Council for Wisconsin Writers

Supporting Wisconsin writers from 1964 to 2022

Steve and Jeannie Tomasko

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Harmony Cafe to Close

Here’s not-so-happy news from Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets’ Cathryn Cofell:

“We’ve recently been informed that Goodwill will be closing Harmony Cafe in Appleton (and Green Bay) by the end of this year.  More on the story below if interested:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/money/companies/buzz/2014/11/14/harmony-cafes-to-close-in-appleton-and-green-bay/19008621/

We are working to find a new venue for our reading series but while looking, will use this as an opportunity to survey all of you about your preferences for the future.  Please watch for that survey and take the time to respond.  Thank you for your patience and support as we make this shift.

Meanwhile, two readings remain before the close of the cafe.  Please join us tomorrow to hear Jeffrey & Joan Johannes and read one or two of your own.  We’ve decided to expand the December reading to include a celebration of our many years at Harmony, so hope you can all come out to hear poems read from the WFOP Calendar and share a poem you’ve previously read at Harmony.

Dates & details below.

Cathryn Cofell & Sarah Gilbert

Monday, NOVEMBER 17, 6:30 p.m., Harmony Cafe, Appleton​, 233 E. College Ave, Appleton:

JOAN & JEFFREY JOHANNES — Joan Wiese Johannes’s fourth chapbook, He Thought the Periodic Table Was a Portrait of God, was published last fall by Finishing Line press and includes the 2011 regional winner of the Mississippi Valley Poetry Contest and award winners in contests sponsored by Peninsula Pulse and Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. Her previously published chapbook, Sensible Shoes, was the 2009 winner of the John and Miriam Morris Chapbook contest sponsored by the AL Poetry Society. Joan agrees with the stage manager in Our Town  who said that only poets and saints truly appreciate life while living it.

In 2013 Jeffrey Johannes’s first chapbook, Ritual for Beginning Again, was published, he received a Pushcart nomination, and was an award winner in the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets’ Triad contest. He also won the 2012 Hal Grutzmacher Poetry Award sponsored by Peninsula Pulse, and his poetry has been published in various journals and anthologies. Jeffrey is also an artist and cartoonist, making what he calls “pometoons”, which are cartoon versions of his poems.

Featured reader(s) at 6:30 pm, brief open mic after.

​ON DECK AT HARMONY:

​Monday, ​Dec 1​, 6:30 pm, 2015 WFOP Calendar reading with editors Steve and Jeannie Tomasko – bring a poem from the calendar, yours or one you love​ AND Farewell to Harmony Cafe Reading Series – ​bring a poem you’ve heard or shared and help us bid Harmony adieu.

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WFOP News

TUES, NOV 4 at ​ 7 p.m.:  ​The Foot of the Lake Poetry Collective in partnership with Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts will present HYBRID: Transported by Word & Image at THELMA, 51 Sheboygan Street, Fond du Lac, WI. Photographer and artist Thomas Ferrella and poet Sara Parrell collaborate to bring the poems of 43 Wisconsin poets and Ferrella’s images to the page. 

Supported by a city of Madison Blink Grant to support public art, this project went live on May 1 in 39 Green Cab of Madison taxis. HYBRID’s poetry creates a powerful story of human resiliency and connection. In addition to the 10 x 13 laminated single pages in each of the cabs, a folio of the entire collection was created and can be purchased.  Ferrella and Parrell will talk about the making of the Green Cab project. Sara Parrell, Paula Sergi, Mary Wehner and Cathryn Cofell,who are included in the project, will read their and other poems.  THELMA will also exhibit the broadsides of photography and matching poems featured in the project.The event is free. Refreshments are available.  An open-mic follows the featured reader.

WED, NOV 12, 7:00 P.M. LORAINE BRINK, 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.

Monday, NOVEMBER 17, 6:30 p.m., Harmony Cafe, Appleton:  JOAN & JEFFREY JOHANNES

Joan Wiese Johannes’s fourth chapbook, He Thought the Periodic Table Was a Portrait of God, was published last fall by Finishing Line press and includes the 2011 regional winner of the Mississippi Valley Poetry Contest and award winners in contests sponsored by Peninsula Pulse and Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. Her previously published chapbook, Sensible Shoes, was the 2009 winner of the John and Miriam Morris Chapbook contest sponsored by the AL Poetry Society. Joan agrees with the stage manager in Our Town  who said that only poets and saints truly appreciate life while living it.

In 2013 Jeffrey Johannes’s first chapbook, Ritual for Beginning Again, was published, he received a Pushcart nomination, and was an award winner in the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets’ Triad contest. He also won the 2012 Hal Grutzmacher Poetry Award sponsored by Peninsula Pulse, and his poetry has been published in various journals and anthologies. Jeffrey is also an artist and cartoonist, making what he calls “pometoons”, which are cartoon versions of his poems.

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. NOTE THAT DECEMBER AND JANUARY ARE EXCEPTION 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:

Dec 1, 2015 WFOP Calendar reading with editors Steve and Jeannie Tomasko

Jan 12, Tom Erickson and Christina Kubasta

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

Mar 16, Lawrence Student Invitational

TUES, NOV 25, PAULA SERGI at the 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.  The section is cozy and much quieter.  Paula Sergi enjoyed a career in public health nursing before obtaining an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College. She is the author of three poetry chapbooks and co-editor of three anthologies. She has spent ten years with the Foot of the Lake Poetry Collective to bring a reading series to Fond du Lac.

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

WORKSHOPS & CONFERENCES

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WED, NOV 5 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. 

NOV 6 & 7:  THE GREAT LAKES WRITERS FESTIVAL AT LAKELAND COLLEGE!  Featured writers Karla Huston and David Jauss.  FREE and open to the public.  Visithttp://greatlakeswritersfestival.org/

DEADLINES & SUBMISSIONS

December 15 deadline for the 2016 Wisconsin Poets Calendar!  Visit wfop.org for more information.

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