HAPPY HOLIDAYS! A special note from Guild Director BJ Hollars ...

Greetings Writers!

BJ Hollars

Inspired by the warmth of this holiday season, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your continued support of the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild.  Thanks to you, the CVWG is now wrapping up its most active season to date.  This fall, we’ve hosted three standing-room-only Craft Talks, featuring: literary agent Erik Hane, National Novel Writing Month municipal liaison Aimee Johnson, and a lyrics writing symposium (complete with live music!) hosted by Max Garland and featuring Jerrika Mighelle, Evans Middlesworth and Billy Krause.  We’ve also produced a live, radio drama version of the 1938 classic War of the Worlds (subsequently aired on BluGold Radio!), as well as organized countless write-ins throughout the city.  In addition, we’re currently hard at work on two new major initiatives: a literary magazine for the Chippewa Valley, as well as additional radio drama opportunities for local writers.  It’s been a whirlwind, to be sure, but what a glorious whirlwind it’s been!

I wanted to cordially invite you to our final event of the fall season: “Joy to the Word: A Holiday-Themed Open Read” which will take place at The Local Store on Saturday, December 10 at 3:00p.m.  Please join us for cookies, cocoa, and the chance to share your favorite original holiday-themed work, or even work written by another.  (To ensure that all can read, please keep your piece to five minutes or less!)

In more exciting news, the Guild is currently putting the finishing touches on next year’s summer residency schedule at Cirenaica.  Trust me—it’s quite a lineup.  We’ll announce the schedule at the start of the new year, but for loyal contributors who make a donation of any size between now and December 17, you’ll receive a pre-announcement email a few days in advance.  It’s just our way of saying thanks to all of you who give so generously so that our events can remain free and open to the public. 

Our philanthropy philosophy is pretty simple here at the Guild: when it comes to giving, participation is our goal. If we all give a little, no one needs to give a lot.  And that’s all we’d ever ask for: a little.  Consider becoming a 5.00/month sustaining member and take pride in knowing that you have personally sponsored a Craft Talk to be enjoyed by all.  Or make a one-time donation and have the satisfaction of knowing that you have contributed meaningfully to our high-impact programming. Though you’re surely being inundated with many worthy causes asking for your end-of-the-year, tax-deductible gifts, please take a moment to consider the Guild.  Your Guild.  And let us grow it together.

To make your gift, please go to www.eauclairearts.com/donate.  Scroll to the bottom of the page and direct your gift either to the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild's Annual Membership or Sustaining Membership campaign.  

Be inspired.  And thank YOU for inspiring us.

Yours,
B.J. Hollars
Director, Chippewa Valley Writers Guild

Scribble (November): “Holiday Eats”

Image: hildgrim, CC 2.0

Each month we’ll offer a low-stakes, writing prompt applicable to all genres. Upon completing the prompt, send your piece (500 words or less please) to chippewavalleywritersguild@gmail.com for potential publication in next month’s newsletter!

Without further adieu, here is your November Scribble challenge:

There’s no denying that while getting together with family and friends is a huge bonus of the holiday season, we all know what the real star is here: the food. From the steaming stuffing to the just-perfectly-crisp turkey to your grandma’s secret-recipe sugar cookies that only come around once a year, holiday food always seems to take on a unique level of perfection. Maybe it’s the nostalgia. Maybe it’s the warmth of being surrounded by your loved ones. Or maybe it’s just that good. 

Your task this month is to write the most descriptive, vivid poem about a holiday meal of your choice. 

At a Glance: Upcoming Opportunities to educate, collaborate, and celebrate

The Local Store. Image: Volume One

Where Songs Come From: A Songwriter’s Craft Talk

Whether you have a song in your heart that you just can’t seem to get onto paper, you’re a bona fide lyrical pro, or you fall somewhere in between, this month’s Craft Talk is for you. 

At Where Songs Come From: A Songwriter’s Craft Talk, three prolific local songwriters, Billy Kraus, Jerrika Mighelle, and Evan Middlesworth will share some of their songs and discuss the perils and pleasures (but also the nuts and bolts) of songwriting, using examples from their own recent compositions. The event will be held Nov 17 from 6-7:30pm at The Local Store and will be moderated by Eau Claire Writer-in-Residence Max Garland.

Calling all poets!    

As part of its year of centennial celebrations, UW-Eau Claire is holding a poetry contest. The UW-Eau Claire Centennial Poetry Competition is accepting submissions of original poems on the theme “Reflections on Education” from now until Dec. 31. Judging the competition is Max Garland, UW-Eau Claire professor emeritus of English, former Wisconsin poet laureate, and Eau Claire’s Writer-in- Residence. The winners will be announced at the 2017 Frederick G. and Joan Christopherson Schmidt Robert Frost Celebration of American Poetry in April, where they will then read their winning poems. Cash prizes are available for first, second, and third places. The competition is sponsored by the UW-Eau Claire Foundation, English department, and McIntyre Library.

Click here for more information on the UW-Eau Claire Centennial Poetry Competition, or contact Greg Kocken at kockeng@uwec.edu. 

Joy to the Word

This holiday season, treat yourself to an afternoon of holiday cheer, hot cocoa, and the company of local writers. On Dec. 10, The Local Store will host Joy to the Word: A Holiday-Themed Open Read from 3-4:30pm. Come celebrate the magic of the season and the power of words by sharing a favorite seasonal story, song, poem, or essay. The event will feature Eau Claire Writer-in-Residence Max Garland. 

Foster Gallery exhibit showcases intersection of fact and fiction

by Alison Wagener

Every picture tells a story. But what happens when that story strays from the truth – perhaps so far that it becomes a truth of its own?

