“Kissing and Murder”: Tasha Coryell discusses debut novel At L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library

Tasha Coryell in conversation w/ BJ Hollars.

Credit: Julian Emerson

Jayson Coleman

On a warm Thursday evening, dozens of Eau Claire area residents stayed inside to take in the ruminations of a woman in love with a murderer.

Well, in a fictional sense.

On May 1, 2025 at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Library, St. Paul-based author Tasha Coryell discussed her debut novel Love Letters to a Serial Killer. While snacks, drinks, and book signings were all provided, the headline of the event was Coryell herself, who read an excerpt from her novel and answered questions about the book, its origins, inspirations, and path to publication.

While Coryell has already published a short story collection and has written many full-length novels on her computer, Love Letters to a Serial Killer is her first published novel. The book follows Hannah Wilson, a lonely true crime fanatic who immerses herself in forums about murder cases. One day, she comes across the case of William Thompson, a handsome lawyer. Learning about the crimes he’s committed, along with her own personal frustrations with life, inspires Hannah to write him “a series of angry letters”, and she is shocked when William responds back. As William’s letters make Hannah feel understood for the first time, she faces the dilemma of whether to pursue him. He could be her next partner, but she would also risk being his next victim.

Coryell said she would recommend the book to anyone who enjoys reading romance novels and/or thrillers, with the book appealing to her own personal taste of “books about kissing and murder.” In Love Letters to a Serial Killer, however, Coryell takes this mix of genres and adds a humorous edge.

“ I was like, ‘What would happen if a woman fell in love with a serial killer and he turned out to be boring?’ That was the root of the book.””

— Tasha Coryell

 “I was really interested in women who fell in love with serial killers,” Coryell said when sharing her inspiration for the novel, “and I started pondering. I was like, ‘what would happen if a woman fell in love with a serial killer and he turned out to be boring?’ That was the root of the book.”

The novel’s strong humor and storytelling, however, make it an engaging read or listen for anyone, even if romances and thrillers aren’t their preferred genres.

“This was my first time being able to hear what the book was about, and I thought it was really fun,” said Sara Hefty, a frequent attendee of Writers Guild events. “Usually crime novels aren’t my thing, so it got my attention. I also really loved what she shared about this being an outlet to navigate all the chaos that we’re going through right now. Originally, I picked this up for my sister-in-law, but I’m like, ‘oh, maybe I’ll get two copies!’”

While Love Letters to a Serial Killer is largely focused on comedy, Hefty also said she was interested in the social commentary that the novel’s concept provides.

 “What I thought was really interesting in the book was the woman’s point of view,” Hefty said, “listening to it from a systematic violence perspective, and then obviously the serial killer is right there. I thought it was really telling of our society how she was describing [Hannah’s] dating, how she was describing her jobs, how she was describing the life that women live and what led her to start dating the serial killer in the first place.”

While Love Letters to a Serial Killer was the focus of the event, Coryell also took some time to discuss her second novel, Matchmaking for a Psychopath, which will be releasing in July.

“Matchmaking for a Psychopath is about a woman whose fiancé breaks up with her for her best friend,” Coryell said. “She’s a matchmaker, and she finds herself getting really involved with some of her clients. And then all these body parts start showing up at her door and she has to figure out if someone’s out to get her while she’s still trying to win her fiancé back. There’s a whole situation.”

Coryell’s audience left the reading excited to experience more of her book. For Coryell herself, that appreciation was mutual.

“My brother went to Eau Claire for college, so it’s really nice being able to be here,” Coryell said. “I love doing readings in the Midwest. There’s a really great reading and writing community here, so it’s been great to come!”

Click here to learn more and purchase Love Letters to a Serial Killer.

The 12-Hour Writers Retreat: An Intern’s Account

Jayson Coleman

On April 19th, 2025, I attended my first ever writer’s retreat. When I arrived at The Forage in downtown Eau Claire at around nine in the morning, I did not know what to expect. Eleven and a half hours later, when I biked back to my dorm room under the shadow of night, I immediately knew it would not be my last.

I walked into The Forage a few minutes after the event began. Once I found an open seat at one of the four large group tables laid out throughout the space, I was greeted with the retreat’s writer in-residence, Toya Wolfe, giving an energized lecture on starting new projects. At the end of the lecture, we were all given a prompt: imagine a place, any place, an object within that place, then a person, a smell, and a hidden object. Once we had all those, we were instructed to write a scene or story about the world we just created. For many writers at the retreat, the prompt ended up inspiring their day’s work. For me, though, I struggled to imagine a scene knowing I had other projects that I wanted to focus on.

“Since I had never been to a writer’s retreat before this one, I had no idea what I was walking into. ”

— Jayson Coleman

Since I had never been to a writer’s retreat before this one, I had no idea what I was walking into. I had originally thought that almost the entirety of the twelve hours would be spent writing. Because of this, I thought I would easily have the time to get multiple projects done. I wanted to plan out and write the ten-minute play that was due the next week for my playwriting class, work on my novel, and revise a short story. I also thought that much of the retreat would be spent in isolation, with each writer having their own little room to lock themselves inside of. Therefore, I brought not one, not two, but three stuffed animals to keep me company.

Not long into the retreat, though, many of my preconceptions were proven wrong. First, only about a third of the day was devoted to writing. Toya Wolfe, in her opening lectures, told us to only focus on one project and focus on the most difficult one. Since I always find starting a piece to be the most difficult part of writing, I chose to devote my time to writing the play. Second, we did not have our own little rooms, the entire day would be spent in the same communal space. We did have the opportunity to sign up for one-on-one chats with either Toya or retreat host BJ Hollars, but since I didn’t have to pay to be at the retreat, I decided to let the other writers fill the schedule first. Needless to say, one stuffed animal was more than enough. Third, the food that The Forage provided was astounding! The blueberry muffin that I had during the first freewriting session, the chicken lentil soup offered during lunch, and the chocolate chip cookies provided during dinner were the culinary highlights, but everything offered was delicious!

Put simply, the writer’s retreat felt like a glorified creative writing workshop, similar to those I’m used to at college. I still get to hear others’ feedback and read what I wrote, but there’s also dedicated freewriting time, free food, and opportunities to talk one-on-one with experienced writers. Therefore, while the writer’s retreat resembled experiences I’ve grown very familiar with, that didn’t detract from its benefits for the other writers in attendance.

“Right now, I’m probably writing maybe once every two weeks,” said David Fields, a former newspaper reporter who describes himself as “semi-retired”. “I’ll never get anything done at that pace. So here we’re focused to write.”

In fact, Fields noted that one of his favorite things about the writer’s retreat was how it differentiated from the creative writing workshops I’m used to.

“It’s like being in college without the testing and without the assessment You can enjoy the learning without the stress of knowing whether you get an A or a D.”

— Dave Fields

“It’s like being in college without the testing and without the assessment,” Fields said. “You can enjoy the learning without the stress of knowing whether you get an A or a D. It’s relaxing, and with very few demands.”

Colleen McCluskey, a former UWEC grad student and returning attendee of the writer’s retreat, also valued the retreat’s workshop aspect and the people it allowed her to work with.

“I didn’t get a chance to do a one-on-one with Toya,” McCluskey said, “but I did get a chance to do one with BJ. Hearing feedback from other people who have, I wouldn’t say ‘cracked the code’, but have been successful multiple times, it inspires me because there’s only so much you can do on your own. You need other people to look at your work, or else it gets stagnant.”

As for me, by day’s end I’d completed the first two scenes of my ten-minute play, and hearing positive reactions to what I shared of it during workshop had me excited for the final events of the evening. After a delicious taco bar dinner at one big table and manually shifting the room’s layout multiple times, we were finally prepared for the night’s climax… the participant’s reading!

At the participant’s reading, I had the pleasure of hearing each of my peers read what they had devoted their entire day to. I heard people read poetry, emotional memoirs, skin-crawling horror, and seemingly everything in between, all of it incredibly well-written! And, of course, for the first time in the history of a CVWG writer’s retreat, I got to have a scene of my play read out! It was a highlight of my day, calling up two of my fellow unsuspecting writers to read out a role and listening to the supportive audience laugh alongside me. While I had scheduled myself to read early during the show in case I wanted to bike back home before sunset, I knew early on that I wanted to stay for everyone’s reading, and I’m glad that I did!

Overall, the day I spent at the Forage among my fellow writers was incredible! I knew I didn’t have as full of an experience as I could’ve had, missing out on the one-on-ones as well as the alcohol, but that only inspires me to return more! While I am grateful for the time I got to sit down and focus on writing, the entertainment provided by the final reading, and the wonderful food, the highlight of the retreat for me was the people I got to meet and the community I got to be a part of. While being among mostly new faces for the first time did leave me quite anxious, I left The Forage that night with a few extra friends as well as the experiences and interactions I’d been hoping for since I began my internship. Returning to the next 12-Hour Writer’s Retreat would let me reconnect with these now familiar faces, strengthen the friendships I built (while creating a few more), and continue finding my place within the Chippewa Valley writing community.

“It’s a super positive environment, and it’s added a spark to my semi-retirement,” Fields said. “Whether I ever accomplish anything with this, it’s just nice being around all these other creative spirits.”

Writing with Trans-parency: Andrew Patrie on “Clumsy Love”

By Jayson Coleman

If you ask Andrew Patrie about how he is as a parent, he’ll be the first to tell you that he’s nothing special. But, balancing parenting and all its surprises with teaching and writing is already a lot, and that’s before you let your child, in his words, “lead the dance.”

I had the opportunity to interview Patrie ahead of the release of his newest book, Clumsy Love. Clumsy Love is Patrie’s first memoir, and it follows Patrie’s story as a father raising his transgender daughter, Simone, discussing the challenges of parenting but also the discoveries he’s made about himself, his daughter, and their relationship as a family. Through his own experiences, Patrie shows that showing undying love can come with plenty of mistakes which, while especially true of someone navigating through his child coming out, is a notion that can be applicable to any parent.

Jayson Coleman: What is Clumsy Love and what is it about?

Andrew Patrie: It’s a story about raising our transgender daughter. It begins in what would be the “present tense” of the book which is us travelling to Madison to consult about these puberty blockers, and the book ends, then, with us going back 18 months later to get the blockers put in. In between, then, it’s the story about her birth and what childhood was like. I have her permission to use her dead name, so the chunk of the book that’s set in the past, she is referred to as our son, so I wanted the reader to have that experience too of when there’s that shift when she goes through the name change. As we were struggling with all that, getting the pronouns straight, it’s like the reader would go through that in a similar way. It’s not really trying to tell her story, though, obviously she’s a character in the book, but the book’s about things that she allowed me to know. I want her to be able to tell her own story, and I hope she will.

JC: You’ve written lots of pieces for Volume One as well as a few poetry collections. How does Clumsy Love differ from those other things you’ve written?

“I’ve never done anything like this before, on this sort of scale, and the part that was daunting for me was that I didn’t know how to approach doing this.”

— Andy Patrie

AP: I’ve never done anything like this before, on this sort of scale, and the part that was daunting for me was that I didn’t know how to approach doing this. Do you just start on page 1 and go until you’re done? And I learned that, no, you can do it in pieces. And then some of the fun is trying to find out how all these pieces fit. I learned a lot through this process, which was so different from just sitting down and writing for a couple hours to work on a poem idea. I showed up each week focusing on one memory, when that week was up, I was on to the next memory, so there wasn’t any time to go back or obsess over what I’d written. I got to have a narrative that makes sense for a reader. And so thinking about it that way, because I think I had tried to put things together chronologically, and BJ was the one who said ‘the reader doesn’t need to know your timeline, so if it makes sense, maybe break some of this up.’ That was, for me, also kind of a new thing, learning that you’re not being deceitful. It’s still the true story that these moments happened, but I put them out of order because it makes more sense on the page.

JC: What inspired you to tell this story? Were there any specific moments or experiences where you knew you had to get this story down on paper?

AP: I was at a writing retreat about writing for radio, where I was gonna write a short prose piece. I had a bunch of ideas, and one of them was this image I had of us at a hotel pool. Simone is in this bathing suit and gets into the water with these other girls. And this is a little bit after the name changing ceremony and her hair had been growing out, so it felt like a test to see if she’s going to be accepted or not. They were awkward at first, but then eventually they were playing together. And I just remember this image of where one girl made sort of a swing with her hands and invited Simone into it. That story ended up getting on Wisconsin Public Radio, and there was some good reaction to that, which was nice. And then I wrote a couple other pieces, one about Simone’s ninth birthday party and the third one was about blockers. So I just felt like we were charting these moments in our lives that we weren’t really finding an outlet for or advice for. We were just kind of going through it. And I know it’s not the only book out there about parents with transgender children, but I thought it could be another voice, another bit of light out there.

