N125
Connections In Contemporary Poetry
Writers: Ed Werstein, Mary Catherine Harper, Elizabeth Hoover
Moderator: Margaret Rozga
Contemporary poetry brings with it a variety of expressions and topics. These three poets give examples of what it means to be a poet in our modern day.
Mary Catherine Harper, an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award winner and two-time recipient of the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize, was selected as the 2019 Ohio Arts Council Poetry Resident at the Fine Arts Work Center of Cape Cod. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals, and her chapbook, Some Gods Don’t Need Saints, (Finishing Line Press 2016) is available at Amazon.com. She co-organizes the yearly SwampFire Retreat (swampfire.org) for artists and writers. Her 2022 collection, The Found Object Imagines a Life: New and Selected Poems, is available at Cornerstone Press. See marycatherineharper.org for more information.
Elizabeth Hoover is the author of The Archive Is All in Present Tense, winner of the 2021 Barrow Street Book Prize. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in the North American Review, the Kenyon Review, and StoryQuarterly. She teaches in the English Department at Webster University in St. Louis.
Ed Werstein is a Regional VP of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. In 2018 he received the Lorine Niedecker Prize from the Council for Wisconsin Writers (judged by Nickole Brown). Ed’s first book of poetry, “Who Are We Then?” (Partisan Press, 2009), was published in 2009 at the age of 60 after almost 40 years in manufacturing and union activity. “Communique: Poems From the Headlines” (Water’s Edge Press, 2021) is the latest of his four books. A 2019 chapbook of poems about his childhood, “Benediction & Baseball” (Fireweed, 2018), won prizes from the WFOP and from America’s Bookfest. More at edwerstein.com.
N127
Women: The Power To Be
Writers: Linda Benjamin, Alice Kehoe
Moderator: Michelle Du Bord
Author Alice Kehoe tackled the male-dominated world of archeology. Author Linda Benjamin faced being alone and independent in her later years and now encourages other women to face aging head-on. Both of these writers talks about what it means to be women during difficult times and facing difficult expectations.
Linda Benjamin, LCSW, has been a clinical social worker for over thirty years. She was Supervisor of Program Development at WNET/Thirteen in New York. She hosted a live self-help radio program in New York City; wrote and aired her humorous radio segments Psychobabble, on Milwaukee’s NPR. She has published articles in The New York Times, Chicago Woman, and The Woman’s Newspaper of Princeton.
Alice Kehoe is an archaeologist who struggled for years to be accepted as a professional, although a woman. Her memoir, Girl Archaeologist: Sisterhood in a Sexist Profession, describes her childhood under a patriarchal father who disapproved of college for women, the heaven of a women’s college strongly supporting students’ intellectual pursuits, then the contrasting “benign neglect” of Harvard’s graduate program toward women. Marrying a fellow archaeologist enabled Kehoe to carry out fieldwork, until his ill-managed diabetes curtailed his fieldwork and hers as well. Teaching at Marquette University, she was underpaid and without support for teaching or research, but managed to travel and carry out research in a variety of countries, and to publish textbooks and research results, and many scholarly papers.
N129
The Best Children’s Books
Peter Blenski, Abbi Bussen, Caitlin Schaffer, Alyssa Pisarski, Jenny Weggener
Local librarians come together in a discussion about the best children’s books available for children today. Parents, prepare to take notes!
N130
Retired? Who’s Retired?
Writers: Mary Ann Noe, Nancy Jorgensen, Barb Geiger, Nona Schrader, Kathryn Randall
Moderator: Kathie Giorgio
Retirement means sleeping late, putting your feet up in a recliner, maybe trying a new hobby or two, right? Not for these writers! All five of these retired teachers left the classroom and took up the pen, not only writing books, but getting them published. Prepare for a lively discussion on what retirement really means when you’re ready to jump feet first into your best life!
Barb Geiger spent her teaching career in Two Rivers and Waukesha, Wisconsin, surrounded by young children and wonderful books. Now retired, Barb attends AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop, pursuing her own dream of writing. Her first book, Paddle for a Purpose (eLectio Publishing, 2018), won First Place in the memoir category of the 2019 PenCraft Awards for Literary Excellence. Barb’s poetry and creative nonfiction have been accepted into the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poet’s 2021 Calendar and numerous Pure Slush anthologies. Her poem collection, Mississippi Meanderings, was awarded first place in the 2021 NaMoWriMo Poetry Chapbook Contest and is awaiting publication by Local Gems Press. Barb lives in Waukesha, Wisconsin, with her husband, Gene, and their chinchilla, Raji. She enjoys spending time bicycling, kayaking, reading, traveling and volunteering for a variety of organizations.