That’s what UW-Eau Claire archivist Greg Kocken, associate professor of English B.J. Hollars, and associate professor of photography Jyl Kelley set out to discover. And at their UWEC Foster Gallery exhibition, “Fauxtography: Real Photos, Fake Stories, and the Intersection of Fact and Fiction,” you can too.

The exhibition consists of 16 photographs from Daniel Nelson and Charles Van Schaick, both turn of the 20th century western Wisconsin photographers. Displayed under each photograph is a story, written by Hollars, that features the picture’s subject. To make the experience even more immersive, the team recruited several community members to read the stories aloud. 

But while writing these stories came naturally to Hollars, pairing fictional, inaccurate information with historical photos was a departure from Kocken’s everyday work.

“That’s the difficult thing to wrap my mind around, still. Partly because my training is as a historian, and this goes absolutely against everything that a historian would do,” Kocken joked. “I think we’re really trying to challenge the viewer to question what they see.”

In 2011, Kocken assisted a historian who was working on a small family project. The historian was intrigued by a set of glass plate negatives taken by his grandfather, Daniel Nelson, an amateur Eau Claire photographer. Over 400 in total, these negatives presented a considerable opportunity for the McIntyre Library Special Collections and Archives to partner in preserving and providing access to a piece of Eau Claire history.

“All of those images focus on Eau Claire, and more importantly, place [the researcher’s] family in the context of Eau Claire at a very important time in our community’s history, a time when Eau Claire was transitioning from a lumber town into this kind of post-lumber, emerging industrial town,” Kocken said. “It’s a very fascinating collection.”

Kocken added that while Nelson’s photography is obviously amateur, he was struck by the candid nature in which he captured his subjects while simultaneously placing them within a meaningful scene. Kocken later had the idea to display the Nelson images in the Foster Gallery, and he knew he wanted to pair them with Van Schaick’s. 

Van Schaick began as a studio photographer in Black River Falls in 1885 and served as the town’s main photographer for over 50 years. His professional photographs present a contrast to Nelson’s amateur work, featuring posed subjects, painted backdrops, and often blank expressions. His collection of over 6,000 images was made available by the Wisconsin Historical Society and have been featured in Wisconsin Death Trip and Hollars’ own Dispatches from the Drownings.

Together, Kocken, Hollars, and Kelley narrowed down the thousands of images to just 16, a process Greg understated as being “not easy.” The challenge, Greg said, was to find images that not only had a fine aesthetic quality, but that also told a story.

Hollars then took inspiration from those stories to write his own.

"It was so fun to develop the stories inspired by these photographs. In some ways, it felt like I was collaborating with Van Schaick and Nelson. And it sort of felt like I was collaborating with the subjects, too—all of whom are long dead, of course, but through the power of fiction, we were able to dream a few more stories."

Kocken said that by pairing fictional stories with these very real photographs, they hope to challenge the audience’s narrative of what happens when you look at a picture. 

“The photographs are perfectly real – they capture perfectly real moments in time. But often when we see a photograph, when we don’t know the subject or the scene, our mind starts trying to piece that puzzle together,” Kocken said. “In this way, we’ve taken that concept and kind of flipped it on its head, because we’ve absolutely built those puzzle pieces for you in your mind. But they’re not accurate at all.”

When I went to chat with him, Kocken showed me a sneak peek of the exhibition, and I can say that “Fauxtography” certainly subverts its audience’s expectations. The true lives of the people in each historical picture are essentially unknowable, so the fictional stories Hollars has created become, in a way, more true for the audience than their real-life situations. It’s a very personal experience—but still completely fabricated.

So basically, it’s just your everyday art exhibition, except it makes you question everything you know about art, photography, stories, and perhaps even truth itself.

“Fauxtography: Real Photos, Fake Stories, and the Intersection of Fact and Fiction” will be displayed Nov. 4-23 in the Haas Fine Arts Center’s Foster Gallery at UW-Eau Claire. Entrance to the Foster Gallery is free. Those interested in listening to the stories are encouraged to bring their smartphones and a pair of headphones.

7 Questions with Jeannie Roberts

Jeannie Roberts

by Alison Wagener

If there’s one thing you need to know about Jeannie Roberts, it’s that she lives on the bright side of life. But the local poet understands that everything exists in balance and moderation.  

Jeannie’s soon-to-be-released collection of poetry, Romp and Ceremony, highlights this blend of realistic optimism with a voice that’s lyric, lilting, and full of soundplay. Poet Bill Yarrow said the collection presents “A book for all those who admire the sobriety of ceremony and appreciate the intoxication of a romp.” 

Romp and Ceremony was slated to be released Nov. 11, but publishing setbacks have pushed that date out several weeks. Jeannie said she hopes for it to be available by January. There is, of course, a silver lining to this delay: Jeannie has promised to donate $2 per book sold during its presale to the Confluence Project in Eau Claire. A longer presale means more money will be given back to the project. 

Jeannie was born in Minneapolis and, in her words, has since lived a hybrid Wisconsin-Minnesota life. In 2007, she served as the interim director of the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center (ECRAC). She's also worked as a house manager for ECRAC and been a member of the visual arts committee. When she’s not writing, she volunteers her time for Motionpoems in Minneapolis and also runs her own freelance creative company.  She’s recently moved to Eau Claire after living in the Chippewa Falls area. 

When we sat down to chat, she explained that the photo featured on the cover of Romp and Ceremony is of a yard neighboring her old home near Chippewa Falls. The yard is full of unorthodox lawn ornaments, trinkets that Jeannie said her clean-yard-loving father nicknamed “putterbellies.” In a poem of the same name, she offers a humorous take on the different assortment of items people use to decorate their yards. 

Are all of the poems in this collection more lighthearted, more humorous, like “Putterbellies”? 