JC: What added difficulties are there with writing about someone as closely connected to you as your daughter? Or does it make the writing process easier?

AP: I’m pretty comfortable with laying it all out when it comes to myself, but I have a wife who’s not necessarily that comfortable. And of course, there was a lot of concern about how Simone would react to this. She knew I was writing this book and that I was gonna use the dead name, so she heard little bits and pieces, but it wasn’t until last summer that she read it finally. She liked it and gave me her blessing. And it was interesting because I said, “what’s your favorite part?” And she said, “oh, the bar scene,” the part where I’ve made a poor decision. So, I thought it was hilarious that the part she liked most was a scene that has nothing to do with her. So, she was okay with things. But I’d be lying if I said I still don’t have the concern, given the current social climate, of outing someone. It’s not someone else’s business to do that, even if I am her father. But Simone’s been out since 2016 so I think we’re past that concern. But also, just the oddness of taking people you know, making them characters, but trying to be as truthful as possible while being respectful of what’s being shared. I wanted to be honest, but also protective of Simone.

JC: Clumsy Love is about a very personal but also thought-provoking topic. Did you learn anything about yourself or your relationship with Simone while writing the memoir?

AP: I can’t say I learned anything about what it’s like to be trans, because I’m not, but in some of the research, it was fascinating to see what the science says about this. There was this study done where they did autopsies on the brains of cisgendered men and woman but also trans men and women, and they found that the brain of a trans woman looked identical to the brain of a cisgender woman. And in terms of my relationship with Simone, I think I was able to suddenly see patterns. She and I have very similar personalities in terms of our reactions to things, and we have a similar sense of humor. My adoption is also brought up, which I originally wasn’t enthused about because I felt it was its own story and I didn’t want to muddy the waters too much, I wanted to stay focused on the parenting. But, as an adopted kid, I talk about feeling a bit estranged from my own parents growing up, and I found out that originally, I was born with a different name. Suddenly, I’m finding all these great connections to Simone’s story. I know they’re not the same, and I’m very careful to point that out in the book, but it made me realize maybe there’s a way to connect and talk to this kid that I hadn’t thought about before. I also started to realize how much having Simone in our lives made me appreciate parenting more, and it made me think more about my parenting.

“I’ve never wavered in my love of Simone, but I’ve not always expressed that love as I should have.”

— Andy Patrie

JC: Why is the book titled “Clumsy Love?”

AP: I’ve never wavered in my love of Simone, but I’ve not always expressed that love as I should have. Or, in my attempts to express that love, it’s kind of come out garbled. I’m a big Three Stooges fan, and in one of their episodes, they talk about “we always get it right the second time.” I started thinking about that with Simone. There was always my first attempt, which oftentimes is awkward and clumsy, and then I can go from there. So, I think that’s where the title felt right, that it has been clumsy. I thought that’s something most parents or readers could relate to, but then adding the element of your kid saying “hey, I’m gay” or “I’m transgender,” it added an extra layer of clumsiness of how to navigate this.

JC: What do you hope a reader would take out of Clumsy Love?

AP: Simone wrote the foreward for the book, so I know what she’s hoping people will take out of it. But I guess my goal with the book always was to just attach a human face to this issue that most people probably know from scrolling social media or whatever talking heads they’re watching on cable news. It’s easy to lose that dimensionality, especially when the issue is oftentimes told in the most extreme version. So, I thought it’d be nice to tell the story of just one family and how they were responding to this. You strip away the politicking and see we’re just people who happen to have a transgender daughter.

JC: In our current social and political climate that is very hostile towards and largely unwilling to understand transgender and gender non-conforming people, what impact do you think this book and your experiences shared within them may have on whoever’s reading it?

AP: A couple summers ago, I got invited to be on an ACLU panel talking about my experience as a teacher with banned books. And as I was leaving, as I was on my way out the door, I heard Simone say something like, “yeah, you go get ‘em straight, white, hetero savior!” which was great, it was the absolute perfect thing I needed to hear. Because I feel like I’m not comfortable being any kind of spokesperson. I’m not a queer person, I’m as straight as they come, straight white guy. But I thought, for better or worse, tonight I’m one of the people they’re getting, and I’ll try to do my best. I’m hoping that, as someone who’s not claiming to be any kind of spokesperson, saying “hey, this is one story,” but that maybe it can connect or resonate with other people in a similar situation. And I feel like maybe that is a political act in the sense that it’s trying to push back on certain narratives that are out there. I just hope it’s a little bit of love. Might be clumsy love, but there’s a little bit more love in the world with the book out there.

Click here to pre-order your copy today.

Community, Confidence, And Cold Refreshments: Rough Draft Reading Series Returns to 2 Roots

Jayson Coleman

The idea of publicly sharing one’s unfinished writing may seem terrifying, but never fear: the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild is here to help local writers overcome that fear in a supportive, communal environment.

The Rough Draft Reading Series will be returning to 2 Roots Art and Wine Gallery on Tuesday, March 25. The upcoming event will be the fourth iteration of the Rough Draft Reading Series- but will feature something new that is bound to please.

In addition to the open mic, writers are invited to come to 2 Roots at 6:15 pm, forty-five minutes before the event’s scheduled start time, to partake in an “informal ‘happy hour.’” This will be an opportunity for writers and literary lovers to engage in fellowship and frivolity before the readings.

Katie Venit, the event’s host, says she hopes the social hour will make writers feel more at ease in what can otherwise be a tense and vulnerable environment.

“Writers tend to be introverts, so we’re especially vulnerable to neglecting our community. But it’s so important. We’re also hoping this [social hour] will help people feel more comfortable signing up to read, so they can see that we’re not so scary.””

— Katie Venit, host

“Writers tend to be introverts,” Venit said, “so we’re especially vulnerable to neglecting our community. But it’s so important. We’re also hoping this [social hour] will help people feel more comfortable signing up to read, so they can see that we’re not so scary.”

Both the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library and the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild have hosted a plethora of events featuring experienced writers coming in and sharing their works. What makes the Rough Draft Reading Series unique is that the “experienced writer” can be anyone who’s in attendance.

 “It’s an open mic for anyone in the community to read what they’re working on,” Venit said. “People often ask if they can read even if they’re not ‘members of the guild,’ which always makes me giggle because we don’t have membership criteria. I mean, the guild is partly run on donations, so yes, please donate if you can. But even if you can’t, just come anyway.”

Any piece of writing at any level can be read at the Rough Draft Reading Series. Venit said that she had heard people read poems and short stories, as well as essays and novel excerpts. She has not yet known of someone bringing in a play or other dramatic reading, but they’re welcome nonetheless.

“We’ve had some of the most experienced writers in the community read, and some new writers read their very first poem,” Venit said. “Everyone gets the same warm response. It’s very supportive. Just please keep your whole reading—including any context you need to give—to five minutes or less so we can fit as many folks in as possible.”

While the wonderful drinks and community of writers are reason enough to attend the Rough Draft Reading Series, as a writer, there’s an unmistakable benefit to hearing thoughts on your work from a perspective other than your own.

“It is so easy to question ourselves as writers,” Venit said. “It is so easy to think we’re no good. I have a few books coming out in the coming years, and I still question everything I write. And I think that’s a fairly universal experience. Having a community can really support ourselves and help us along through the tough times when we doubt ourselves.”

And, even through the fear of public speaking and doubting of our own abilities, there’s something about sharing your work with a group of supportive peers that harkens back to why we write to begin with.

“The thing with writing is, it’s really about connection,” Venit said. “The writer wants to connect to the reader, wants to share their thoughts with the reader. That’s the whole point of writing. And, for me at least, there’s no better way to connect to your reader than though a public reading, when you can gauge how your jokes land, how your audience reacts. It’s magical.”

No advance registration is required to attend the Rough Draft Reading Series. Interested writers can simply walk in, sign up for a slot to read (until all slots are filled), and enjoy an evening of sharing works, meeting friends, and having fun.

Take a Hike, Enjoy a Poem

In the fall of 2024, Kate Felton had an idea: What if poetry and the natural world converged? 

As the owner of Eau Claire Outdoors, Kate has long had an interest in encouraging people of the Chippewa Valley to enjoy the outdoors.  But she realized, too, that “enjoying the outdoors” was hardly limited to the traditional “outdoorsy” activities.  In addition to paddling, biking, climbing and camping, why not add a little poetry into the mix?

“I'm not a very religious person, but I feel most connected to my spirituality when I'm in nature,” Kate says.  “Nature is art, in my eyes. So how natural I thought it was to bring art to nature and vice versa.”

She contacted Guild member and poet Elan Mccalum, and together, the pair hosted the first Poetry Hike at the Town of Union Conservancy on September 28. Poets Max Garland, Amy Fleury, and Elan took their positions in the woods and read to the dozens of poetry and nature lovers in attendance.

 “I started Eau Claire Outdoors to help people explore the edges of their comfort zones, to try new things, to engage with nature more deeply than they ever have,” Kate explains.  And poetry seemed the perfect fit to accomplish all of these goals.

“ “And there were so many people who came! And on top of that, the weather was absolutely gorgeous for late September. It was a spectacular hike.””

— Elan Mccallum

 “And there were so many people who came!” Elan says.  “And on top of that, the weather was absolutely gorgeous for late September. It was a spectacular hike.”

In addition to trying out a new form of literary event in a new space, Elan and Kate were committed to another experiment, too: goodwill donations to pay the poets. 

“I read an article years ago in the Leader-Telegram that seemed to shore up this idea that creatives can't help themselves with creating the art that nourishes and sustains our communities, so they'll do it even if making a living is hard. Which is true in a lot of ways and instances,” Elan says.  “But what I feel was the limitation of that article was that creatives--writers, poets, musicians, artists--should be able to make the art that nourishes and sustains our communities and make a living. I wanted to ensure that whoever agreed to read would be given something to respect their time and craft, and that asking our community to help provide some of that money would bring a greater consciousness of, "Oh, yeah, it makes sense that the poets should get paid.”

And then came the twist: not only did the attendees give generously (over $300), but the poets declined payment and donated the money to the Guild. 

“It's an amazing feeling to belong to a community that not only supports the arts,” Elan says, “but to belong to a creative community that supports other creatives.”

The proceeds from the Poetry Hike will provide one all-expenses-paid scholarship for the next three 12-Hour Retreats.

The next Poetry Hike will take place on May 18 at 6PM at the Town of Union Conservancy and feature poets Elan Mccallum, José Alvergue, David Greschner and Jessi Peterson.  Free will donations for this event can be made online or day-of and will divided among the readers.  Register here!

Celebrating Our Downfalls: “Mistakes Were Made” Coming To The Pablo Center

Jayson Coleman

While many storytelling series like to focus on tales of happiness, success, or resilience, an upcoming event at the Pablo Center will be trying something new—sharing stories of failure, folly, and most of all, mistakes.

“Mistakes Were Made”, coming to the Pablo Center on March 13 at 7PM, will be the second “After Dark” edition of the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild’s “Sound & Stories” series. The “Sound & Stories: After Dark” series features five regional authors sharing stories for mature audiences, with the stories presented in “Mistakes Were Made” being described as “blunders so epic we have no choice but to enshrine them.”

 “As it turns out, people are often quite interested in our screw-ups and darker moments, which makes this theme and this particular storytelling series work,” said Eric Rasmussen, a host and storyteller at the upcoming “Mistakes Were Made” event as well as at last year’s inaugural “After Dark” event.

Rasmussen is an Eau Claire native, author, English teacher, and editor of the Barstow & Grand literary magazine. He will be joined on the “Mistakes Were Made” stage by former Leader-Telegram reporter Dan Lyksett and Eau Claire native Laura Buchholz “whose sardonic sense of humor,” Rasmussen says, “never fails to entertain.”

 “The most exciting part of the evening will be our special guests - two highly accomplished storytellers from the Twin Cities,” Rasmussen said of the final two performers taking the stage. Allison Broeren is an Eau Claire native who works as a theatrical performer and producer in Minneapolis. Rounding out the storytellers is Broeren’s friend, Jason Schommer, a storyteller and stand-up comedian who for years opened for Louie Anderson in Las Vegas.

 In addition to the storytellers, music will also be provided by Creeping Charlie and the Roundups, a new band led by Jon Loomis, a local writer, poet, and musician.

 While Rasmussen has a few reservations regarding sharing his personal stories of failure and embarrassment in front of a live audience, he is very excited about being able to entertain himself and the public with such tales.

“I don’t know if there will be any deep insights about failures and how to handle them, but there will definitely be tons of laughs, a few gasps, and an opportunity to enjoy the literary and performance talents of some familiar faces from around town and a few out-of-town guests!”

— Eric Rasmussen, host and storyteller

“Our first and biggest goal is entertainment,” Rasmussen said. “I don’t know if there will be any deep insights about failures and how to handle them, but there will definitely be tons of laughs, a few gasps, and an opportunity to enjoy the literary and performance talents of some familiar faces from around town and a few out-of-town guests!”

