swanson and Timothy Walsh

Apr 20: Lawrence University Students

ADDITIONAL READINGS

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TUES, JAN 6 at ​ 7 p.m.:  ​The Foot of the Lake Poetry Collective in partnership with Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts  presents the FAVORITE POEM PROJECT:  local “celebs” and the audience are invited up to read a poem from a favorite poet (not one of their own).  Check outhttp://www.favoritepoem.org/! THELMA, 51 Sheboygan Street, Fond du Lac, WI.  The event is free. Refreshments are available.

WED, JAN 14 at 7:00 P.M. DAVID CLOWERS, 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.

 THURS., JAN 27, DAVID CLOWERS at CARAMEL CRISP, 200 E City Center, Oshkosh at 6:15pm: We are now reading in the game room beyond the cafe portion of the building. Pick up your edibles, walk on back.  You’ll take a little jog to the left and keep on til you see us. It is not far. The section is cozy and much quieter so we may all hear better. So come early to treat yourself to coffee, dessert or other goodies to enjoy during the 6:15 reading. Tom ​is the ​author of In This Place: Selected Poems 1982-2013, read.  An open mic will follow where participants may read a poem of their own or one that they love.

​ So please come early and treat yourself to coffee, dessert or other goodies to enjoy during the reading which begins promptly at 6:15.  This will allow us time for a few minutes of visiting before Caramel Crisp closes at 7:30. Looking forward to seeing you at the beginning of another wonderful year of POETRY in Oshkosh.

Last Thursdays, 6-8 pm:

​Featured Reader(s) + Open mic at ​The Readers Loft | 2069 Central Ct, Suite 44, Green Bay, WI 54311 | (920) 406-0200 | www.readersloft.com

JANUARY 29  Estella Lauter
FEBRUARY 26  Sarah Gilbert, Mark Falcone
MARCH 26  Bobbie Lovell, F.J. Bergman
APRIL 30 Phil Hansotia, Wendy Schmidt
MAY 28  Tim Walsh, Kathryn Gahl
JUNE 25  Abraham Smith
JULY 30  Ching-In Chen
AUGUST 27  Bruce Dethlefsen, Cathryn Cofell, Karla Huston
SEPTEMBER 24  Marilyn Windau, Georgia Ressmeyer

OCTOBER 29  Steve Tomasko, Jeanie Tomasko, CX Dillhunt

WORKSHOPS & CONFERENCES

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 WED, JAN 7 6-8 P.M. CREATIVE WRITERS’ WORKSHOP, Kress Family Branch Library, 333 N. Broadway, De Pere.  A monthly group gathering of adult writers seeking networking and support.  Bring poems or short prose to read along with copies for critique. 

DEADLINES & SUBMISSIONS

VISIT THE WFOP WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT MULTIPLE CONTESTS with differing deadlines, including the 2014 Chapbook Prize, and the 65th Anniversary Contest.  wfop.org

​January 31 deadline for the Council for Wisconsin Writers Awards!  Visit http://www.wiswriters.org/awards.htm for more information.