“There are six sections within my book, and the heaviest humor section is titled ‘Romp It Up!’ It’s lighthearted, there's much whimsy interwoven within the poems. The remaining sections include: ‘Seasonal Disorders,’ ‘Brighter Days Ahead,’ ‘Signs of Life,’  ‘Food and Other Phenomena,’ ‘All Life Shines,’ with the final section being ‘Romp It Up!.’ Each section builds to the more concentrated humor at the end. It’s fairly seasonal… In most of my poetry, I intersperse the light and the dark—which is life, right? It’s a combination. We have spring where there’s life and light, and then winter where we have the darker parts.” 

So how does the poetry in this collection speak to you? Why is this something that you were drawn towards, this tone that blends the light and dark? 

I enjoy humor. When I look at things, I see numerous sides to life’s situations. I like looking at the brighter, more humorous aspects of life. In this collection, I guess what speaks to me the most is its lightheartedness.  

Is that what you want your readers to take away, to focus more on the lighter side of life? 

You know, I do… In the beginning of my book, I include a quote by Hugh Sidey, an American journalist who died in 2005.  For me, his words encapsulate my book in a sentence or two:  “Above all else, go out with a sense of humor. It is needed armor. Joy in one’s heart and some laughter on one’s lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.” That pretty much sums it up. If we can look at the brighter side, see the positive elements of things, that’s the takeaway. 

I hear you’re donating part of the proceeds from presales of the book towards the Confluence Arts Center. Why did you choose to do that?  

The Eau Claire Regional Arts Center/State Theatre has always been dear to my heart. It feels like part of my essence. When I was the interim director in 2007, we discussed expansion of the Arts Center or the possibility of building a new one.  Way back, the seeds of renewal had been planted. I find it really exciting to see the progress of the Confluence Project, to have watched them break ground. Eau Claire is such a beautiful city, a river town.  The Confluence Project, along with the new Confluence Arts Center, will bring revitalization and will showcase the area's beauty and rich history.   

So I know this is a bit premature to ask because you’re still in the publishing stage of this book, but do you already have an idea of what you’d like to do next? 

I am shopping around a new children’s book.  Recently, a small Minnesota press rejected it. The editors were so gracious.  They said they wished they could publish it, but with full-color illustrations it wasn't cost-effective for them. They also suggested other publishers I might pursue for my manuscript. I thought that was pretty nice, because not all publishers do that.  And I do have two new chapbooks that I have out to editors for possible publication, so yeah, I’m always working on something, and it never stops. 

What does that feel like – always putting your work out there and never really knowing what’s going to stick? How do you deal with that as a writer? 

I guess it’s just a process. Rejections are part of being a writer, and I’ve just become so immune to them. You don’t always get acceptances.  When rejections arrive, ‘Oh, okay, they rejected me, on to the next.’ I always have that mindset… I’m always writing poetry, and sending my individual poems to editors, and online journals, and to anthologies. Usually, I send out ten or more poems a month to different journals and magazines. There’s always activity, you know? And sometimes I’d like to stop the activity and just take a break, but that’s just not part of my personality… I live in the moment, but I would be living more in the moment if I didn’t have so many projects on my plate! But when you’re creative, as writers and artists know, that’s just how it is. You’ve got a bouquet of ideas in your head, and you have to figure out how to piece them all together. 

Is there a big dream project that you’ve always wanted to take on, that you’re working towards? Or do you just take your projects as they come to you? 

That’s a good question… It would be nice to have a big-name publisher pick up my poetry manuscripts.  Though, the bigger publishers are usually more interested in writers with an MFA degree in creative writing, those who are creative writing professors. I have an MA and have taught, but have not instructed at the university level. Beyond the big dream project, I guess I've always wanted to go back to school to further my education, to earn an MFA and even a PhD, to teach in a university, to be able to promote my books nationally, and to do poetry readings at larger venues.  However, at my age, I don’t see that happening because I’m realistic that way… But you asked about a dream, and that’s usually pie in the sky stuff, right?  So that’s what it would be for me.  

Dispatches from the Wild: On Writing, Trail Work, and Falling in Love with the Challenge

Rebekah Morrisson

by Rebekah Morrisson

I am a trail worker. When I tell people that, I’m sure they imagine me emerging at dawn from a rustic cabin with sturdy boots, a flannel shirt, and suspenders. I take a sip of strong black coffee from a mug I carved out of a nearby oak as the animals frolic over to greet me. The smell of sap and morning dew sits in the air around us… Okay, okay, maybe they don’t imagine a lumberjack Snow White, per se, but whatever they do imagine isn’t quite what I and thousands of other trail workers experience season after season. We are dedicated outdoorsmen who wake up early to repair, create, or maintain the trails we all enjoy.

Trail work is tough. Let me repeat that: trail work is tough. It’s rugged. And it’s different wherever you do it. I’ve spent four seasons and 17 months doing trail work with the Maine Conservation Corps and California Conservation Corps, and nine of those I spent as a team leader. I’ve felled trees with a crosscut saw, slept wrapped in a tarp out under the stars, and lived in the backcountry without technology for three and a half months. There are other trail crews nationwide and some help eradicate invasive plants, some live deep in the woods, and some drive to a trailhead every day. They work through rain and snow and freezing temperatures because they’re committed and, for the most part, they like the work.

I used to think, as I assume most people do, that trails were formed by mere foot traffic. After all, prior to my time with the conservation corps, I’d never run into a crew rolling rocks, creating a reroute, or hauling tree trimmings off into the woods. Now, I know better. It’s been my life for a few years and I’ve fallen in love with it. The physical challenge of straining my muscles for nine hours a day at high altitude is rewarding, if you can believe it. Sure, there are times when I’ve thought about quitting but feeling myself grow stronger, hike faster, and learn more and more about the natural world are just a few of the reasons I’ve stayed in this line of work.