While pure entertainment is at the forefront for “Mistakes Were Made”, Rasmussen noted that of all the options for entertainment throughout the Chippewa Valley, this event stands out as being special.

“Just like live theatre, there’s something about an in-person storytelling experience that can’t be recreated onscreen or in a podcast,” Rasmussen said. “Our region is home to a wealth of talented writers and performers, so in addition to the stories themselves, evenings like this create a sense of community that makes for a uniquely memorable evening.”

As for the stories presented during the night themselves, they’re sure to be memorable for the audience, but ones that the storytellers would prefer to forget.

“The stories will cover a full range of boneheaded moves,” Rasmussen said, “from outdoor accidents on hunting trips, storming out of jobs with nowhere to go, and a full spectrum of errors committed behind the wheels of cars. It should be a blast!”

For those who won’t be able to make it to “Mistakes Were Made”, Rasmussen is hopeful that this won’t be the last time an event like this is held.

“After the success of last year’s ‘Sound & Stories: After Dark,’” Rasmussen said, “there’s a good chance the Writers Guild will continue hosting more mature storytelling events for the foreseeable future. And there are SO MANY performers we could tap, plenty to keep this series going for years.”

$10 all-inclusive tickets for “Mistakes Were Made” are available online for purchase here

From Barstools To Bookshelves: Nickolas Butler Discusses New Novel At L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library Event

Nickolas Butler reads from his latest novel, “A Forty Year Kiss” in front of a packed Riverview Room crowd on January 3, 2025.

Jayson Coleman

Nickolas Butler’s inspiration for stories can come from places as mundane as the dark corner of a Chippewa Falls bar. Now, he’s sharing these stories with the rest of the world.

Over a hundred Eau Claire area residents packed the Riverview Room inside L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library on Jan. 3, 2025, to hear Eau Claire native and author Nickolas Butler discuss his brand new novel, A Forty Year Kiss. Throughout the event, Butler talked about his inspirations for the novel, what he considered when writing his characters and their struggles, and many fascinating and hilarious anecdotes of his experiences while writing.

Butler was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, but was raised in Eau Claire and has spent much of his life in the upper Midwest. He attended the University of Wisconsin – Madison and the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop. In 2014, he published his first novel, Shotgun Lovesongs, which became a national bestseller and has been translated into over ten languages. He has since released four more novels and a short story collection.

A Forty Year Kiss is Butler’s fifth novel, and it follows Charlie and Vivian, a divorced couple from Chippewa Falls who reconnect after being separated for 40 years. During their time away from each other, Charlie and Vivian have led very different lives. Charlie’s been able to live for himself, travelling the world and going to college, but he also deals with a drinking problem. Vivian, on the other hand, grew up in a financial situation that was not nearly as fortunate as Charlie’s where she had to give up everything for her children and grandchildren. Throughout the novel, readers see their relationship from both perspectives, with Butler constantly switching between Charlie’s and Vivian’s points of view.

In early reviews of the novel, many readers have shown appreciation for the novel’s central romance being between two older characters, with Butler sharing a similar sentiment. In interviews and at his event, Butler talked about how the story focuses on personal growth, change, and maturity within the characters. He said that unlike romances that feature younger characters, between Charlie and Vivian, there’s sixty years of baggage, sixty years of drama, and sixty years of questions that need to be asked. He also noted that he finds “old love” more interesting because people are much more introspective at 60 than at 20.

As interesting as the ages and experiences of the central characters, though, was how Butler got the idea for A Forty Year Kiss. Throughout the event, Butler discussed how the way he wanted his prose to feel while reading was greatly influenced by “When Harry Met Sally,” but the idea for the story itself came from both a local and unconventional place.

Butler’s inspiration for the book began at the Tomahawk Room in Chippewa Falls when, in the corner of the bar, he began to overhear a conversation between two estranged lovers who appeared to be in their sixties. He heard the man ask if he could kiss the woman sitting with him, then witnessed the prolonged and passionate kiss that followed. He also heard the woman mention that she had always received chocolate from this man, among other details. As their interaction continued, Butler became increasingly invested in their history.

“I was hiding my face because I was blushing so hard,” Butler said when recounting the situation, “and I was transcribing everything!”

Butler had taken many notes on his phone about the conversation he had eavesdropped on that evening. Even though his publisher told him that they wanted him to write a literary suspense novel, though, Butler knew that he wanted to turn the bar interaction into something special.

For the people who attended the library event and purchased the novel, much of its interest comes from their ability to relate to the story. That relation, though, goes far past the novel taking place in the Chippewa Valley.

“I think it’s very real,” said Liz Rehrauer, a retired English teacher from New Auburn who attended the event. “I had a friend who was a tennis player. We played tennis together, she lost her first husband, married a judge in town. And when the judge died, she went back to a (class) reunion in Alma (or) one of the small towns across the Mississippi, and she ended up marrying a guy that she had dated in high school, and they were in their 60s.”

For Butler, telling these real stories that he sees play out in front of him every day is one of his favorite parts of writing.

“I get to imagine other people’s lives,” Butler said, while adding that he doesn’t feel the pressure to represent these lives as accurately as possible. “These are my characters.”

A Forty Year Kiss is available for purchase at The Local Store, Dotters Books, and here.

Horseradish Adds Spice to EC's Literary Scene

B.J. Hollars (sort of…with a satirical touch)

Jeff DeGrave has claimed Eau Claire as his home since 2003. He has been published in Eau Claire’s very own literary magazine, Barstow & Grand, and has participated in numerous CVWG-sponsored events including the annual “Joy to the Word” celebration, several writer’s retreats, as well as performing in the “Bend in the River” radio drama. He and his car will be appearing in two upcoming locally-produced films. He previously co-produced a monthly news parody publication called The Citizen Harold in the Twin Cities for several years. But he never wrote a book before. Until now. And that book is called Horseradish! Let’s learn more about the “comedy yearbook of the Chippewa Valley.”

BJ: Frankly, Jeff, I don’t know where to begin. How did this happen—and why?

Jeff DeGrave: That’s a tough question, BJ. I can tell you’ve done this sort of thing before.

BJ: You’re a slippery respondent, Jeff. But, please, share with our readers how this project began.

JD: Alright. Well, I have this friend who is simply relentless in his pursuit to make a writer out of everyone he meets. The amount of work he has done to make Eau Claire “The Unofficial Capital of the Written Word” is unparalleled. Eventually, I caved. And Horseradish! is the result. You might know this friend of mine?

BJ: Nope. Never met him. Anyhow, tell us about the idea behind the book: How did Horseradish! become Horseradish!?

“The “elevator pitch” for Horseradish! is “The Onion meets Eau Claire.” It’s a light-hearted satirical look back at the events, news items, and other happenings that were important to Chippewa Valley residents during the past year. ”

— Jeff DeGrave

JD: Because we have so many great writers of legitimate books in and around the Chippewa Valley, I figured the region could use a book that is less great, less legitimate, and barely even a book. The “elevator pitch” for Horseradish! is “The Onion meets Eau Claire.” It’s a light-hearted satirical look back at the events, news items, and other happenings that were important to Chippewa Valley residents during the past year. And, given “these times,” I feel like everyone could use a bit of locally-based humor to provide a much needed escape from reality—even if it’s only temporary.

BJ: Reality? Who needs it? But what about the name, the style, and some of the other elements that make Horseradish!, Horseradish!?

JD: The name, Horseradish!, of course, is a shout out to Eau Claire’s position as the world’s horseradish hub. Because horseradish, the root, has a bit of a bite to it, I thought it captured the  satirical tone of the book. I’m also using the word, “horseradish,” like “poppycock” or “balderdash” to let the reader know that everything they read is fictitious. Plus, I think horseradish is one of the more neglected tubers out there and I think it’s time to bring the conversation back.

BJ:  No horseradish in that statement! What kind of stories can readers expect to find inside the book?

JD: The vibe of the book follows everyone’s favorite locally-produced arts and entertainment magazine, Volume One. Like Volume One, there are articles that focus on the community, nature, local events, and more. For example, one story celebrates the arrival of our new trolley in Eau Claire as a solution to the lack of a major air carrier at the EAU airport with the headline of “New Eau Claire Trolley to Resolve EAU Transportation Issues.” Another story looks at how Eau Claire lost its top ranking as the “Hippest City in the region to the “dark horse” town of Cleghorn. And, there is also a satirical look at the controversy that surrounded the recent arrival of roundabouts in the area.

BJ:  This is pretty hard-hitting stuff.

JD: Just wait until you get to the essay on the “Midwestern Stand-Off” that examines why no one will eat the final piece of pizza when a pizza is being shared between a group of people.

BJ: We’ve all been there. And I am sure I will be there again soon. Speaking of the future, what are the plans for 2026? Can the Valley expect to see the arrival of a new edition of Horseradish! around this same time next year?

JD: It may very well be the case that one Horseradish! will be plenty for many years to come. Then again, if the demand for more Horseradish! is there, producing this book at the end of every year would be a lot of fun. And there’s always going to be plenty of material to work with around here!

BJ: Let’s hope the ceiling for Horseradish! is high. In the meantime, do you have another project in the works for 2025?

JD: Nothing yet. But with my previously-mentioned friend, who knows what he might talk me into.

Horseradish! is available at the Volume One Local Store, Dotters Books, and on eBay (search: horseradish book). Look for book readings from Horseradish! around the Chippewa Valley in 2025.

Leaving a Legacy of Literacy: Opening doors to communities big and small

Maggie O’Brien

Literacy presents immense opportunities to those who possess it. From career options to social functioning, literacy can open doors that unfortunately remain shut for many.

Illiteracy can be isolating socially and can even prevent parents from participating in children’s lives and education. Imagine going out to a restaurant with your child and being unable to read the menu to them, or not being familiar with the words your child is studying for a spelling test.

In recent years, data has shown less-than-favorable literacy levels in the nation, the state of Wisconsin, and even in Eau Claire. The National Literary Institute revealed that in 2024, 21% of adults in the US will be illiterate, and 54% of adults will have a literacy level below that of a 6th grader.

It’s important to account for the link between poverty and literacy when we’re looking at literacy data. Poorer regions tend to offer fewer educational resources and opportunities, meaning individuals from these regions are more likely to be illiterate. Being unable to read and write at a proficient level limits career options and inhibits streamlined functioning in society. 

In Wisconsin, literacy rates are a bit more promising but still far from ideal. According to Wisconsin Literacy, one in seven Wisconsin adults struggle with low literacy. 

“For those with low literacy, attempting to read an instruction booklet or fill out a medical form becomes troublesome and time-consuming. In instances like these, literacy becomes a matter of accessibility. ”

— Maggie O'Brien

For those with low literacy, attempting to read an instruction booklet or fill out a medical form becomes troublesome and time-consuming. In instances like these, literacy becomes a matter of accessibility. 

Considering literacy in this light is critical as technology and jargon infiltrate spaces like doctor’s offices and schools, which are vital for everyone, not just literate people. Imagine attempting to receive critical medical care and being presented with a device you are unable to use. On top of that, you are unable to comprehend the terminology on the screen before you. Asking for help in situations like these can be dehumanizing, time-consuming, and terrifying.

According to WQOW, around 14,000 people struggle with low literacy in the Chippewa Valley, which includes Eau Claire, Chippewa, and Dunn counties. Additionally, in the Eau Claire Area School District, 58% of elementary students, 57% of middle school students, and 59% of high school students tested below the proficient level for reading.

So, more than half of Eau Claire’s student population cannot read proficiently. These statistics, coupled with the fear-mongering narratives heard in and around schools, can easily be grounds for catastrophizing the state of literacy and reading. While your first inclination may be to dwell in hopelessness, consider the creative ways in which Eau Claire is combating falling literacy rates.

Literacy Interventions

Eau Claire has taken numerous measures to address low literacy rates among both adult and student populations. 

Literacy Chippewa Valley is a harbor of hope for adults struggling with literacy in the Chippewa Valley area. According to its website, Literacy Chippewa Valley is a community-based organization that aims to foster literacy in adults to help them reach their academic, employment, and life goals. 

Literacy Chippewa Valley’s values of accessibility, inclusion, adaptability, progress, and sustainability are visible throughout its free programs. In the past year, this organization assisted 600 adults in Chippewa, Dunn, and Eau Claire counties, a 20% increase from the previous year.

One of Literacy Chippewa Valley’s free programs is called One-to-One Tutoring. This program offers weekly tutoring services catered to the abilities and interests of aspiring learners. Tutors instruct on topics such as ELL, math, GED/HESD acquisition, driver’s license preparation, and citizenship testing preparation.

This program offers those with low literacy the opportunity to make breakthroughs that may assist in career advancement. It also helps participants better operate in a world that demands literacy for many tasks. 

