Council for Wisconsin Writers

Supporting Wisconsin writers from 1964 to 2022

ESTELLA LAUTER

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Want Poetry? WFOP Delivers

News from Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets:

APR 15 at  6:30 p.m. CATHRYN COFELL & CHUCK RYBAK, The Kress Family Library, 333 N. Broadway, DePere. Celebrate National Poetry Month with a reading and audience Q&A.  Cathryn is the author of Sister Satellite (Cowfeather Press) and six chapbooks.  Chuck is a UW-Green Bay Associate Professor of English and the author of war </war> and Tongue and Groove, both published by Main Street Rag. For more information call 920-448-4407.

APR 14, ​7 pm, STUDENT INVITATIONAL:  The Foot of the Lake Poetry Collective in partnership with Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts presents a reading by area university students.  The reading begins at 7 p.m. with an open-mic following the featured readers. The event is free and refreshments are available. THELMA, 51 Sheboygan Street, Fond du Lac, WI.  For more information call 920-921-5410 or email marywehner@charter.net.

​APR 20, 6:45 pm,​ ​LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY STUDENT INVITATIONAL, featured at the WFOP Poetry Series at Copper Rock Café, 210 W. College Ave, Appleton. Plan to arrive by 6:45 or earlier to get refreshments and sign up for the open reading, with the reading beginning promptly at 7.  For more information contact Sarah Gilbert at  pses@sbcglobal.net.

APR 24 ​Wine & Words Happy Hour, 4-5 pm​ at the Captain’s Walk Winery, 345 S. Adams Street, Green Bay: A unique event for the month of April in historic downtown Green Bay. Sample Captain’s Walk Winery’s New World wines in an Old World setting while enjoying the  spoken word poetry of Nathan J Reid, poet, actor and singer from Madison., Wisconsin. www.nathanj.reid.com
APR 24, ​Bay Area Spoken Word Event, 7-8 pm ​at Barnes & Noble, 2498 S. Oneida Street, Green Bay: targets​ a younger adult audience looking for self-expression. Featuring Nathan J. Reid performing his spoken word poetry. Nathan will also demo and share his experiences with slam poetry, one of the most vital movements in poetry today. The event is open to whatever level of participation is comfortable for the audience.

APR 26, 10​:00 am​​, ​UUFDC celebrates National Poetry Month at its service. Twelve Door County poets will read new poems they’ve written on the topic “Voices From The Earth.” All are welcome.

APR 28,  ESTELLA LAUTER at CARAMEL CRISP, 200 E City Center, Oshkosh at 6:15pm: In the game room beyond the cafe portion of the building. Pick up your edibles, walk on back til you see us. The section is cozy and much quieter! So come early to treat yourself to coffee, dessert or other goodies to enjoy during the 6:15 reading.  Estella Lauter is Professor Emerita at UW-Oshkosh. Her first chapbook, Pressing a Life Together By Hand (2007), appeared in the New Women’s Voices series from Finishing Line Press, and was nominated for two Pushcart prizes.  For more info, contact mandiisaacson@gmail.com

APR 30, 6-8 PM, PHIL HANSOTIA & WENDY SCHMIDT, Featured Reader(s) + Open mic at The Readers Loft | 2069 Central Ct, Suite 44, Green Bay.  Phil Hansotia is a retired physician who moved to Ellison Bay in Door County from Marshfield, Wisconsin, in 2004. He is a member of the Wallace Poetry Group and an active member of the WFOP and has published widely. Wendy L. Schmidt has been published in Daily Flash, Haunted Object, No Rest for the Wicked, Verse Wisconsin, Chicago Literati, City Lake Poets, Brawler, Rebelle Society, Autumn Magic and many more. She has two blogs filled with poetry and fun photos entitled, She’s Got A Short Fuse and Bumpy Night Publications. She is also last year’s winner of the Reedsburg Farm/Art Passwords Contest.  For more info:  torigw@twc.com or call the Loft at (920) 406-0200 | www.readersloft.com.

THE FOX CITIES BOOK FESTIVAL RETURNS: APRIL 20-26, 2015!  

​This year’s featured poet is the nationally acclaimed JERICHO BROWN!!

Poetry events occur throughout the week, with Saturday, April 25 declared as POETRY DAY! All events are FREE unless otherwise noted.  Check out the brief schedule below, but be sure to visit http://www.foxcitiesbookfestival.org/ for details, ​updates and information on all of the authors:

  • ​Tues, Apr 21: 7:00 pm​, Mill Literary Awards, ​Appleton Public Library
  •  Wed, Apr 22: 5:30 pm, ​Karla Huston, Why Poetry Matters, ​Neenah Public Library
  • ​Thurs, Apr 23: ​4:30 pm,​ Cynthia Marie Hoffman Reading, ​Lawrence University –Wriston Art Hoffmaster Gallery
  •  ​Fri, ​Apr 24, 2015:​ 4:30 pm​ Fox Cry Review reading with Sarah Gilbert, ​UW-Fox Valley, Room 1346, Menasha​
  •  5:30 pm​, Jericho Brown craft talk, ​UW-Fox Valley, Room 1346, Menasha​
  • 7:00 pm​ Book Festival​ Fundraiser ($20)​:  Doc Al Mehl, The Cowboy Poet, ​OuterEdge Stage, Appleton​
  • ​Sat, Apr 25,​ all events at the Atlas Coffee Mill in Appleton:​
  •  ​10:30 am: Jericho Brown won the American Book Award for his first collection Please. His recently published second collection The New Testament has been called an “encounter [with] devastating genius.” Will hearing Jericho Brown read poetry change your life?  Undoubtedly.
  • ​Noon: ​Kimberly Blaeser makes her first appearance in Appleton as Wisconsin Poet Laureate!
  • ​​1:30 pm: Poets Among Us with Cathryn Cofell, Bill Gillard and Megan Gannon! ​

May 2, 2015, 10 a.m. – 12 noon, 5th Annual “Language of Nature” Poetry Reading and Discussion, Maywood Environmental Park, 3615 Mueller Road, Sheboygan, WI 53083. Free Program.  $1 donation for printed materials appreciated. Led by Maryann Hurtt, Georgia Ressmeyer, and Marilyn Zelke-Windau. We’ll read from our own poetry and encourage you to bring 1-2 nature poems of your own, or favorites by others, to read and discuss. Pre-registration preferred (call Maywood at 920-459-3906 for registration and directions).  After the program, tours of the park will be offered, weather permitting.