In 2014, I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a focus on creative writing. Since then, I’ve been working out how to explain my experience in the woods through my words. In my first eight months doing trails, I wrote every day. Usually in my tent after everyone else had gone to bed, but occasionally on lunch breaks and after hammock naps on the weekends. Most of it was in letters to my mother about the things I’d seen and done and felt. I wanted to share my experience with people beyond my trail crews, to invite my family and friends to be transported to the moments I was experiencing. It seemed only natural.

There has long been a link between nature and writing. For proof, we need only read the works of authors like John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, Edward Abbey, Rick Bass, and Terry Tempest Williams—all of whom have long explored how woods and words go together. Sometimes a person's words can affect the preservation of nature and other times nature can move someone to words. In a way, my trail work helps hikers create an experience similar to mine and the pieces of experience they lack, I’m attempting to construct through my writing.

They’ve done it and so can I, but in describing anything foreign to someone, I know it will take a lot of effort. Writing is tough, sometimes as tough as trail work, but as I struggle to work on trails, I also struggle to write about it. I try to keep in mind that neither is rewarding without a struggle and the finished product is always better when I take my time with it. I’ve realized that if I simply explain how to hammer rocks to bits or what it’s like to eat trail mix every day for a week, my friends and family won’t understand the collective experience as I do. 

As a trail worker, not only are you sore and tired, but you scratch raw the four mosquito bites on your left leg, the two near your right elbow, and the bunch on the back of your neck. You’re annoyed at one of your teammates for crushing your last good step rock because now you’ll have to roll another one 30 feet up the trail. You rave about how great dinner was even though much of its “greatness” was a direct result of your hunger.

These are just a few short snippets of experiences I’ve had.  The others remain mostly indescribable. Though as difficult as both trail work and writing can be, I’ve found I’ve fallen in love with both.  And with a little more work and a little more time, I hope to one day have the words to give people a clear picture of what it’s like out here on the trail.

CVWG Forms New Partnership

The Chippewa Valley Writers Guild has partnered with the Novel-In-Progress Bookcamp & Writing Retreat to offer Guild members a discounted rate at NIP events.  

Each spring the NIP offers a six-day residential workshop for writers of book-length manuscripts and a concurrent residential writing retreat in southeast Wisconsin. The next Bookcamp and Retreat will be held May 7-13, 2017 in southeast Wisconsin.

“For those who can’t wait for Cirenaica’s summer retreats, this sounds like a great chance to get a head start,” said Guild founder B.J. Hollars.  

“The Novel-In-Progress Bookcamp’s award-winning staff and guest instructors, all published authors, editors, or literary agents, provide advice specific to your work-in-progress, hands-on writing instruction, and the latest information on today’s rapidly changing publishing industry,” said NIP founder and director Dave Rank.

The concurrent writing retreat provides six days of personal writing time with opportunities to discuss writing issues with the NIP staff and guest instructors and chat with fellow writers in a relaxed environment focused on the writing craft.

NIP also held its first one-day “So You Want to Start a Novel!” workshop for novice novelists in October, an event they plan to hold again next year. 

“We welcome the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild as another of our formal supportive Friends. Members of the CVWG now are eligible to attend our Bookcamp for a discounted price that will save them $45 when they register,” Rank said. “As an NIP Friend, the CVWG agrees to help promote our programs.”

For more information on NIP programs, visit their website. 

The Chippewa Valley Post: An Overview

David Gordon

by David Gordon, Board Chair and Associate Editor, Chippewa Valley Post

The Chippewa Valley Post is a relative newcomer to the local media landscape, but it’s one that is trying to make a difference.  

The locally-focused news and information website was launched in February of 2015 to fill some of the growing gaps in local news coverage, particularly those that leave out the nonprofit community. Those gaps, stemming from cutbacks in the size and experience of mainstream media news staffs, and in the space and airtime available for news, have created a possibility that the Chippewa Valley could become a “news desert.”

This would mean that citizens—no matter how interested they might be—would lack access to various kinds of information they need to engage knowledgeably in the life of their communities.  

To help prevent this, the CVPost intends to “connect the dots” for our audience (and, in some cases, to discover where those dots actually are). The ultimate goal is to help build a stronger community by strengthening its information infrastructure.   

This goal stems from our mission statement, which says that the CVPost aims “to help develop informed and engaged citizens who will strengthen the fabric of an effective democracy.” This commits us to providing as complete a picture as possible of life in the Chippewa Valley—both what works and what isn’t working – and to explaining how complex that picture really is.

Nonprofit Focus

To pursue these goals, the CVPost is focusing heavily on the nonprofit sector, where many organizations and activities that are important to the community go unreported. We intend to inform the community about the roles nonprofit organizations play, why these groups are needed, and the challenges faced by the people they serve.

This approach presents us with the considerable challenge of gathering and reporting this news. The CVPost, incorporated as a nonprofit organization, depends heavily on volunteers, with a particular need for community journalists who will take responsibility for covering some aspect of Chippewa Valley life.

Although we will not duplicate coverage provided by the existing media, we will report on community-wide topics and issues which those media either don’t cover or ignore after doing a one-time story.  

The CVPost has followed in part a successful community journalism model in Grand Rapids, MI that began after the local daily paper reduced its publication schedule. Unlike Grand Rapids, however, the CVPost board insists that whatever appears on our website will be reported and edited to at least minimum professional standards.  

To accomplish this, we will mentor our community journalists and help them become better reporters and writers as they continue to provide content for the CVPost website. We have lined up several veteran journalists, now working here in other fields, to serve as mentors.