Additional programs include Corrections Education and Family Literacy. Visit Literacy Chippewa Valley’s website to learn more about its wonderful programs. By promoting literacy among adult populations and providing family-centered resources, Literacy Chippewa Valley lays the groundwork for parents to actively participate in their children’s literacy. 

Eau Claire’s outreach extends beyond adults. Let’s consider L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library as the hub of resources and events that aid in developing and sustaining literacy among the youth population. 

L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library offers multiple youth programs on site and online. These programs are designed for infants up to sixth grade, and are all free options for children and families. 

One program specifically geared towards helping children develop early literacy skills and discover a love of reading is Storytime at the Library. This free program takes place weekly, from September 16 to December 14, in the Youth Program Room at L.E. Phillips Memorial Library. 

According to its website, storytimes feature assorted age-appropriate stories, rhymes, fingerplays, flannels, music, and movement. Five different groups, separated by age, are available. 

The groups include Little Movers, Bouncing Babies, Toddler Storytime, Preschool Storytime, and Family Storytime. Family storytime is a great resource for families developing their literacy together. 

L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library also offers two Book Clubs for K-6 readers. The Read Me a Book Club is focused on Grades K-2 and aims to encourage the celebration of reading as a family. This club consists of a monthly two-part series that includes a read-aloud and hands-on activities. 

The Read Me a Book Club is a perfect way for families to work on literacy together. L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library programming offers plenty of opportunities. for parents to take an active role in developing their children’s literacy and their own. 

The L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library also hosts The Book Scouts Book Clubs, recommended for grades 3-6, talk about books and do hands-on activities inspired by their monthly read. The two Book Scouts groups include the Story Seekers and the Page Turners. Each group reads books that match differing difficulty levels and interests.

Multiple book-focused, kid-friendly events take place at ​​L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library every week. Take a look at its event calendar to explore them.

L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library also has a whole Kids page spotlighting family resources in Eau Claire. This page conveniently organizes Early Learning Programs, Family/Parent Support, Public Libraries, and more and offers a brief explanation of each resource.

As technology infiltrates classrooms and homes, many children spend their schooldays and weekends staring at screens. L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library offers plenty of free resources for parents and children to combat the low literacy rates and take some time away from screens.

Considering the various options would be a purposeful first step toward instilling literacy and appreciation for reading in young children.

In addition to everything offered at L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, Eau Claire’s Family Resource Center has recently become an affiliate of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The Imagination Library is currently the world's largest children’s literacy program. 

Each month, a free book is mailed directly to a child’s home from birth until age five. The only requirement for participation is to live in Eau Claire and Dunn Counties. This means children can accumulate a library of up to 60 books before their fifth birthday. 

According to its website, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library aims to inspire a love of reading in children from birth to age five. If children are exposed to reading at a very young age and have ample access to various books, they are much more likely to see the intrinsic values of reading.

For children from families who may struggle with income due to low literacy, this program is an excellent opportunity to develop young readers and encourage learning for both parents and children.

A noteworthy part of this program is that it provides books to children before they begin school. Thus, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has the potential to lower the number of children who do not have access to books before Kindergarten.

Eau Claire Family Resource Center’s website states, “Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has been shown to increase the frequency of reading books together, leading to increased kindergarten readiness.” This way, children can see value in reading and grow to love it before school even requires it.

If you are interested in signing up for this program, you can download a form from the Imagination Library website and mail it to Eau Claire’s Family Resource Center, or visit the Family Resource Center playroom to complete a registration form in person with assistance. 

Bridging the gap between “literacy” and “literary”

As a future English educator, it’s empowering to be optimistic about literacy despite the discouraging data. In my classroom, I will only get closer to the problem. The literacy levels of my students will undoubtedly influence my teaching as a secondary education teacher, and I will have to work creatively to reach all of my students. This might involve showing films alongside reading texts, incorporating multi-modal technology, and bringing art and expression into my curriculum. These creative approaches allow me to brush the dust off of the way canon texts are typically taught by allowing varied engagement opportunities.

For students struggling with literacy, an English classroom may be the last place they want to be. This starts early when students who cannot read at the expected level are overlooked or labeled “disadvantaged.” This struggle may continue into middle and high school.

The importance of scaffolding must not be overlooked in this conversation. With abundant resources available, parents must lay the groundwork for their children’s literacy by taking advantage of everything Eau Claire offers. 

This may start with parents addressing the state of their own literacy. Literacy Chippewa Valley is a great place to start for parents who may have some work to do before they can help their children. 

If parents provide their children with access to books and education for reading to serve as a daily practice, literacy maintains a central position in children’s lives. Taking the time to instill a passion for reading even before school begins sets children up to see the immense value of “literacy.” This appreciation lays the groundwork for a legacy of literacy and abundant access to literary communities and resources. 

The idea here is that parents must make an attempt to be proactive. Of course, many parents may not have abundant time to dedicate to literacy intervention, but taking the time to set up reading habits while children are young will likely make later intervention unnecessary. 

“As a future educator, I must not forget my role in including all my students in literary communities and opening up spaces that may feel inaccessible or beyond students’ capabilities”

— Maggie O'Brien

As a future educator, I must not forget my role in including all my students in literary communities and opening up spaces that may feel inaccessible or beyond students’ capabilities. Closing out children struggling with literacy from literary communities sends the unfavorable message that the “literary” is not for them. 

If I want my students to appreciate the “literary,” I must first approach their literacy levels appropriately and help them recognize the value in both “literacy” and the “literary.” Oftentimes,  literary organizations such as book clubs and writing groups are populated mostly by successful writers or avid readers. 

I intend to reverse this narrative. Students can only increase their reading and writing abilities by practicing. In order to make space for this, we must create inclusive, supportive, and empathetic literary communities that offer them room to do so

“WRITE. RETREAT. REPEAT.” The Oxbow Writer’s Retreat Returns With Novelist Christina Clancy

UPDATE: OUR RETREAT IS NOW SOLD OUT! PLEASE EMAIL US AT CHIPPEWAVALLEYWRITERSGUILD@GMAIL.COM TO BE PLACED ON THE WAITLIST.

Hotel rooms, record players, and writers—oh my! The Oxbow Writer’s Retreat is returning for its fifth year. Attendees will check into The Oxbow Hotel, a local treasure, at 8:45 am on Saturday, January 18, and check out at 11 am on Sunday, January 19. It’s the perfect weekend away to recharge with your writer best friends!

If you’re looking for Eau Claire’s finest boutique hotel, look no further than the Oxbow. Whether you’re writing with the rest of the group in its event spaces, or attempting to wind down that chugging creative engine in your room, the area around you will be drenched with style and local flair. The venue is also famous for having record players in its rooms and an extensive vinyl library in its lobby—the writing of you and your peers won’t be the only delight at this retreat!

Novelist Christina Clancy is this year’s writer-in-residence. Her short stories and essays have been featured everywhere from The New York Times to The Washington Post. She has two novels under her belt, and a third on its way, coming in February, 2025. And on top of her impressive credentials as a writer, she has also hosted the Oxbow Retreat before! Christina Clancy knows what she’s doing.

“We're thrilled to partner with The Oxbow Hotel and Christina Clancy,” says host B.J. Hollars. “We have the perfect venue for the perfect writer to ensure an ideal retreat.” 

There are many wonderful things to experience this time at the Oxbow! Here are a few events from the schedule: writing exercises with writer-in-residence Christina Clancy, optional mini-group workshops, and jazz and fellowship at The Lakely, The Oxbow Hotel’s stylish cocktail lounge on Saturday night. Find out more about the schedule here.

The food will be delicious, as well: included in the price of your ticket are two scrumptious meals from Forage, the local commercial kitchen and friend to the Guild.

Signing up for this retreat is a two step process! Be sure to complete both steps, or you will not have signed up!

Step 1: Click here to reserve your spot by purchasing your $105 weekend ticket.

Step 2: Pick up the phone and call The Oxbow Hotel (715-839-0601) and ask them to sign you up for The Oxbow Writer’s Retreat. Room prices range from $115.00-149.00 (plus fees). The promo code is: WRITERS. Room upgrades available. Need to come into town early? Ask about the special writers' rate for Friday night lodging.

Please note that our retreats are non-refundable. An organization of our size is unable to absorb costs associated with cancellations. However, with sufficient notice, we will do our best to fill your slot, and if successful, we’ll gladly refund your payment.

This cost includes Saturday night lodging, breakfast, lunch, fruit, cookies, muffins, coffee, a drink ticket, and mini-group workshops, as well as all of the craft talks and instruction. Room upgrades available. Need to come into town early? Ask about the special writers' rate for Friday night lodging.

Barstow & Grand Celebrates Its Latest Issue With A Bash At The Brewing Projekt

Wesley Hazelberg

Many events mark this time of year in the Midwest: the people are bundling up, snow plows are emerging ready for duty, and B&G is releasing its newest issue.

That’s right! Barstow & Grand, the Upper Midwest’s premier literary journal, is back with issue #8. It’s launching at a release party on Nov. 20, at 7 pm at The Brewing Projekt, long a friend to local literature. This will be their first time hosting this event, so please enjoy their beautiful venue and readings by authors and poets included in the issue. And be sure to pick up a copy fresh off the press on your way out the door!

Members of the B&G editorial team gather to discuss the upcoming issue.

Barstow & Grand (named after the intersection in downtown Eau Claire) is a print journal published every fall that features writers of many different kinds from the Upper Midwest.

Whether you write prose, poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, all writers are welcome so long as you have a connection to that great region of the United States.

“ A few hallmarks of B&G are shining strong in this issue—we have another dynamic mix of local authors and writers with broader connections to the upper Midwest. You’ll see a lot of the themes that seem to carry a special Midwest connection—nature, family, rural life.”

— Eric Rasmussen, editor

“For our eighth issue, it feels like we’ve found our niche and are really settling into it,” says Eric Rasmussen, editor of Barstow & Grand. “A few hallmarks of B&G are shining strong in this issue—we have another dynamic mix of local authors and writers with broader connections to the upper Midwest. You’ll see a lot of the themes that seem to carry a special Midwest connection—nature, family, rural life, etc.”

One element that sets issue #8 apart from its predecessors is a higher portion of student authors being featured. I should know—I’m one of them! As suggested by a professor, I submitted a selection of five poems I had written in April of 2024, and by July I had received notification that one of my poems was accepted. It was thrilling to have a work of mine recognized in such a big way. The B&G Team has informed me and other writers of every big step taken towards the issue’s publication, and through monitoring these steps along the way I have learned a lot about the process and what it means to be published in a real, printed book.

Issue #8 is being released on Nov. 20, and its release party will be held on the same day at The Brewing Projekt in Eau Claire at 7 pm. This will include live readings of stories and poems by the authors. You won’t want to miss out!

All previous issues of Barstow & Grand are available at the B&G website or at the Local Store in Eau Claire. Purchasing is a great way to show support for writers in your community!

Milwaukee History Meets Murder Mystery: Amy Renshaw On Her Latest Novel “Strong Temptations”

credit: Renee Barth

Wesley Hazelberg

When there’s a whodunit in the hat department, who can solve it? None other than Sophie Strong!

In Amy Renshaw's Strong Temptations (the newest installment in her historical fiction series, which stars heroine Sophie Strong and started with the book Strong Suspicions), readers are welcomed into the glitz, glamor and darkness of Milwaukee in 1912. Renshaw describes the book as a cozy historical mystery, which it most certainly is: despite the mystery and murder, the tone remains lighthearted. First and foremost, however, it’s a story of the relationships of the characters involved.

“Though Sophie Strong may be a fictional character, she represents the many women journalists in the early 1900s across the US who played a pivotal role in pioneering women’s rights and the future of women in her field. ”

— Wesley Hazelberg

Though Sophie Strong may be a fictional character, she represents the many women journalists in the early 1900s across the US who played a pivotal role in pioneering women’s rights and the future of women in her field.  While Sophie longs for more opportunities to do hard-hitting journalism like her contemporaries, she’s held back by the more menial topics her editor views as appropriate for women to write on. She eventually convinces her editor to allow her to write a story undercover as a “shopgirl” in the Gimbels department store. She expects the assignment to be tedious, but when someone turns up dead, Sophie realizes there might be more to this store’s story than initially thought.

“Anyone who’s interested in women’s rights, the history of Milwaukee and Wisconsin, or even the history of the US in the early 1900s, I think, will enjoy it.”

