Council for Wisconsin Writers

Supporting Wisconsin writers from 1964 to 2022

Kathryn Gahl

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CWW Board Member Among Poets Reading at State Book Festival

The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters invites members of the public to join them at the 2015 Wisconsin Book Festival for a reading featuring the Wisconsin People & Ideas 2015 Fiction and Poetry Contest winners. Fiction readers include: Nikki Kallio (Hortonville), Erica Kanesaka Kalnay (Madison), and Kathryn Gahl (Appleton). Poetry readers include Council for Wisconsin Writers board member Lisa Vihos (Sheboygan), Sean Avery (Madison), and Kathleen Dale (Milwaukee).

More information about this event and the Academy’s quarterly magazine, Wisconsin People & Ideas‘s annual writing contests is at www.wisconsinacademy.org/events/wisconsin-people-ideas-2015-fiction-and-poetry-contest-reading#sthash.Nm1AsxSj.dpuf

Information about the Council for Wisconsin Writers’ annual contests, which will be open for entries from Nov. 1-Jan. 31, is at www.wiswriters.org.

The Council for Wisconsin Writers is a non-profit, tax-exempt, membership organization dedicated to promoting local, state, and national awareness of Wisconsin’s great literary heritage and to encourage excellence among today’s Wisconsin writers.

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WI P&I Fiction Winners Announced

Here’s the magazine’s news release:
Congratulations to the Winners of the
Wisconsin People & Ideas 2015 Fiction Contest:

  • “Geography Lesson,” by Nikki Kallio—Hortonville
  • “Duck, Duck, Goose,” by Erika Kanesaka Kalnay—Madison
  • “Stones,” by Kathryn Gahl—Appleon
Winners of the Wisconsin People & Ideas 2015 Fiction Contest receive publication in the magazine and 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 authors will read their stories at the 2015 Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison.
HONORABLE MENTION STORIES AND AUTHORS
“The Confession of Cassius Troy,” by Shaun Melarvie—Sturgeon Bay
“His First Revolution,” by William Lawlor—Stevens Point
“Enough,” by Melaney Poli—Waukesha
“Oh You Kids,” by Jonathan Hakes—Appleton
“Anna’s Quilt,” by Robert Holzman—Wautoma
“The Singing,” by Rheba K. Sanders—Oshkosh
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 fiction contest lead judge is author and poet Nickolas Butler (right). The 2015 contest was coordinated by Jason A. Smith, editor, Wisconsin People & Ideas, and Aaron Fai helped with preliminary judging. The contest received 82 short story 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 fiction contest. Your participation is what has made this contest one of the best showcases for Wisconsin writers for over a dozen years. Look for the first- through third-place short stories to appear in forthcoming issues ofWisconsin People & Ideas, beginning with the spring/summer double issue this July. Congratulations to all our winners and honorable mention authors—and keep on writing!

Wisconsin People & Ideas thanks lead and preliminary judges for volunteering their time and

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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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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

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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

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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.

 

 

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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

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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

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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.

 

 

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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