Environmental and Other Stories

Coverage of Chippewa Valley groups engaged with the environment is high on our priority list. We are currently seeking at least one community journalist who will provide regular coverage of these organizations along with reports on general environmental issues that impact the local community. As part of this effort, we will regularly cover a community-wide group headed by the Grace Lutheran Church pastor, whose goal is to promote awareness of climate change and other environmental issues through the lens of religious faith and spirituality.                              

We already have a list of overlooked community-wide stories that deserve coverage. Among other topics, these include an article on where/whether the businesses displaced by the Confluence Project have relocated and how well they’re surviving the move; a series on how the Affordable Care Act and changes in Wisconsin regulations have affected both local health care providers (including the Chippewa Valley Free Clinic) and patients; and stories that look at the impact of United Way’s new funding formula on nonprofit organizations that have benefitted from the change and on those whose funding was reduced or eliminated.

Civility and Partnerships

We hope to provide a forum where reasonable people with differing viewpoints can hold civil discussions of those viewpoints. We will strongly encourage people to use that forum to offer new or competing thoughts from across the ideological spectrum, and will try to facilitate their debate and discussion in the so-called “marketplace of ideas.” (See, for example.) 

We also would like to make available an opportunity for audience members to comment on the stories we run. However, the CVPost board has decided not to provide this option until we are able to monitor those comments closely, and remove any that lack civility.

The CVPost has formed partnerships with Wisconsin Public Radio and with Northern Spirit Radio, an Eau Claire-based nonprofit that syndicates educational and inspirational radio programming focused on peace and social justice to more than 20 stations. We have informal working arrangements with the student paper at UW-Eau Claire and with the university’s journalism program, to display some student-produced news stories during the academic year. We have also held preliminary discussions about cooperative arrangements with Chippewa Valley Community TV and with one of the commercial TV stations in town.

Revenue Model

Our revenue model, which is slowly being implemented, includes securing public memberships ranging from $50 to $500. We are developing plans to recruit 200 nonprofit organizations that would become members of the CVPost at a minimum annual level of $50. We also need to secure underwriting and sponsorship for the CVPost website from the for-profit sector. These efforts have been hindered by the lack of a development coordinator to oversee them.      

If learning journalistic style, or improving what you already know, appeals to you, we’d love to hear from you. If helping to provide information that’s now missing from the “marketplace of ideas” appeals to you, please get in touch. I can be reached at adgordon@charter.net or via the CVPost’s Gmail address, at cvpostwi@gmail.com.  

Craft Talk Rewind: Aimee Johnson's "Your Novel Starts Now"

by Karissa Zastrow

The Chippewa Valley Writers Guild’s second craft talk of the season featured Aimee Johnson, the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Municipal Liaison for Eau Claire.  Aimee spoke to Guild members to help motivate them for one of the most challenging, but rewarding experiences writers put themselves through: National Novel Writing Month.

During the month of November, writers across the world challenge themselves to write 50,000 words in 30 days. To reach this goal, they have to write approximately 1,667 words a day, which is about three-to-four pages. Some people might wonder why writers do this to themselves. To some, it may not sound like fun, but to others, it is thrilling. It’s that feeling of the urgent deadline getting closer and closer that make your fingers fly across the keyboard in a mad rush to get everything from your brain out on paper before it’s lost. It’s turning off that voice in your head that makes you doubt every word you write. It’s about pushing yourself to finally set aside time to write instead of putting it off until later. It’s about living your dream of being able to say, “I am a writer.”

Getting started is the easy part. Sign up at nanowrimo.org and create a profile. Then choose Eau Claire as your home region to get updates and information from Aimee Johnson. Next, add your friends who are also participating in NaNoWriMo. Through this website, you can keep track of your word count using the graph, see where your friends are at, win badges and other prizes, and be a part of the NaNoWriMo community.

During her craft talk, Aimee Johnson offered a list of helpful hints, tips and tools for those wanting to join in on the fun:

• Do not try to take on anything else during November—just writing.
• Let everyone know, especially those you live with, because you’re going to be missing in action. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from family, roommates, and friends.
• Avoid time wasters like social media, your phone, and Netflix. Aimee suggests getting a social media blocker if it is hard for you to be away from your social media accounts.
• Attend write-ins. On average, writers who attend the write-ins write more words than those who do not. Write-ins tend to help writers stay focused on their work instead of getting distracted, but they also get their social fix at the same time.
• Write everywhere. You’ll be surprised where you can write!
• Keep a notebook and something to write with on you at all times—you never know when creativity will strike.
• Write now, edit later and don’t delete anything.
• Take care of yourself.
• Find things that motivate you: Create a playlist or read your favorite short story or whatever makes you want to write.
• Don’t let people read your work.
• Reach out to others. People can help motivate you more than you think.
• Most importantly: Don’t give up. No matter how far behind you get or how bad you think your writing is, keep going.

Now that you have all these fantastic tips, find your nearest computer and sign-up to participate in NaNoWriMo! We’ll be there, cheering you on through every cup of coffee, every late night, and every word. So ready, set, write!

Falling, Falling, Falling: September Scribble’s winning entry

By Olivia Sitter 

We met when branches were barren and the air nipped our skin. Despite the layers of snow and ice that came, our friendship grew in the cold. In our insulated forms, we shared our interests, testing to see if the ground was too slick for us to tread.

When buds and baby new leaves unfurled, our hands entwined. Every breath of fresh blossom-kissed air fluttered my heart. Your gaze trained on mine warmed me in the still cold nights. I felt I was waking up after a long slumber; everything was brighter, more vibrant, and filled with life.

Something was blooming inside us. It flourished over the months, as the trees spread wide their arms. We basked in their cool shade as bees hummed nearby, cicadas sang to the sky, and birds sighed. We stole kisses with the breeze and drifted through sleepy days. We were curtained by maples, oaks, cottonwoods, safe from showers and thunder.

