Council for Wisconsin Writers

Supporting Wisconsin writers from 1964 to 2022

RedOak Writer's

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Wisconsin Writers Write On!

There’s so much going on with Wisconsin writers and on  the Wisconsin writing scene, it’s hard to keep up with it all.

First, Ann Angel, author of more than half-a-dozen books, most notably the Janis Joplin biography, Rise Up Singing, reports:

There are a few events that might be of interest to southeastern Wisconsin writers.
  On Tuesday, October 7, 6:30 pm, Mary-Liz Shaw, food and book blogger, will be speaking at Mount Mary University about the role of food as ritual and tradition in literature. That’s free and open to the public.
  On Wednesday, October 8 at 7 pm, I’ll be at the New Berlin Public Library to talk about loving Janis Joplin, writing her biography, and consulting on the Janis Joplin Forever stamp. This is also free.
  On Saturday, November 15, Mount Mary University and RedOak Writers will co-sponsor a daylong Publishing Institute. The keynote speaker is novelist Brett Anthony Johnston who is also the director of creative writing at Harvard University. Participants can work with writers, agents and an editor throughout the day. There is a fee for this event. Critiques are available for an extra fee. You can register by going to this link – http://www.mtmary.edu/news-events/events/publishing-institute.html
Janet Halfmann announced today that one of her most recent books, Animal Teachers  — with Janet’s constant stream of new titles, I’ve lost track of whether this is her absolute most recent — has won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio’s national 2014 Gold Best Book Award, based on a book’s quality, age-appropriateness, and value to its intended audience. The book was reviewed by educators, parents, and kids.
And here’s a Wisconsin Historical Society Press news release about what appears to be a most unusual and fascinating memoir:
Memoir Shares Menominee Indian’s Coming of Age Story 

Ninety-year-old Raymond Kaquatosh was born in 1924 on Wisconsin’s Menominee Reservation. In his Wisconsin Historical Society Press memoir Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf, Kaquatosh tells the stories of his reservation boyhood, Indian boarding school days, and military service and shares how the lessons he learned from a wolf he had befriended as a boy guided him along the way.

Kaquatosh, also known as “Little Hawk,” was the son of a medicine woman. He spent a Depression-era boyhood immersed in the beauty of the natural world and the traditions of his tribe and family. When he was eight, Kaquatosh’s father died, and the tough times that followed forced “Little Hawk” to an Indian boarding school in Keshena. There he experienced isolation and despair, but also comfort and kindness. Upon his return home, Kaquatosh remained a lonely boy in a full house until he met and befriended a timber wolf. The unusual bond they formed would last through both their lifetimes. As Ray grew into a young man, he left the reservation more frequently. Yet whenever he returned – from school and work, from service in the Marines, and finally from postwar Wausau with his future wife – the wolf waited.

This rare first-person narrative of a Menominee Indian’s coming of age, shares a story that is wise and irreverent, often funny, and in the end, deeply moving.

Kaqautosh’s memories are framed with a foreword by Dr. Verna Fowler, president of the College of Menominee Nation, who writes that the memoir is, “must reading for all of us to aid our understanding of other cultures, particularly young American Indians growing up on reservations because it connects them with their elders.”

Midwest Connections PickThis book has also been selected by the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association as a Midwest Connections Pick for the month of November.
An e-book edition of “Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf” is also available.

Media: For a review copy or for more information, please contact Kristin Gilpatrick, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 816 State St., Madison, WI 53706; 608-264-6465; email: kristin.gilpatrick@wisconsinhistory.org.

The Wisconsin Historical Society Press, publishing the best of

Wisconsin history and culture since 1855

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About the Author:
Raymond C. Kaquatosh was born in 1924 in Neopit, Wis. He spent his early years on the Menominee Indian Reservation and at the Menominee Boarding School at Keshena. Ray served in the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II and later attended high schools in Keshena and Wausau, Milwaukee Area Technical College, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the University of Wisconsin Law School. In August 1947, he became one of the first Menominee Indians to earn a pilot’s certificate.

Upcoming Book Events:

Saturday, October 4, 2014 – Book Talk & Signing
Time: 10:30 am

Location: Patterson Memorial Public Library, Wild Rose. Menominee Indian Raymond Kaquatosh, the 90-year-old author of the new Wisconsin Historical Society Press memoir Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf, will share stories of his reservation boyhood, Indian boarding school and military experiences, as well as the life lessons he learned from a lone wolf he befriended as a boy. A book signing will follow.