— Amy Renshaw

Mystery fans will no doubt enjoy the story’s twists and turns, and history buffs will feel equally engaged by the details of the author’s meticulous research. “Anyone who’s interested in women’s rights, the history of Milwaukee and Wisconsin, or even the history of the US in the early 1900s, I think, will enjoy it,” says Renshaw. Readers will recognize glimpses of our region’s yesteryear from the settings, the apparel worn, and the topics discussed by the characters. They’re all perfect opportunities to transport the reader.  The greatest example of this is the story’s main setting: the Gimbels department store. It draws its details—from the floor plan to the store directory—from the real-world Gimbels on 101 W Wisconsin Street in downtown Milwaukee. This multistoried colossus of a department store took up an entire city block, and its popularity as a destination foreshadowed the shopping malls of today. The fascinating thing about stores like Gimbels, explains Renshaw, is how “they sort of invented the concept of shopping as an activity, especially as an activity for women … It was a way that women were emerging into the public realm, and it also generated a lot of employment for women.”

However, while the book can be very informative on history, the primary intent of the book—as with all of the best cozy mysteries—is to offer entertainment and escape to its readers. If solving a crime is how you relax after a long day, Strong Temptations is for you. Fans of Rhys Bowen, Victoria Thompson, and Ashley Weaver, will love the latest from Amy Renshaw.

Books are available at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library and the Altoona Public Library, as well as from online retailers.

Choosing to crack the spine: Four practical tips to sustain reading for pleasure

Maggie O’Brien

I can’t recall a time in the past ten years when I haven’t been reading a book. I have no interest in knowing a nightstand free of haphazardly-stacked novels due to the careful influence of my parents.

My mother, a kindergarten teacher of 32 years, passionately values children’s literacy. Despite ever-increasing odds, she attempts to foster a desire to read in every one of her students. 

Naturally, as soon as I started learning how to read, she began filling the house with books. As an early reader, some of my favorites included “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?,” “Spot,” “Goodnight Moon,” “Frog and Toad,” and “Curious George” books.

I read my dearest books over and over, and soon developed an interest in an array of genres and authors. My enthusiasm delighted my mother, and her support encouraged me to remain infatuated with books.

My mother adored reading just as much as she promoted it. She spent many summer afternoons on the deck beneath a large sunhat, flicking through pages of her current read while I swam or played outside.

Like clockwork, my dad read himself to sleep every night. Not a single night of my childhood went by without seeing him tucked into bed with a historical fiction novel or a mystery. Though these were his preferred genres, I watched him read anything from “Harry Potter” to “Atlas Shrugged,” and unconsciously noticed the value in every genre of literature. 

The author as a young reader.

I yearned to be just like them, devouring every book within sight. For a time, I did. But the beginning of high school marked a sudden shift in my presently constant reading habits.

While venturing into my freshman year of high school, I felt small and powerless as lengthy textbook readings and monstrous study guides led me to cast away my beloved novels.

After completing mounds of homework nightly, opening my current read began to feel far too overwhelming. So, though I was still incredibly fond of reading for pleasure, I reluctantly pushed it aside as I grew older and busier. 

My lapse in reading for pleasure during the school year unfortunately became a recurring one, and continued all the way into college. Plenty of my friends, colleagues, and even professors share this unwanted experience.

If you have noticed a similar decline or change in your reading habits, and want to restore your love of reading for pleasure, chances are you are not alone.

It’s important to acknowledge exactly why you may read for pleasure less now than before. This confrontation can happen however you’d like it to; journal about it, chat about it with friends or peers, or simply ponder when the change occurred.

Verbalizing, writing, or thinking about your reading habits may illuminate whether your lapse in reading for pleasure is constant or situational. With your newly realized awareness, you can make the most of the following suggestions on how to inspire and sustain reading for pleasure.

Take a book to go

This summer, one of my go-to activities after working at McIntyre Library involved heading to a park with a book. I’d nestle into my hammock at Domer Park or splay out on a quilt atop the grass at Rod & Gun Park and read for hours. I enjoyed this venture alone, or with a friend or two beside me. 

During the school year, I spend plenty of time doing homework in coffee shops, but I try to carve out a few hours a week where I leave my backpack behind and bring only my current read with me. 

This habit ensures I devote time to reading my “fun” books without feeling as if I’m neglecting my ever-present pile of homework. If you’re a student, give this idea a go when you find yourself struggling to make time for reading for pleasure during the semester.

My go-to coffee shop is SHIFT, but you can find dozens of reader-friendly joints on Water Street and Downtown. 

The possibilities are endless as to where you can journey with your read, since books are conveniently portable. For readers fond of the outdoors, Eau Claire is home to a bounty of wonderful parks, and Visit Eau Claire offers a beautifully organized list of all of them.

If you prefer reading indoors or want to be prepared with locations to frequent when the temperatures drop to frigid levels, consider the two lovely libraries in Eau Claire: McIntyre Library on the UW-Eau Claire campus for students and L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library for everyone.

Depending on the setting of your excursion, the subtle sounds of rushing water or clinking coffee mugs may just lull you into a dreamy state of concentration, as happens to me. 

Read what you enjoy

During the beginning of my second year of college as an English student, there existed a period in which I did not allow myself to read books that I did not deem “purposeful.” 

After reading Tuck and Yang’s “Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor” and Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s “The Undocumented Americans,” I felt as if I had too much to learn from literature to make time for “fun” books.

My new standards for the literature I consumed ruled out much of what I typically would reach for during the school year.

“A year later, I’ve realized that reading for pleasure is what keeps my mental health afloat amidst a sea of textbook chapters and theory-heavy readings. If I yearn to read a light-hearted YA novel or short book of poetry at the end of the day to decompress, I will. ”

— Maggie O'Brien

A year later, I’ve realized that reading for pleasure is what keeps my mental health afloat amidst a sea of textbook chapters and theory-heavy readings. If I yearn to read a light-hearted YA novel or short book of poetry at the end of the day to decompress, I will. 

The books we reach for when we feel overwhelmed or heavy-headed are simply indicative of the comfort we require at the moment. It is always my intention to avoid gatekeeping reading to nonfiction, jargon-filled literature, and to honor imaginative novels for their entertaining nature.

Anna Zook, Arts Librarian at McIntyre Library and Assistant Professor at UW-Eau Claire, nearly always has a book to pick up on the hold shelf, so I turned to her perspective on keeping up with her reading habits.

“I’ve always had a next book I was reading,” Zook said. “Even in college, when I had assigned reading, I had something that I was reading for pleasure.”

Zook explained that her reading habits remained the same and did not dwindle, but she favored one genre over the others. 

“Back then it was a lot of short stories. A lot of Raymond Carver and Flannery O’Connor,” Zook said. “The way I managed it in college was to read short stories more than anything else.”

Zook said that the number of short stories she read dropped off post-college and graduate school, in exchange for novels. This was a result of gaining a bit of time back after graduating. 

“The way I manage it now is by reading myself to sleep every single night,” Zook said.

Zook asserted that reading has been incredibly important for her mental health since childhood, and this awareness has supported her consistent reading into adulthood. 

“For work, I’ll read scholarly articles or things that will help make me a better teacher or trends in information literacy, but I always have something fun I’m reading that I’ll enjoy, that I can escape into,” Zook said. 

Zook has maintained her habit of reading for pleasure by prioritizing it from early college. It wasn’t a habit she had to restart simply because she never broke it from the time she was taught to read.

Most notably, Zook read what interested her and suited her situation intuitively. She never tried to force heavy reading upon her weary mind, and the result was a sustained practice of reading for pleasure.

Stay in tune with your local literary communities

If you’re struggling to prioritize reading for pleasure, maybe what you’re missing is inspiration. Luckily, Eau Claire and the Chippewa Valley happen to be hubs for literary events. I stumbled into Eau Claire having no idea just how warm and welcoming the literary community is here. Now, I benefit from the support of this community daily.

Let these organizations and establishments do the heavy lifting for you and just attend their carefully-crafted events for a glimmer of inspiration. 

You may leave with the sudden urge to pick up your current read at home, or even with a newly-purchased book tucked beneath your arm after an author bears their soul to you during a book talk.

There are a number of places in Eau Claire that put together and host events for the literary community.

For one, Eau Claire is home to two spectacular libraries: L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library and UW-Eau Claire’s McIntyre Library. 

Mcintyre Library recently won the 2024 Wisconsin Library Association Library of the Year Award out of 2000 Wisconsin libraries. This award goes to show just how special this library is, and if you’re not convinced, McIntyre Library also sponsors a Book Club called Subversive Book Club. 

Subversive Book Club highlights banned literature and meets to discuss the selected reads for the semester. What better way exists to sustain your pleasure reading habits than a loosely structured book club?

L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library hosts seven different online and in-person book clubs for various ages and interests if that idea piques your interest. Additionally, the community library holds multiple literary events weekly. Check out its event calendar if this intrigues you.

The Chippewa Valley Book Festival is teeming with opportunities to engage in the literary community and get motivated to read. This yearly festival is a celebration of writing and features a hybrid schedule of events to reach everyone, everywhere. 

CVBF’s mission is to “​​encourage reading, writing, and engagement,” so this organization is literally aiming to help you sustain healthy reading habits. 

The Chippewa Valley Writers Guild, a haven of support for writers in the Chippewa Valley area, sponsors literary events year-round. Take a look at the Guild’s website to see upcoming Guild events.

Even The Spectator, UW-Eau Claire’s student-run newspaper is a wonderful resource if you’re seeking book recommendations. The Op/Ed section features a column called “Book Club,” which former CVWG intern Gracie Schutte used to write weekly. 

I co-authored “Book Club” last year and discussed my favorite books and authors, novels I read for class, and the value of reading. Skimming through old articles of “Book Club” is an excellent way to find recommendations of all genres from various perspectives while learning a thing or two.

Remember this hearty list of recommendations if you ever find yourself stuck in a reading rut or are feeling eager to get involved in the literary community and don’t know where to start.

Build a reading routine

The author among the stacks.

Though it may seem a bit excessive, planning out time to read can be an excellent starting point. Chances are you have your entire life scheduled out on your phone or computer. Consider blocking out an hour or so each day for reading. 

Scheduling reading may make it feel like more of a priority. If reading time is nestled between meetings, classes, and other activities, it should be regarded equally.

The term “reading” can become convoluted for those with academic or workplace readings to complete at home. Making time for school or work reading and “fun” reading by cutting off the former at a certain point may be a good way to start.

Your routine doesn’t have to be scheduled out to the minute, though. The intent is to prioritize reading for pleasure consistently. This might indicate adjusting your habits. The examples that follow suggest a few simple swaps.

If you’re catching the bus somewhere, try picking up your current read rather than scrolling on your phone. 

Perhaps you’ve just gotten home from school or work and need a break from the mania of these settings. Nothing can simultaneously quiet and excite your mind in the way a good book can.

Think of prioritizing reading as a form of self-care. Make it an occasion. Light some candles, brew a warm drink, and cozy up. Taking a few simple steps to get into the reading mindset may enhance your experience significantly.

Altogether, being intentional about the way you approach reading has the potential to aid in restoring or sustaining your reading habits.

Lately, I’ve been reading myself to sleep to prioritize reading for pleasure with the limited time I have. In experiencing the delightful way time stretches with the promise of ‘just one more page,’ I’ve come to recall the bliss of reading as a child.

It’s time to turn the page

You may have noticed a consistent theme in all of the tips: Read however and whatever you need to reclaim the easy joy it once brought you.

Reading for pleasure should be pleasurable. Make use of the wonderful literary resources and places to read in Eau Claire and find inspiration wherever you can.

It’s time to turn the page on feeling guilty for not reading enough. This year, take the time to restore your reading habit by following these tips and celebrate however far you get.

Searching for Peace on the Page: Cathy Sultan Completes Her Syrian Quartet with "Omar's Choice"

Wesley Hazelberg

When Cathy Sultan writes about the Middle East, the fiction fits the facts. From living through the Lebanese Civil War, to her fifteen years as an engaged peace activist, Sultan has learned the ins and outs of peace and war in the Middle East. Applying these experiences has made Sultan an effective writer about the region and its complexities.

I had the opportunity to interview Sultan in preparation for the launch of her newest book, Omar’s Choice, the fourth and final installment in her series, the Syrian Quartet. Taken from the publisher: “Omar’s Choice draws us into the shadowy role of ISIS in the bloody Syrian conflict. The story, begun in The Syrian, Damascus Street and An Ambassador to Syria, follows Omar, now a member of ISIS and John, a CIA operative, as they unleash a nightmare across Syria.”

In this ancient place of human heritage laid low by war and destruction, Sultan lays bare the consequences and dangers, both present and future, brought on by the West’s forever wars across the Middle East.

“Writing Toward Peace In A Time of War”—Sultan’s book launch and presentation—will be held on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 6 p.m. at the L.E. Philips Memorial Public Library. Omar’s Choice will be read, books will be available for purchase, and refreshments will be served.

Wesley Hazelberg: What do you feel is the most interesting element of your latest book? What do you think readers will be drawn to?