The verdant smells of foliage dried to a crisp; the air crackled. Yellows stained through green, our hearts beating the same. Oranges flamed, igniting our certainty. Reds and browns calmed our pace but softly. While the world prepared to sleep, we were wide awake, watching it all.

Hand in hand, we strode through crunching piles of discarded shade. We said nothing, but we knew, we knew. At a fallen tree spanning a dip in the ravine, we climbed. Together, triumphant we made it to the other side, the sharp breath of autumn coloring our cheeks. 

Grinning, exhilarated by the height we had achieved, we looked back across the trunk to where the path meandered through the forest. Down to where fallen leaves promised to catch us if we chose to jump or happened to tumble. And back to each other’s face, our eyes alive, alive, alive.

We knew, we knew. Balanced above the ground, on this precipice of wood and hope, you knelt, as I knew you would. And me, lighter than a milkweed seed, clung to the branches and said yes, as you knew I would. As one, we traversed the span, our feet crunching on the stable path again, new with the possibilities of the future.

We knew winter was harsh, but we walked on, knowing we would weather it together. 

Image: Albert Bridge

Finding the Strange Around You: Writing sci-fi and fantasy in the world outside your window

By Charles Payseur (above)

If there's one bit of writing advice that I've heard a lot, it's "write what you know." As a writer of science fiction and fantasy, people might think I just throw that tidbit out the airlock. But in some ways because I write science fiction and fantasy, my relationship with writing what I know is somewhat complicated, but no less real. The strange and luminous are not limited to far away planets or settings with dragons and wizards. There is magic all around us, and for those willing to look and imagine, there are stories there as well.

Now, this all is not to say that I don't like writing space operas and second world fantasies where the setting…doesn't really resemble Eau Claire, Wisconsin, or really any place I've lived. However, just because the stage is different doesn't mean that the experiences are galaxies apart. Feelings of isolation and longing that one experiences here, of being caught in between larger places as Eau Claire is caught between larger cities, are feelings that can easily be taken into almost any setting imaginable. Similarly, knowledge of rivers and farms and wineries and orchards is something that can inform almost any story, speculative or not. Some of my favorite stories take something achingly familiar and complicate it by setting it against a fantastical backdrop. Speculative fiction isn't so much an excuse to write the things that you don't know so much as an invitation to take what you know and take it out of its familiar context. Micro-breweries on Mars will feel more real if the writer knows a bit about micro-breweries first, and the Chippewa Valley offers a great many amazing places to gain some first-hand knowledge.

And that's not the only option. Bringing the strange and magical to Eau Claire or any other Wisconsin town can be fun and fascinating. Post-apocalyptic stories, for example, set here and written by people who know the area will feel more authentic than if a writer living in Wisconsin tried to imagine what the same post-apocalypse would look like in New York or California. Similarly, just because every superhero story seems to take place in a large city doesn't mean that a young person getting superpowers on a farm or in a smaller town in Wisconsin isn't interesting. Indeed, telling a more local story can be more personal and meaningful for writers surrounded by the world they're writing about because it gives them the chance to explore the issues and flavors that make their home unique, but in a way that is new and different, bold and speculative. Writers are tasked with combing through the possibilities of human experience and finding stories that will connect with and move their readers. This is no less true of speculative fiction writers--it's just that what is considered "possible" is greatly expanded. And with that added freedom, with all the nearly infinite options for setting and populating a story, sometimes it helps to start close to home.

And let's face it, the Chippewa Valley is a compelling setting, one with a diversity of peoples and perspectives and experiences and histories, all of which can lend to great sci-fi and fantasy. Want to tell a monster story about hodags rampaging through the downtown? Or about a troupe of local ghost hunters finding a bit more than they bargained for while checking out a haunted site in Chippewa Falls? Maybe Paul Bunyan is alive and well and actually a very good chainsaw artist? Or perhaps in an alternate history steamships fill the skies of the Wisconsin Territory in preparation for a very different War of 1812? 

The advice to "write what you know" is something I find very helpful, but only so far as it's not used as a chain, as a leash. Write what you know, yes, but also write what you don't know. Because in between the two is the gulf where art is made. Especially with science fiction and fantasy, there are countless worlds to explore, but that doesn't mean you should ignore the one just outside your window.

Bring on the Mass Hysteria: War of the Worlds reenactment set for Oct. 28

By Alison Wagener

We interrupt this blog post to bring you a special announcement: 

A team of writers, educators, and lovers of widespread panic have come together to recreate one of the most well-known radio broadcasts in American history. The group, spearheaded by BJ Hollars and UW-Eau Claire physics and astronomy professor Paul Thomas, will perform a live-action version of Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds.”

The performance began as BJ’s idea to invite people to simply listen to a recording of the original 1938 broadcast. But Paul had other plans. 

"What I pitched back at him was that we'd actually do the radio show, not just listen to it,” Paul said. “And he typically enough said, 'Alright! Let's do it!'"

Orson Welles’ radio broadcast was intended as a modern day recreation of H.G. Wells’ 1898 science fiction novel War of the Worlds. The seasoned 23-year-old didn’t plan the show as a large-scale hoax, but simply as a Halloween episode of the American radio drama anthology series The Mercury Theatre on Air. The episode was broadcasted on CBS on October 30, 1938.

The October 28 reenactment will technically celebrate the 78th anniversary of Welles’ broadcast, almost to the day. But most people don’t know it was originally a Halloween show. 

“Orson Welles makes a joke at the end, as sort of a low-key joke,” Paul said. “He tries to diffuse the tension set up and he says, 'Well, this is the Mercury Theatre's equivalent of dressing up in a sheet and shouting boo.' So it was intentionally a Halloween show from the beginning.”