Thursday, October 23, 2014 – Book Launch Event

Time: 11 a.m.

Location: College of Menominee Nation, Keshena, Wis. College President Dr. Verna Fowler will lead a discussion with Menominee Elder Raymond Kaquatosh, the 90-year-old author of the Wisconsin Historical Society Press memoir Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf. Through the discussion, Kaquatosh will share stories of his reservation boyhood, Indian boarding school, and military experiences, as well as the life lessons he learned from a lone wolf he befriended as a boy. A book signing will follow.

Saturday, November 1, 2014 – Little Hawk: A Conversation

Time: 10 a.m.

Location: Wisconsin Veterans Museum, on the Capitol Square, Madison, Wis. Join a unique discussion between Wisconsin Public Radio host Judith Siers-Poisson, from The Larry Meiller Show, and Menominee Indian Raymond Kaquatosh, the 90-year-old author of a new Wisconsin Historical Society Press memoir Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf. Through the live interview format of the event, Ray will share stories from Kaquatosh’s reservation boyhood, Indian boarding school days, and war experiences in the U.S. Marine Corps. The author will also discuss the life lessons he learned from a lone wolf he befriended as a boy. A book signing will follow at the museum’s gift shop. This event is co-hosted by the Wisconsin Veterans Museum and Wisconsin Public Radio.

To Order:

For retail and wholesale orders: Contact the Chicago Distribution Center at 800-621-2736 Fax: 800-621-8476 Email: custserv@press.uchicago.edu
For individual orders: Order by phone toll free at 888-999-1669, shop online atwww.wisconsinhistory.org/shop, or shop in person at the Wisconsin Historical Museum Shop, 30 N. Carroll St., Madison WI 53703

Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf: A Memoir

By Raymond C. Kaquatosh

Hardcover: $22.95

200 pages, 5 1/2 x 8

ISBN: 978-0-87020-650-4

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June Writing Events

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators member Ann Angel posted the following on the Wisconsin chapter's listserve:
There are a number of June events coming up that might be of interest to writers and illustrators. They each sound so interesting and so I thought I'd put together a roundup. 
The Southeast Wisconsin Book Festival will be June 15-16 at the University of Wisconsin Waukesha. This year's theme is Freedom to Read. I'll be on a panel on censorship on Saturday at 4. But the keynote is Friday night with NYT bestselling author Tawni O’Dell at 6 p.m. Friday, June 15. O’Dell’s remarks will be followed by an interview with Jean Feraca, long-time host of Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Here On Earth.” There will be an SCBWI table and some children's events including a high school essay contest. For more information, you can go to http://www.sewibookfest.com/news/. 
This is also the site and Saturday is the date of a Mystery Writers daylong workshop for folks who might be interested in writing mysteries. 
If you live in Racine, Barnes and Noble will be hosting children's writer/illustrator booksignings on June 16 as part of the Hispanic Business and Professional Association. Lois Ehlert will be signing her illustrated picture books and I'll be there that morning signing copies of Janis Joplin ["Rise Up Singing"]. 
Martha Merrell's Books in Waukesha, which has been a longtime supporter of local writers, will also be hosting a number of outdoor booksignings as part of music on the square events and Guitartown celebrations on Friday evenings. I'll be signing books at 4:30 on June 22 and if there are writers out there who have musically themed children's books, I'd be happy to arrange a group signing. Just email me offlist. 
If you have middle schoolers who love to write, you might be interested in sending them to RedOak Writers' summer writing camps. While the weeklong day camp to be held at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee and the camp at Sharon Wilson Center in Brookfield have waiting lists, there's still room in the camp held at Ten Chimneys. For more information, go to http://redoakyoungwriters.info/ 
JoAnn Macken, our fearless leader, is in the middle of facilitating a graduate student picture book workshop that filled within two weeks, at Mount Mary College. And she's posted on SCBWI about the one day Picture Book Workshop, taught by Liz Garton Scanlon, to be held on July 21. Mount Mary College has graciously opened its campus and rooms to SCBWI members for this event. Here is the link to the registration form: http://www.scbwi.org/Regional-Chapters.aspx?R=51&sec=News&g=931