Cathy Sultan: It depends on the reader. As for interesting elements, Omar’s Choice is the most complex of the four books. I spent hundreds of hours researching the origins of ISIS, its links to Western governments and how it has been used across Syria to foment havoc. It is the beginning of the Russian involvement in the Syrian war and the US military’s disastrous bombing campaigns. And in this mix, my characters try to stay alive. Some do, some don’t. 

WH: How does it feel like to have written the final novel of a four-part series?

CS: I’m filled with mixed emotions. Clearly, I feel a sense of accomplishment but that said, a bit of nostalgia has already begun to creep in. I’ll miss my characters, even the ones I’ve chosen to kill off in this book. The story began with The Syrian in 2006, and it concludes in 2019. My job as an author has been to create a suspenseful political thriller that has kept my reader on edge and engaged. As a historical fiction writer my challenge has been to incorporate real life, current events that inform my reader, facts they may not have otherwise known, and have them say at the conclusion of the book, “I learned a lot.” I feel like I’ve done that.

WH: Were there any particular real-world moments that inspired Omar’s Choice? If so, could you share a bit more about them?

CS: These four books have been about correcting narratives and lies that the West has perpetuated about Syria’s president, his use of chemical weapons among them. The books have also exposed the CIA’s involvement in the Syria conflict and its use of al Qaeda-linked fighters to accomplish its goals. Because I follow regional events closely I’ve been able to incorporate them into this story. By the end of the book, I believe my reader will be in a better position to question mainstream media’s account of events as they have unfolded and continue to play out across Syria.

WH: You mention on your website that many of the settings in your novels are places you have visited before on your travels, such as a hotel in Damascus in The Syrian and the Shatilla refugee camp in Beirut from Damascus Street. Are there any settings in Omar's Choice that you have similarly visited?  

CS: I am quite familiar with the route Nadia and Andrew take as they leave Beirut for northwest Syria. I’ve driven it many times. The little restaurant they stop in on the way to Idlib I also know. As for the other scenes, I’m familiar with the landscape across northeast Syria, having visited the area many years ago, so it was easy enough to create scenes in my head and bring them alive.

WH: The Syrian quartet utilizes fiction to explore real-world stories of international significance. How does fiction provide readers insight into these issues in a way that nonfiction might not?

“The main ingredient in historical fiction is the use of both fact and fiction. ”

— Cathy Sultan

CS: The main ingredient in historical fiction is the use of both fact and fiction. If the author creates an engaging storyline that captures the reader’s imagination the reader comes away not only enjoying the story but learning a lot about current events they may have not have otherwise known.

WH: What do people often get wrong about geopolitics in the Middle East that you feel like your work depicts the truth of?  

CS: Many people find Middle East politics complicated. Yes, they are. They require a bit of time and attention but given the current risk of a full-blown regional war, it is imperative we become better informed on issues that affect our lives and our future. It is these real-life issues that I address in these four books, but I dress them up in a thriller setting and makes them easy to absorb and retain. William Case, CIA director from 1981-1987 famously said, “We will know that our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.” My books dissect fact from fictional nonsense. Knowledge brings power and the power of an informed public, when fully engaged, produces a chain reaction that reaches all the way to the highest levels of power. That’s the power I try to give my reader.

WH: As someone who lived in Lebanon throughout the Lebanese Civil War, you have unique insight into the geopolitics of the Middle East. What do you think the future of the Middle East looks like? And if you'd rather not make predictions, then what do you hope it looks like?

CS: A wise person never predicts what will happen in the Middle East because no one knows. The situation on the ground changes daily and sometimes hourly. I can say with certainty that if the US does not reign in a certain rogue state which it claims as an ally, the Middle East will face a regional war. It is relatively easy to create a pretext for forever wars but if you don’t have a Plan B to stop it when it spirals out of control, you are in real trouble. That’s where we are right now. 

WH: What do you hope people will take away from your event on September 26? 

CS: An awareness that we face a major crisis in the Middle East. At no time in recent history has our engagement been more urgently needed. It is up to all of us to use our collective voices to limit our leaders’ ability to engage in a conflict that does not threaten our national security or our lives or our livelihood.

Omar’s Choice is available on online and at local retailers.

You can also support Cathy Sultan’s work at her book launch, “Writing Peace in a Time of War” at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library on September 26 at 6PM.

All opinions are the author’s own.

‘Can I Call You Matt?’: One Packer Fan’s Letters to Matt LaFleur

credit: RT Vrieze of Knorth Studios

Elizabeth de Cleyre

In the fall of 2022, Matthew Mabis casually mentioned to friends at a bar about how he’d started writing letters to the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. The conversation moved onto something else, and later, Mabis joined his friends onstage to play a set. After the show, the band loaded all of their gear into one car for someone to bring home and unload, and the rest of them loaded into another vehicle. Mabis, alongside his friends and band mates Matt Vold, Dan Turner, and Jack Gribble, left downtown Eau Claire after midnight and headed east. They stopped in Wausau, hanging out at a bar and crashing at a motel for a few hours. Then they got up the next morning and drove to Lambeau, with enough time to tailgate before the game.

Although I’d lived in Wisconsin for six years at that point, this was a different level of fandom than anything I’d ever encountered.

You see, I grew up in a place called ‘Patriots Nation.’ My home state doesn’t possess its own NFL team, and defaults to cheering for its regional representatives. I went to high school during the heyday of the Tom Brady–Bill Belichick era, but never liked the Patriots, or Brady, or their fans. I could not comprehend why anyone felt so invested in the success of a for-profit team belonging to one wealthy white dude.

The citizens of early 2000s Patriots Nation hated a lot of teams, but there was a special animosity reserved for the Green Bay Packers. In 1997, the Packers defeated the Patriots 35-21 to earn their third Super Bowl victory. A guy from my hometown once told me he remembered that game vividly, even though he was only nine. It was the first time he could recall watching the Super Bowl with his father, and when the game ended, his father's disappointment at the loss was so palpable that this nine-year-old boy vowed to hate the Packers for all eternity.

My own introduction to Packers fandom came ten months after moving to Wisconsin, when I was asked to help coordinate a book fair during the town's annual literary festival. The organizers scheduled it for a Sunday in October at noon and I was unaware the Packers were also scheduled to play that Sunday in October at noon. It would be the team's first matchup in four years without quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was out with a broken collarbone. But, I thought, surely the audiences for a literary festival and NFL game would not overlap. Surely the bookish types didn't clear their Sunday schedules to watch the Packers.

Never have I ever been more naive, or more wrong.

That day, more than anything before or after, proved I was in a strange new land — one where the football fans and literary circles converged. Tables were set up in The Local Store and Oxbow Hotel's gallery for author signings and booksellers, and the initial burst of activity subsided when the game began. One author sat behind a table with nary a trickle of readers seeking signed books — unusual, in this town. Before he left, he came up to say goodbye, and added how it's hard to compete with a Packer game. He said it kindly, even humbly, perhaps even pitying me — a newcomer to this land — for so blatantly misunderstanding its culture.

In a 2023 article for The Guardian, journalist Katie Thornton explains the ownership structure of the Green Bay Packers:

“Instead of a sole wealthy owner who won’t hesitate to leave if the city doesn’t pay up, the Packers are owned by more than 500,000 community shareholders - none of whom can own more than about 4% of the team’s stock. Unlike shareholders of other corporations, Packers owners can’t sell or cash in their shares. And unlike other teams, which generate windfall profits for the team owners, all Packers profits are invested back into the organization. Often these funds go toward stadium updates, giving the team a sort of opt-in public funding model that has repeatedly paid for the Packers’ community-oriented projects - even if they aren’t likely to yield a huge financial return. This structure has enabled the team and city to build a football mecca that, were it left solely to the high-rolling sports market, would have no business surviving in a small city like Green Bay, which has a population only a little over 100,000.”

“Once I realized the Green Bay Packers are the only publicly-owned major professional sports franchise in the United States, the fervor made sense. Here was a fanbase with a literal and figurative investment in the team.”

— Elizabeth de Cleyre

Once I realized the Green Bay Packers are the only publicly-owned major professional sports franchise in the United States, the fervor made sense. Here was a fanbase with a literal and figurative investment in the team.

To mention the Packers is to conjure up stories of parents who put the names of their one-day-old babies on the waitlist for season tickets. These babies become adults and gain access to their seats at Lambeau in their mid-thirties, just in time for them to start a family and add their baby’s name. Rather than passing down a lucky jersey, a signed football, or a piece of memorabilia, fans passed down season tickets and shareholder stocks, lending more weight to the intergenerational aspect of fandom. We may not always gravitate toward or fall in love with the teams our parents rooted for, just like we may not become committed to our ancestors’ religious denominations. But in Wisconsin, life revolves around the Packers: births, first communions, marriages, and deaths can be ushered in, celebrated, or mourned by the transfer of owner shares or the promise of season tickets.

Even though the book is titled Against Football, the author Steve Almond writes of his love for the sport, and how he believes, “football, in its exalted moments, is not just a sport but a lovely and intricate form of art.” Recounting the history of the game, he says, “football provided a lingua franca by which men of vastly different beliefs and standing could speak to one another in an increasingly fragmented culture.”

We witness it here in Wisconsin, where the literary circles and sports fanatics overlap. Almond points out author Don Delillo’s “exquisite renderings” of the game in his novel End Zone, which he says hinted at the idea “that sport awakens within us deep recesses of emotion, occasions for reflection, reasons to believe.”

Yet the bulk of Almond’s book tackles (pun intended) the issues with the game’s violence, which can cause long-standing health issues for players, most notably in the form of traumatic brain injuries and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. When he visits Ann McKee, M.D., a neurologist in Boston studying football-induced concussions, Almond points out the Aaron Rodgers bobblehead among her items and how she calls the team “her Green Bay Packers,” a fitting use of a possessive adjective for a team owned by the fans.

Even though McKee’s research proves the seriousness of these injuries, there’s doubt the evidence will change the NFL. Instead, the author writes, “The ultimate agents of social change aren’t researchers like her, but individual fans (like her) who confront the moral meaning of the research.”

One might even go so far as to argue the agents of social change could come specifically from the Packers fanbase, the only team with a vested interest in listening to their supporters.

The author, Matthew Mabis, as a young fan (right).

Credit: Ann Mabis.

Matthew Mabis is one of those fans. If you happen to catch the English teacher watching the game at a local haunt, you might be lucky enough to hear some of his cogent commentary. While other fans are yelling and swearing at the television, Mabis is calm and measured. After the completion of a pass or touchdown, you’ll hear a slow clap from his side of the bar, perhaps paired with an encouraging yet understated affirmation. When the cheering dies down, you might hear Mabis chime in with a detailed play recall.

One of his previous apartments contained a shrine of team memorabilia set up on an old radiator. Before games, he and a friend would make bloody mary’s and read from Jerry Kramer’s Instant Replay, the former Packer’s diary of the 1967 season. It would be head coach Vince Lombardi’s last year coaching the team, which won the Super Bowl against the Oakland Raiders. During these weekly meetings of Packer Church, Matt Vold would open up to the corresponding date of that day’s game and read aloud from a passage.

“When Mabis started this project, he had no intention of publishing the letters. He only wanted to reach one person: Head Coach Matthew Patrick LaFleur.”

— Elizabeth de Cleyre

In 2022, Mabis turned toward the page. When Mabis started this project, he had no intention of publishing the letters. He only wanted to reach one person: Head Coach Matthew Patrick LaFleur. At the beginning of the 2022-2023 season, Mabis didn’t know it would be quarterback Aaron Rodgers’s last season with the Packers, after an eighteen-year stint, or that Rodgers would be out the following season after sustaining an injury on the first drive of his first game with the New York Jets. He also did not know that veteran quarterback Tom Brady would retire after twenty-three seasons in the NFL, first with the New England Patriots and then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Although the Packers did not make it to the Super Bowl, Mabis unintentionally captured a historic season from the perspective of a lifelong fan and former coach.

One does not need to be a football fan — or even a Green Bay Packers fan — to appreciate the letters, which starts off with an intimacy the narrator hasn’t yet earned: “Can I call you Matt? I’d like that.” Over the course of eighteen weeks, the narrator extends himself to his reader, casting out pieces of wisdom and moments of levity while wholeheartedly supporting and encouraging the recipient. Over time, we learn more about the game than we do about the narrator, but there are glimmers: the narrator’s sublime confidence, for instance, is stunning and awe-inducing, like when he tells the coach of the Packers that he has a lot to learn about competition, and asserts how he is the authority here, as the born-and-bred fan.

In week eight, we find out he’s so superstitious he’s “running out of outfits.” He writes, “Every time we lose, whatever gear I’m wearing enters retirement for the season, and the last month has sapped my wardrobe.” He blames himself for a recent loss, saying he “recycled a losing outfit” in anticipation of a blowout win. He asks, “Was this loss my fault?” And finally asks if Coach LaFleur can send his “ol’ pal Coach Mabis a little something? I need socks.”