Nancy Jorgensen wrote the 2019 memoir Go, Gwen, Go: A Family’s Journey to Olympic Gold and the 2022 biography Gwen Jorgensen: USA’s First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete. Both were co-authored with daughter Elizabeth Jorgensen and published by Meyer & Meyer Sport. A high school choir director for many years, Nancy is the author of two music education books, Things They Never Taught You in Choral Methods and From The Trenches: Real Insights from Real Choral Educators. Her essays and creative nonfiction appear in Ruminate, Prime Number Magazine, River Teeth, Wisconsin Public Radio, CHEAP POP, and elsewhere. In her free time, she performs in early music groups and collaborates on the piano with brass and woodwind players. Find out more at NancyJorgensen.weebly.com
Mary Ann Noe has been writing since she could pick up a pencil. However, since then, she publishes short stories, non-fiction, poetry, and the novels To Know Her (Black Rose Writing, 2021), A Handful of Pearls (Black Rose Writing, 2022), and Hannah’s Eyes (coming 2023). Her non-fiction essay “From Spa to Topless Beach” appears in Months to Years, and another, “Out of the Blue,” appears in the anthology Dumped: Stories of Women Unfriending Women. Her poetry is in numerous online and print magazines, as well as in the anthology Lifespan: Vol. 1 Birth, Vol. 2 Friendship, Vol. 4 Love, and Vol. 5 Work. Along the line, she taught high school English and psychology, but is now retired and happily communing with nature in Wisconsin.
Kathy Randall, for many years, creatively brought science to life for her middle school students. In retirement, she spends her days weaving real science into magical adventures. She hopes to inspire young people’s curiosity about our natural world as well as a passion to protect it. When not writing, she can be found exploring the outdoors. Her debut novel, The Listening Tree, was published in October 2021. Visit her at www.kathrynrandall.com
Nona Schrader grew up in Wyoming next to the Wind River Mountains, which fostered her love of our planet. After completing her B.A. and M.A. in English at the University of Wyoming, Nona moved to Wisconsin to teach. She retired three years ago and now enjoys writing her novel series. Published in March by All Things That Matter Press, Aqua, the first novel in the series, is a young adult environmental fantasy. Nona wrote this novel to inspire all humans to save pure water on our planet. Because Wyoming contains the headwaters of four major river basins in the western United States, it’s the perfect setting to discuss issues around water.
N133
Foxconned – Discussion
Panelists: Lawrence Tabak, Margaret Hankenson, Tim Dunn, Dylan Bennett
Moderator: Jonathan Kasparek
After providing a stellar keynote event on Friday, Author Lawrence Tabak continues the discussion of Foxcon with several learned professors of political science and philosophy.
Lawrence Tabak attended Northwestern University and the University of Iowa, from which he holds BA and MA degrees. His essays and articles have appeared in numerous publications including Salon, themillions, Fast Company, The Atlantic Monthly and The New York Times. His novel In Real Life was published in 2014 and his lastest book, Foxconned, an exposé on economic development as seen through the Foxconn in Wisconsin fiasco, was published in 2021 by the University of Chicago Press. It received the best nonfiction book of the year award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers. A paperback edition from the University of Chicago Press will be available fall 2022.
Dylan Bennett teaches political science at UWM’s College of General Studies with an emphasis on world politics including comparative political economy.
Tim Dunn is an associate professor of philosophy. His research interests include ethics, applied ethics, political philosophy, and the intersection of philosophy and popular culture. He is the co-author of a book on popular culture’s treatment of issues involving work-life balance. Most recently he submitted a paper for publication in a volume of papers on The Godfather and Philosophy.
Margaret Hankenson is an Associate Professor of Political Science at UWM at Waukesha. She teaches courses in Civil Liberties, American Government, Criminal Justice, and Public Policy. Her research interests are in media coverage of the presidency. She lives in the Riverwest neighborhood in Milwaukee with her husband and two poodles.
N140
AllWriters’ Workshop
Pushing Boundaries: Relationships & Emotion In Fantasy
Writers: Ross Hightower, Carrie Newberry, J.R. Konkol
Moderator: Michael Giorgio
Writing fantasy is all about the creatures, right? Dwarves, elves, witches, shapeshifters…creatures of imagination and legend. But there’s more human here than meets the eye. Listen as fantasy writers discuss how they create relationships and inject emotion into their characters.
Ross Hightower, after spending most of his life in the south, somehow found himself living in Milwaukee and loving it. One cold, snowy morning, not too long ago, he woke with a story stuck in his head. That wasn’t unusual, but what happened next was unprecedented. He wrote it down. That small story grew into his first novel, Spirit Sight. Now, with his second novel, Argren Blue, due next May, you might wonder why it took him so long to find his calling in life. He’s just grateful he has.
Jeff Konkol is a classical pianist and marginal triathlete, and is permitted to live in the sprawling home of four very large cats. He published his first table top RPG, Of gods and Men, in the early 90s, and has been running games within that setting ever since. He recently returned to writing with the hope of sharing those stories with a wider audience. His series, Rebirth of the Fallen, includes three novels, Citadel of the Fallen, Gathering of the Fallen, and The Flight of the Fallen. Book 4, The Crumbling City, will be released in December 2022.
Carrie Newberry fell in love with writing fantasy fifteen years ago, when a shape-shifter named Kellan took up residence in her brain. She is the author of the Eternal Spring, Invisible Forest series. Wolf is a Four-Letter Word, sequel to Pick Your Teeth with My Bones, is her second novel. A Madison dog groomer by day, Carrie is also a member of the faculty at AllWriters’ Workplace and Workshop, an international creative writing studio based in Waukesha, Wisconsin. She lives in Madison with a dog who sings along to the radio and a cat who chirps louder than the birds.