Welles presented the story as a live first-person account of what he thought was a large meteor striking the tiny town of Grovers Mill, New Jersey. But then, extraterrestrial beings emerged from metal canisters at the crash site. The increasingly panicked newscaster documented the night’s terror as the Martians attacked all surrounding humans with heat-ray guns and even killed a troop of 7,000 National Guardsmen.

The History Channel reports that the fictitious program caused widespread real-life consequences, causing listeners to flee from their homes, pray for their families, and in some extreme urban legends, take their own lives.

Perhaps as many as a million radio listeners believed that a real Martian invasion was underway. Panic broke out across the country. In New Jersey, terrified civilians jammed highways seeking to escape the alien marauders. People begged police for gas masks to save them from the toxic gas and asked electric companies to turn off the power so that the Martians wouldn’t see their lights. One woman ran into an Indianapolis church where evening services were being held and yelled, “New York has been destroyed! It’s the end of the world! Go home and prepare to die!”

But it’s likely that accounts such as this have been incredibly exaggerated. Slate reported in 2013 that major newspapers fabricated the hysteria, hoping to discredit radio as a credible news source. Either way, the broadcast had a lasting impact on American radio and skyrocketed Welles to critical success.

"I'm an astronomer who studies the planets, and for me, the Orson Welles radio show and the H.G. Wells novel that preceded it are landmark works,” Paul said, later adding, “Wells essentially mapped the history of imperialism onto what he thought was the most advanced technological civilization of the time, but was utterly powerless against the Martians. Orson Welles revamped that into a pre-Second World War version, where the power of the U.S. Army, Airforce, and all of our guns are totally insignificant.”

BJ has taken on the role of director, and rehearsals are well underway. Paul’s first step was to cast himself as Orson Welles, a role he has always dreamt of fulfilling.

"Playing a genius like Orson Welles is a real treat. I sort of hoped that sometime in my life I'd get a chance to do that,” Paul said. “I just didn't see how it would happen… I'm humbled and incredibly proud to be a tiny part of all this. It's just great. It's a hoot, it works dramatically, and doing it with BJ, that's just an even bigger thrill.”

The rest of the cast includes Rob Reid, a professor of education studies at UW-Eau Claire, Ken Szymanski and Jason Splichal, English teachers at South Middle School, and Debbie Brown, volunteer and event coordinator at WPR’s Eau Claire studio.

The performance will be held on Friday, October 28 at 7 p.m. at Volume One and will last for around 50 minutes. Before the show, resident Orson Welles expert Jim Rybicki will give a background on the filmmaker’s life and how the broadcast sent him to stardom.

Paul warned that public excitement for the event has been pretty high, but the Volume One gallery only holds around 30 people. Securing a seat might require showing up relatively early. Their plan is to allow guests to flow into the rest of the Volume One space and play the show over the speakers, giving the rest of the audience a true radio recreation. 

For those looking for a Halloween costume opportunity a few days early, attendees are eagerly invited to join the actors in dressing in 1930s garb. The cast will be dress in not only the get-up you would associate with those working at a radio station in 1938, but also the everyday outfits of the horrified characters their roles portray. Paul said he hopes acting out the drama so realistically will get to the heart of the iconic story: an account of destruction, fear, and helplessness at the precipice of colonization.

“We're gonna try to make it fresh. One of the reasons I wanted to do it—I mean you can't beat Orson Welles, you can't beat the Mercury Theatre—but I wanted to make it fresh and raw,” Paul said. “And every time we rehearse, that's what we're trying to aim for... It won't, I hope, seem familiar and easy to you. It'll seem a bit edgy. That's where we want to be, that's our goal.

We’re Starting a Journal!

Chippewa Valley Literary Journal Kick-Off Meeting; Thursday, October 27th; L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library; 6:00 PM Pizza, 6:30 Meeting; Everyone is welcome! 

By Eric Rasmussen (above)

Supporting writers is not hard. Anyone can do it. Make sure your writer has enough food and water. Writers can get lonely during the day, so creating a community of writers will help them all thrive. You’ll need to brush your writer to avoid knots and excessive shedding. Occasional praise will also help your writer grow and succeed.

And, after meeting their basic needs, if at all possible, give them a place to publish their writing. They work very hard at it, many with the hope that they can share their words and ideas with the world.

The Chippewa Valley Writers’ Guild exists to support writers, which means it’s time to take that next step. We are going to publish some of your writing. With your help, we are starting a literary journal with a local focus. Its pages will be filled with fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from people with some connection to the Chippewa Valley, and we plan to work like the dickens to promote your work and provide something worthwhile to everyone – our submitters, the authors we publish, and the larger community.

We would be honored if you would help. We need everything. We need ideas, for the title (we like Barstow & Grand, but what about The Falsetto Woodsman?), for the submission guidelines, for the marketing and production and distribution, for all of it. We need people to read submissions and help edit the final product. We need your help spreading the word when submissions open, and most importantly, we need you to send in your work so we can fill issue #1 with the incredible quality we’ve seen over the past year.

Please join us on October 27th at 6:00 p.m. in the Eau Claire room at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library for our Kick-Off Meeting and Planning Session. We’ll provide the pizza and soda if you provide your thoughts and opinions. Whether you’d like to be a part of the team that puts the journal together, or you have ideas you’d like to share, or you just want to hang with a bunch of folks about to embark on something cool, we’d love to have you.

There is nothing quite like the feeling of fostering a writer all the way through to maturity. By helping build an outlet for local creatives to publish their work, you can experience that feeling too.