By the time we reach Thanksgiving, twelve weeks into the season, the narrator’s aside about the turkey-heavy holiday and ensuing Black Friday sales provide another layer in this surprising portrait of a sports fan, often stereotyped as unquestioning of the country’s traditions and practices. Here is a fan who is not willing to blindly accept the status quo. Here is a narrator who believes that to love something is to question it, and to help it grow and become better. Here is a narrator who recognizes the good in others, and aims to encourage their potential.

It’s hard not to compare him to Ted Lasso, another Midwestern football coach with unflagging optimism and a deep love of the game and its players, and even his opponents.

Letters to Matt LaFleur collects the unabridged typewritten letters from 2022-2023 with Mabis’s 35mm and medium format film photographs from over the years, designed by RT Vrieze of Knorth Studios and with a foreword by author Ken Syzmanski. When I first heard Mabis talk about these letters at that bar in 2022, I immediately envisioned it as a book, and am honored he entrusted me and my company Heron Press as the publisher.

A few days after the first printing arrived, I lugged boxes of books to Milwaukee for the annual Zine Fest, hosted at the public library. Sitting behind a small table, I watched as people who didn’t know Mabis or anything about the project picked up the book, flipped it open, read a line, and started laughing. Each person who bought a copy told me a story about someone they knew who would love it. One woman mentioned her father had recently passed, and her eyes welled with tears as she told me how she was buying this for her brother so they could remember their dad. Another told me about their first time at Lambeau one winter, and the charms of bundling up beside their family and braving the cold together. Later, someone reached out and said the book reminded them of their grandfather, who sparked their love for the team.

In his essay “Calling Audibles,” Wisconsin-based author Barrett Swanson writes about how the language of football changed after 9/11, moving away from “militaristic diction” and toward “the starchy jargon of capitalism,” yet neither captured the beauty of the game. He was a quarterback in high school, and after classes, he and his father would throw wordless passes through the backyard, writing, “Somehow the trajectory of the ball authored sentiments that would have otherwise gone unexpressed between us. Every pass was a physical manifestation of the connection I hoped to establish with him but that our paucity of words chronically denied.”

To Swanson, football is a game of communication and connection. What I love about Letters to Matt LaFleur is how it’s ostensibly about football, but at its core are friends, family, and community — even the community we try or attempt to cultivate in a one-sided correspondence. (Despite multiple attempts, and unanswered voicemails to the Green Bay Packer mailroom, I cannot confirm whether there are more letter-writers out there, but it seems safe to say few are sending such detailed weekly missives from a Smith-Corona Corsair typewriter.)

Swanson points out that although altering how we talk about the sport doesn’t solve all of our societal ails, “perhaps the most potent metaphor for our national sport is one that calls attention to that rare miracle of connection between two individuals.” To walk into a local haunt on a Sunday and see Mabis and his partner, both decked in green, and seated beside Vold and his partner in their Packer gear, is to witness a profound ritual of connection and a deep and abiding love. Not just for the game or the team, but for the people on the barstools and bleachers beside us, sharing in every loss and win.

Elizabeth de Cleyre is a writer and editor. She’s the founder and editor of the longform interview series Yesterday Quarterly, the prose editor of Barstow & Grand’s issue 6 & 7, and selectively offers editorial services and communications consulting. In 2017, she helped cofound Dotters Books in Eau Claire, WI, and later founded Heron Press to publish projects like YQ and Matthew Mabis’s book Letters to Matt LaFleur. Her writing appears in Ploughshares online, The Millions, Brevity, Barstow & Grand, EAA SportAviation, and the Italian anthology Storie dal Wisconsin (Black Coffee Edizioni), among others.

Luke's Picks: Poems In Preparation For Ada Limón's "Poetry and the Natural World"

Luke Gentile

Ada Limón is a prolific poet who has published six poetry books. Her works include The Carrying (winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry) and The Hurting Kind (nominated for the Griffin Poetry Prize), among others. Ada Limón is currently the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. On May 23, the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters will host Ms. Limón for an in-person event in Madison, Wisconsin. The Chippewa Valley Writers Guild will host a virtual watch party for Ada Limón’s event, Poetry and the Natural World, at 6:00 PM in the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s Centennial Hall, room 1704. For more information on the event, please visit this link.

To prepare for the event, I will write about my three favorite Ada Limón poems. The first of which is her poem, “Forsythia.”

Forsythia

The poem opens with beautifully crafted world-building and imagery, followed by using sensory tactics to immerse the reader into the peaceful atmosphere of the poem. This feeling of peace continues as she and her significant other embrace nature, where the poem takes a shift. Ada Limón recalls the name Forsythia and the story behind it. The name connects to her losing a loved one and their last words being, “More Yellow”. Ada Limón reflects on this and connects it to the flower of which this poem is titled, “Forsythia”. Something that may be of interest would be questioning the use of the color yellow and what it symbolizes, which could be answered during the Poetry and the Natural World Q&A event. This poem and the following Ada Limón poems will be linked under each summary. 

Sundown and All the Damage Done

The next Ada Limón poem is “Sundown and All the Damage Done”. Much like “Forsythia,” Ada Limón starts the poem with stunning imagery and sensory tactics, which she utilizes to create a stunning, almost familiar atmosphere. She then introduces the magnolia tree, marking a shift in tone as she continues to write about life and death; specifically, how long individuals have on earth and the “strange contentment to this countdown.” This piece serves as a reminder to enjoy your life and to spend your time on earth doing what you love. Ada Limón wonderfully conveys this idea in her poem, and those who are interested in reading her poem should pay attention to the closing sentence and why it ends with a question. 

Give Me This

My favorite Ada Limón poem is “Give Me This.” The poem starts with strong imagery which paints a scene and introduces the tone. In a similar fashion, she introduces a groundhog utilizing the sensory tactile touch. The groundhog begins to steal vegetables from the garden, but the scene suddenly shifts to a singular question. I’ve omitted the question to encourage you to read “Give Me This” by clicking on the link below and experiencing it for yourself. Ada Limón ends the poem reflecting on both the question and the groundhog's action to steal to eat. This poem serves as a reminder that we are still connected to Mother Nature and her creatures. 

These are just a few of Ada Limón’s poems, which can be found on her website, Ada Limón. If you enjoyed these poems, please join us on May 23 in Centennial Hall, room 1704, on the UW Eau Claire campus for the Poetry and the Natural World virtual watch party.

“Dinner is Served”: An Interview with Dorothy Chan on Return of the Chinese Femme

by Gwenyth Wheat

Dorothy Chan’s fifth collection, Return of the Chinese Femme revels in the decadence of food, sex, pop culture, affection and so much more. The book is one to read from beginning to end and then all over again. From appetizer to dessert, Chan’s poetic prowess redefines the literary landscape. It’s confident. It’s the appetizer, main course, and dessert. Each line leaves you craving the next. Chan is a powerhouse poet who continues to give this world more of what it needs—authentic, bold, hungry love.

credit: Grace Sydney Pham

To interview Dorothy, my poetry mentor and friend, was a dream come true. It was a great honor and delight to help celebrate her forthcoming book Return of the Chinese Femme and add our conversation to the creative community. With utmost joy and appreciation, thank you, Dorothy, for your writing.

 Gwenyth Wheat: I wanted to start with a discussion on the intersections of the speaker’s identity, Asian heritage, queerness, family and more that come to life on the page. Your collection explores these intersections in an intimate, abundant, and magnificent fashion. Could you share about these intersections as well as how poetry functions as a unique space to explore a speaker’s fierce and tender trajectory of selfhood?

 Dorothy Chan: Gwen, it’s such a pleasure to talk with you! I am so proud of your accomplishments so far in your MFA and professional life. Thank you for this brilliant opening question.

“I love the challenge of poetry. It’s such an adrenaline rush. The potentially small space (on the page) a poem occupies belies its true complexities. ”

— Dorothy Chan

I love the challenge of poetry. It’s such an adrenaline rush. The potentially small space (on the page) a poem occupies belies its true complexities. Poetry, and in particular, the sonnet, and even more specifically, The Triple Sonnet, contains conversational elements where my speakers use humor, seduction, storytelling, and direct narration to reveal their innermost vulnerabilities. I also believe that poetry is simply another medium of receiving information — but of course, it’s a much more lyric and musical medium — one that allows my speakers to bask in the glory of who they are. I 100% believe in my speaker, the queer Asian femme, being unapologetic at all times. Thank you for describing my speaker as both fierce and tender. I believe poetry helps me strike this unique balance, and from here, we get the volta — the turn in thought and feeling. The volta, serving as internal reveal, also aids in achieving this intimacy.

 GW: Your galley copies of the collection debuted at AWP 2024 and I was lucky enough to read one! I was really struck by the blurb by Norman Dubie who wrote “There is a sometimes rowdy elegance in these poems that is like a brilliant mind whispering again to itself. The voice instructs us to love life even when it has most betrayed us. The reader is consoled in all of it. What a great book.” Would you like to speak to the role of poetry to teach love in ways that are “rowdy” and “brilliant” and dismantle social constructs and expectations?

DC: A lesson that I love to teach students, which is also a lesson that Norman Dubie, my late great Poetry Father taught me, is that poetry can be humorous. Poetry can be SO laugh out loud funny and irreverent and witty. Within this wit and humor lies great Truth (with a purposeful capital “T” that my Poetry Mother, Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon taught me).

Thank you for bringing up this blurb, Gwen. This was the last blurb Norman wrote, and I fondly remember how years ago, I promised him he would write a blurb for each one of my books. It was a lifelong contract.

I think we often have this wrong idea that humorous entertainment should somehow be taken “less seriously.” It’s a highly misinformed mindset because often humor shows Truth. I also care most about community—that’s what my organization Honey Literary is all about—humor is also a way to nurture our communities. There’s also something many people find scary as hell about a fierce queer femme of color who also happens to be funny as hell.

GW: I also think we need to take a minute for the book’s stunning front and back cover. I love the gold lettering, the continuance of your stamp of adding a twist to Star Wars titles, the Las Vegas tea cup, the red! Do you want to talk about the cover photo and art? What was the process like in selecting the art for your book?

 DC: When I saw Grace Sydney Pham’s (@gracesydneypham) photo, I cried. Her work is so special. I’d like to spotlight her artist’s statement (from the September LitHub cover reveal):

 “The still life photograph “Your Inheritance” was composed of various thrifted odds and ends: a Las Vegas cup and saucer, bingo balls from a bingo set, and a polyester satin fabric,” added Pham. “I enjoy frequenting thrift stores and estate sales, finding value in cast off, unwanted things, and assembling these various cast-offs in odd, nuanced arrangements. With this still life, I wanted to poke fun at the tension between saving money and prized possessions for one’s descendants versus gambling it away in the later stages of life. There’s an additional, personal meaning to this photograph and my photography practice for me; both of my parents are hoarders, and I’ve inherited this hoarding behavior, which I’ve tried to justify or redeem by taking still life photographs.”

 GW: The book’s table of contents is organized and designed as an evening menu. I love how the themes of food stretch beyond the poems and into the framing of the collection through a menu-style table of contents. How did you decide on organizing your poems into its five tasting menu sections?

DC: I’m drawn to organizing poetry collections in odd-numbered sections. I find a regal quality in this move. Traditionally, I go for a “triptych,” or three-part structure. Triple Sonnet. The Powerpuff Girls. Sugar, spice, and everything umami. The rule of three applies to everything in life. I was an art history minor in college, so this poetic organizational move is a nod to my studies and passions.

credit: Joshua David Watson

This time around, though, because this book is extra special, I increased my structure to a five-parter. It was like playing a personality test game with all my favorite forms. Triple Sonnets, for instance, are definitely “Classic Amuse-Bouches with a Twist.” In contemporary sonnet creation, we’re playing, bending, and messing with the rules, but one tenet always holds true: the volta was invented because of the sonnet form. And with endless voltas or emotional turns, as the reader, our appetites are constantly whet.

GW: I love the opportunity to think about different poetic processes and how collections come into fruition. I believe the act of creating presents writers with personal or craft-centered voltas. Surprise can become a natural progression with a project as more themes start to develop. Did you have any moments while working on iterations of these poems or organizing them that surprised you within your own work?

DC: Absolutely. In organizing this collection, I surprised myself by including poems of all forms in each section. For instance, Section II is named, “The Triple Sonnets: Classic Amuse-Bouches with a Twist.” Some of my favorite Triples, including “Triple Sonnet for Black Hair” and “Triple Sonnet for Celebrities with Three Names” are included here. But I also decided to include two iterations of “Designer,” prose poems because they have an “amuse-bouche” tease quality.