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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.

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WFOP News, Readings and Conferences

From Cathryn Cofell, PR Coordinator for Sarah Gilbert, Poetry Reading Series Coordinator (and WFOP Regional VP):

Monday, April 21, 6:30 p.m., Harmony Cafe, Appleton – Paul Scot August and Robert Vaughan

The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets (WFOP) Fox Valley Poetry Series meets at Harmony Café, 233 E. College Ave, Appleton on the third Monday of every month except December (the first Monday). 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.

Poet Paul Scot August is originally from Chicago but has spent the 2nd half of his life now in Wisconsin. He has an MA in Creative Writing from UW-Milwaukee. He is a former poetry editor of The Cream City Review and has been nominated three times for a Pushcart Prize. His poetry has appeared in Mead: the Magazine of Literature & Libations, Lindenwood Review, Louisville Review, South Dakota Review, Tygerburning, Connotation-Press, Midwestern Gothic, Los Angeles Review, Dunes Review, Naugatuck River Review, Passages North and elsewhere. He currently lives in the Milwaukee area with his two children.

Robert Vaughan leads writing roundtables at Redoak Writing in Milwaukee. His writing has appeared in over 400 print and online journals. He was former fiction editor at Thunderclap! and is senior flash fiction editor at JMWW, as well as poetry and fiction editor at  Lost in Thought magazine. Published books include Flash Fiction Fridays, a poetry chapbook called Microtones, and a book of short-form stories called Diptychs, Triptychs, Lipsticks and Dipshits.  Robert’s first full-length collection, Addicts & Basements, was just released by Civil Coping Mechanisms .

READINGS

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MAR 25 DAVID GRAHAM AT APPLEBLOSSOM BOOKS:  The reading takes place at 6:30 pm at Apple Blossom Books, 200 E City Center, Oshkosh.   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.  He is Professor of English at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin. 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.

MAR 28 Making It Speak: Poets and Artists in Cahoots, EBCO ARTWORKS, 1201 Erie Avenue Sheboygan:  Members of the Mead Library Poetry Circle and the Sheboygan Visual Artists will present a unique, secretly collaborative exhibit which is free and open to the public, showcasing poems inspired by art and art inspired by poems.  Refreshments will be served during a reception from 6-10pm. Poems featured in the exhibit will be read beginning at 7:30pm. Most of the 17 participating artists and 16 poets have never met and have not yet seen one another’s response to their art form.  The exhibit may also be viewed March 29-30, April 5-6, and April 12-13 from 10am to 4pm.  Participating poets are Jean Biegun, Gerald Bertsch, Sylvia Cavanaugh, Karl Elder, Kathryn Gahl, Nancy Harrison Durdin, Dawn Hogue, Maryann Hurtt, Mary Kunert, Joanne Lensink, Jodie Liedke, Leighanne Metter-Jensen, Georgia Ressmeyer, Clarke Ross, Lisa Vihos, and Marilyn Zelke-Windau. For further information please contact Marilyn Windau at 920-467-6614 or Georgia Ressmeyer at 920-457-6172.

WED, APR 2, ARTHUR STRINGER AT RIPON COLLEGE: 7:30 PM, North Reading Room of Lane Library. An award-winning poet from West Virginia, Stringer will be presenting work from his most recent collection of poems, Late Breaking, published in 2013 by Salmon Poetry.  His visit is being sponsored by the Ripon College Visiting Writers Series, with assistance from the Schang Family Visiting Writer Fund.  For more information, contact David Graham, Department of English, at 748-8722.

APRIL 7 – 14: FOX CITIES BOOK FESTIVAL!!

This year offers 50 authors and 75 events lined up for your enjoyment, including a great day of Poetry &… (Poetry & Translation, Poetry & Music, Poetry & Art) on Sunday, April 13.  Printed programs available at most venues, including local libraries, UW-Fox Valley, Lawrence University and Atlas Coffee Mill. Follow this link for  an electronic copy of the program or visit http://www.foxcitiesbookfestival.org/ .

TUES, APR 8 STUDENT INVITATIONAL, presented by the Foot of the Lake Poetry Collective:  7:00 p.m. at THELMA Center for the Arts, 51 Sheboygan Street in Fond du Lac.  Council for Wisconsin Writers 2012 prize-winning authors will read from recent work.  This annual event features area college and university students reading their fiction, non-fiction and poetry.  Open mic follows.  Refreshments and good company happening at THELMA.

WED, APR 9 ESTELLA LAUTER, 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.

WORKSHOPS & CONFERENCES

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 WED, APR 2  CREATIVE WRITERS WORKSHOP at the Kress Family Branch Library in De Pere (333 N. Broadway). 6-8 p.m. Bring poems or short prose to read, along with copies for critique.  A group for networking and support.  Contact John with any questions: olski_jp@co.brown.wi.us

WISCONSIN FELLOWSHIP OF POETS’ SPRING CONFERENCE, APR 25-26, RADISSON HOTEL & CONFERENCE CENTER, GREEN BAY:  http://wfop.org/confrncs/vernconf.html

 

 

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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.