GW: The collection takes the reader on a journey through multiple forms. We get your exquisite signature form, the triple sonnet as well as odes, “Designer” poems, and recipe poems. How do you practice experimentation and exploration with poetic form and craft? Similarly, do you feel like this practice further demonstrates a commitment to “joy and resilience” as mentioned in your book description?

DC: I adore this question! To each their own, but I’m not one of those poets who has a “strict” plan coming into a poem. Of course, in creating, each poem has a starting point—a hook that seduces. Or think about how runway works. Or to (quote from what I remember) Michael Kors on Project Runway: “She turned the corner and I gasped.”

 Every good runway show has a volta—or multiple voltas. Glamazons strut their stuff on runways, sporting (hopefully not just) florals for spring and (more more more) plaids and leathers for fall. But a strong runway show is also eclectic. We can’t simply watch the same design or iterations of the same design walk down. Poetry collections function in a similar fashion—of course, a book needs its unification through form and content. But we also need to leave room for enough surprise.

“Joy is wearing a leather jacket you love but also surprising yourself with a pink rhinestone choker. Or the other way around. We don’t need to stick to one definition of anything—that’s a metaphor of joy and resilience as well. ”

— Dorothy Chan

 I used to follow a strict regimen where I had to write a series of Triple Sonnets or I had to write a bunch of odes. As much as I love the discipline of form, only writing in certain forms can become stifling (no matter how much you love them). So that’s what I started riffing on the word “Designer” and its many implications and meanings. Joy is wearing a leather jacket you love but also surprising yourself with a pink rhinestone choker. Or the other way around. We don’t need to stick to one definition of anything—that’s a metaphor of joy and resilience as well.

GW: One of my favorite moments in the collection comes from the poem titled, “She Asks Me What I Want in a Life Partner” that reads “I’ll be your little art monster, the cyclops awakening // during the midnight romp, and you know it’s time / to take over the world with our wits and wiles— // always femme, my dear, and wild wild wild wild.” What a wonder these lines create with the confidence and endearment of the speaker, the accumulation of ‘wild’ through the absence of commas and the alliteration building to it. It is a moment of many moments, which is why I love it so much! How do you see lines such as this one calling to other turns in the collection that call to a seizing of the world through the unabashed?

“One of the ways we can seize the world through the unabashed is by being always direct and honest. This way, we’re closer to our own Truths.”

— Dorothy Chan

DC: I’m so happy you love this poem, Gwen!!! This means a lot. One of the ways we can seize the world through the unabashed is by being always direct and honest. This way, we’re closer to our own Truths. A pessimist might read this poem and think, Wow, it’s sad because the speaker knows this relationship won’t work out. But a realist might read this poem and reflect on how the speaker’s honesty: “I want someone to take over the world with, which / sounds like the theme to Pinky and the Brain” gets the speaker closer to their Truth of wildness, romp, and success.

GW: I was also really drawn to the use of pop culture references throughout the collection. We get poems with Veronica Lodge, Dennis Rodman, a “Triple Sonnet and Three Cheers for the Asian Bachelorette,” Batman villains and more. Do you want to talk about the joys and discoveries of using pop culture in poetry?

DC: I will never understand why some people are so vehemently against pop culture references in poetry. A poem is a lyric medium of receiving information. I’ve also heard the argument “it [the reference] takes me out of the poem,” but I argue that looking things up, along with reflecting on a bigger world are integral experiences within reading and analysis.

Popular culture in poetry brings me so much joy, especially from the lens of being a child of immigrants from Hong Kong. I’ll never forget how someone once criticized a Betty and Veronica poem I wrote years ago, questioning its relevance. But then a few years later, Riverdale premiered and it’s this bizarre and fabulous pop culture touchstone. Poetry is about complexities and nuances of emotion. That’s why as a kid, Batman the Animated Series was my favorite show. No superhero lore beats Batman’s gallery of rogues. I loved how the animated series was film noir-esque as well as heartbreaking. The amount of backstory given to say, Mr. Freeze or Poison Ivy made me reflect about intensity as a kid. And so many of the Batman villains are either queer or queer-coded. It’s a win-win.

GW: This is now your fifth collection out in the world which is so incredible! What was a special moment (whether in publishing, drafting, the possibilities are endless) that you experienced while creating this book?

DC: I think my favorite moments are here to come! I am excited for my May book tour: Minneapolis, San Francisco, Phoenix, New York, and Dallas.

GW: Thank you again for your time with this interview. Is there anything that I missed about your forthcoming book that you would like to add? Do you have any notes about your experience publishing with Deep Vellum?

DC: Thank YOU, Gwen!! I’ll simply add that I’m grateful for the wonderful people at Deep Vellum, my readership, and my mentors.

Click here for more information about Dorothy’s writing.

Click here for more information about Dorothy’s book launch, alongside poet Douglas Kearney, at Milkweed in Minneapolis on May 1 at 6 PM.

Dorothy Chan (she/they) is the author of five poetry collections, including Return of the Chinese Femme (Deep Vellum, April 2024) and Revenge of the Asian Woman (Diode Editions, 2019), a finalist for the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize and the Lambda Literary Award in Bisexual Poetry. They are an Associate Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Co-Founder and Editor in Chief of Honey Literary Inc., a 501(c)(3) BIPOC literary arts organization. Chan was a 2022 recipient of the University of Wisconsin System’s Dr. P.B. Poorman Award for Outstanding Achievement on Behalf of LGBTQ+ People. This summer they will be a Visitor at Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Visit their website at dorothypoetry.com.

Gwenyth Wheat is a MFA/MA candidate at McNeese State University. She is the Assistant Poetry Editor for the McNeese Review and a writing tutor for MSU. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Great Lakes Review, The Poet’s Touchstone, ZAUM, NOTA, LIGHT Magazine and elsewhere. Originally from the northwoods of Wisconsin, she currently resides in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Unpublished Beauties: Celebrating Rough Drafts at The Rough Draft Reading Series

Luke Gentile

Join us on May 1 to share your “unpublished beauties” at the inaugural Rough Draft Reading Series kickoff event, which will be held from 7 pm to 8:30 pm at 2 Roots Art & Wine Gallery, 216 South Barstow Street, Eau Claire, WI, 54701. No advance registration is required to read or attend. Just show up and we’ll share until our time runs out

The Rough Draft Reading Series was created by Katie Venit, a professional freelance writer and instructional designer at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire . 

Katie Venit agreed to answer the following questions in advance of the event.

Luke Gentile: What is the purpose of this event? And how does the event's name connect to that purpose?

Katie Venit: Getting the writing community together is always a reason for a get-together. But the specific purpose of this event is to give folks a chance to share with each other our works in progress--those unpublished beauties that haven't found a home in print yet. The popular retreats that the CVWG runs have always included an opportunity for folks to share informally something, either something they wrote on the retreat or that they came with. It's always a highlight of the event. And so we thought it would be fun to do that outside the retreats. Plus, I love hearing about what my friends are working on. We have such a variety of writers here in the Chippewa Valley.

LG: Is there a sign-up process for those who wish to participate?

KV: It'll be open-mic style, so people can sign up there on a sheet of paper. But all are welcome to attend even if they're not reading. Come and hang out and enjoy a beverage! 

 LG: Do you have any advice to decrease anxiety for participants?

KV: I've done a few readings, and I shake like a leaf before, during, and after each one. In fact, I'm halfway hoping so many people come that I won't need to read from my own WIP.  :)  It helps me to remember that everyone there has nothing but goodwill for readers. We're all there to have a good time, enjoy each other's company, and nerd out about writing. Absolutely no one is there to judge. 

LG: Could a participant share multiple pieces (if time allows)? And if so, could they share all their pieces at same time or do they have to sign up for a separate time slot?

KV: We're asking folks to limit their selection to no more than 5 minutes. If there's still time after everyone goes, sure, folks can read again. They can just put their name on the list again. 

LG: Should participants be prepared to share content warnings prior to reading their piece(s)?

KV: That's a good idea. I'd prefer if the readings were kept at a PG-13 level or below, anyway, but that's not a rule. It's a best practice for readings (unless you know in advance that the event welcomes strong content) to avoid topics that are likely to traumatize the audience.   

LG: Will this be a continual event, i.e., monthly, quarterly, annually?

KV: If it goes well, sure, we'll have it again! BJ and I talked about possibly having it twice a year. But we'll see how this one goes first.  
LG: Are there any fees required, i.e., entry fee, minimum purchase, etc.?

KV: Nope! No fees, although I have to say that 2 Roots offers some delicious beverages for purchase.  

LG: Is there additional information that should be shared?
KV: After the event, folks are welcome to stay longer and hang out! I turn into a pumpkin around 9 pm, but the wine bar is open until 11 pm.

The International Poetry Reading is Back!

Join UWEC faculty, staff, students, and community members for the 18th annual International Poetry Reading taking place in the Ojibwe Ballroom, located in UW Eau Claire Davies Student Center, on Wednesday, April 10th at 6 pm.

The International Poetry Reading was created 18 years ago by UWEC professors Dr. Audrey Fessler and Dr. Jeff Vahlbusch as a collaboration between the English and Languages departments. After running the event for 10 years, they moved on to different colleges, but the event did not leave with them.

For the past 8 years, UW Eau Claire faculty and staff have been running the event, most notably Dr. Kaishan Kong (UW-Eau Claire Professor of Languages), Josh Bauer (Digital Accessibility Coordinator), and Megan Lim (current student at UW-Eau Claire and event coordinator). 

When asked about the impetus of the event, Josh Bauer answered that the event’s founders, Drs. Jeff Vahlbusch and Audrey Fessler “wanted to have an appreciation of culture and poetry, through the reading of poems in languages other than English…”

The goal for each year is to host multiple languages and dialects under one roof to share the beauty and diversity of languages in a poetry-centered event. Over the years, the International Poetry Reading has regularly hosted 25-30 different readers representing 25-30 unique languages/dialects. Some examples are Greek, Latin, French, German, Chinese, Korean, Morse Code, Tech Code, and many others. This year, the International Poetry Reading will host an all-time high of 30-35 languages/dialects. 

“Without this event,” Dr. Kaishan Kong shares, “I could probably name only 10 other languages in the world…” Yet because of the event, Dr. Kong and all those who attend are treated to a world’s worth of language right in their own backyards.

This event and its goal of sharing culture is made possible by the participation of students, staff, and community members. Over the years, the participation of students and community members has been evenly split, but, excitingly, this year, the participation of foreign exchange students has grown. 

Megan Lim went on to describe how “people will think like, ‘Oh, it’s only college students who probably do this, or like only teenagers, because it's like a university event.’ But we actually had a lot more community members who were like, ‘No, I want to do it. I want to be a part of this. And it was really cool…”

Everyone is welcome to participate—faculty, staff, community members, and even families. The coordinators recalled a time when a mother, who is an immigrant, took her five-year-old daughter on stage, and the daughter read a poem in their first language. 

It’s moments like this, that bring all cultures, languages, and ages together under one roof to share with one another. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity and join us on Wednesday April 10th, at 6 pm in the Ojibwe Ballroom and learn, acknowledge, and appreciate the multiple languages and cultures within the Eau Claire community.

 If you’re unable to join in person, click here to join virtually. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the creation of the International Poetry Reading, click this link to read a 2016 Guild interview with Dr. Fessler and Dr. Vahlbusch.

Enjoy a Slice of Pie as you Jive: A Poetry and Pi(e) Sneak Preview

Luke Gentile

On March 14 (or 3.14, if you will) celebrate national Pi Day with poetry and pie. Join Wisconsin poet laureate Nicholas Gulig, former Wisconsin poet laureate Max Garland, and poet and CVWG board member Elan Mccallum in the Riverview Room at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library at 6:30 PM for an evening of poetry and fellowship.

“The caliber of poetry we’ll be featuring is truly some of the best in the state.””

— CVWG director B.J. Hollars

"The caliber of poetry we'll be featuring is truly some of the best in the state,” remarked Chippewa Valley Writers Guild director, B.J. Hollars.  “We are so fortunate to host the current state poet laureate, a former poet laureate, and a rising star."

Poetry and Pi(e) is a way for writers across the state to gather to celebrate their love for poetry, and, to a lesser extent, pie.  Annually, this event is held in various parts of the state.  This is the first time it returns to Eau Claire since 2019.

"We're thrilled to bring Poetry & Pi(e) back to the Chippewa Valley,” Hollars added, “and are especially proud to partner with the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters and L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library on this venture. Shoutout to the Friends of the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library for the pie!"

credit: WASAL

Poetry and Pi(e) is part of a series of literary events occurring throughout the spring. The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters is calling the series Bloom: A Season of Poetry, and it will culminate with a reading from the U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón on May 23. 

Join us on March 14th, 6:30 pm-7:30 pm, to eat a slice of pie and listen to incredible readings by these talented poets.   Register for free here.