Write your way through November with NaNoWriMo

By Aimee Johnson

NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is an annual literary marathon that involves writing 50,000 words during the month of November. The idea behind this insane sounding challenge is to pack away the biggest foils many writers and would-be writers struggle with—procrastination and self-criticism. Chris Baty, author of No Plot? No Problem! and the mad genius behind NaNoWriMo, kicked off the event in 1999 when he discovered the power of a break neck deadline for sticking to a writing habit.

Since then, NaNoWriMo has swept the writing nation during the month of November. Municipal liaisons for the event, such as myself, act as regional chapter heads and organize local events. One such event is my upcoming Craft Talk “Our Novel Starts Here: How to Tackle National Novel Writing Month” held on Thursday, October 20 from 7pm - 9pm at the L.E. Philips Public Library. At the Craft Talk, I’ll explain how NaNoWriMo works, what to do prepare for it, and some sweet tips and tricks for staying on track.

In addition to the Craft Talk, the WriMos of Eau Claire will be hosting a bunch of events for participating writers throughout the month:

The Kick-Off Party is a great opportunity for interested local writers to get together before NaNoWriMo actually starts. It's a chance to have questions answered, get to know your NaNoWriMo municipal liaison, get important dates for your region, play games, plot your novel, and pick up your official NaNoWriMo swag. This year it will be held at the L.E. Phillips Library in the Eau Claire Room on Saturday, October 29 from 1pm - 4pm.  

Write-ins are staple events held throughout November. Participants gather to work on their novels as a group. It’s a perfect way to boost your word count by writing alongside your fellow WriMos. The combined energy of a room full of writers is a powerful thing—come harness some of that for your own novel writing success! Dates and times for Eau Claire’s write-ins can be found here.

Night of Writing Dangerously is a mega write-in and fundraiser! This is the only NaNoWriMo event that you have to pay to attend, but it's for a good cause. The money goes to NaNoWriMo and in turn funds literacy programs. We’ll have word-sprints, contests, and a candy potluck. You don't want to miss out on the fun. It will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation Social Hall Saturday, November 19 from 10pm - 2am. If you’re interested, register by emailing me at aimeedbj@gmail.com.

The Wrap-Up Party is held after the event ends and allows participants to celebrate the end of our writing marathon, congratulate, commiserate, play games, and get chance to talk about our future novel plans. We will meet at The Pub Bar and Grill in Action City on Sunday, December 4 from 12:30 - 3:30pm.  

To stay on top of the word count goal, participants have to write 1,667 words, or about 3 pages, every single day. The benefits include a permission slip to put writing at the top of your to-do list, living out the fantasy of being a "real" writer, if only for 30 days, and discovering that a few stolen minutes to work on your novel quickly add up into pages and chapters that might not normally have been written without such a motivator. 

Turn off your inner editor, sign up at NaNoWriMo.org, and come join us this November!

Craft Talk Rewind: Erik Hane’s “Ushering Your Book into the World”

By Karissa Zastrow

The Chippewa Valley Writer’s Guild kicked off their second season with guest speaker Erik Hane from Red Sofa Literary to discuss submitting to literary agents and how to find the right agent for you and your work.    

One of the first things Hane discussed during his craft talk was that writers should not be intimidated by literary agents. Typically, the person on the other end of that dreaded e-mail is a writer just like you, who will one day need to find an agent to represent their work. The important thing to remember when submitting to agents is to not be discouraged by rejections. While it is taxing to get rejection after rejection, Hane emphasized that the rejections are not reflections of your work, but rather that what you have written may not be the best fit for that agent.

Hane described the relationship between agents and writers as an equal partnership. The agent has to feel like he or she can have an interpersonal relationship with the writer since they will be working closely together for quite some time. The agent’s job is to keep everything on track from creating a social media presence for the author, editing the author’s work, advocating for the author, and explaining the whole process. Many agents work on commission and unless the book is sold, no one gets paid, so it is in everyone’s best interest that the agent feels confident in the relationship with the author and the author’s work.

One of the main topics at the craft talk was the query letter, which is most often an e-mail sent to an agent advocating your writing. This is not an opportunity to send your manuscript, but instead pitch who you are and what your book is like. Query letters should be brief (3-4 paragraphs) with a short author bio near the end, and information on your novel. According to Hane, agents love when it feels like the author has thought about where their book would fit in the current market. Don’t be afraid to name comparable titles that are similar to the novel you are pitching. The key here is to point to a book that is like yours, but explain what sets it apart and what makes it attractive to your audience. 

Hane offered some crucial information on the dos and don’ts of query letters:

• He stressed that these letters should be personalized. In the e-mail you should use the agent’s name and explain why you would want to send it to them. 

• Many agents include a paragraph on what they are looking for and what piques their interest on the website, so do your research before submitting your work. 

• Do not send a query letter to more than one agent at an agency at a time. This could lead to conflicts within their company and it puts everyone involved in an uncomfortable position. 

• Before you sent the query letter, your work should be completed and edited. It should be as polished as it can be before even thinking about submitting a query letter. 

• Never describe your novel as “recently completed” because it sounds like it has not been edited or like it has not even been completed yet. 

Using his professional knowledge as an agent along with his personal understanding as a writer, Hane encourages writers to look at the industry from a different perspective. Remember, the agent-writer relationship is a partnership, not one where the agent or the writer has the upper hand. Instead of getting discouraged when your work is rejected, refocus and tell yourself, “I guess that agent is not the right fit,” and start looking for another agent who might be perfect for you and your work. After all, you have worked hard to get your work to where you want it to be, why would you want someone not as invested in your work as you are?

7 Questions with Joe Niese

By Alison Wagener

As the World Series quickly approaches, what is a literary organization to do? Interview the Chippewa Valley’s only baseball and writing double-hitter, that’s what! 

Joe Niese is a local librarian and member of the Society for American Baseball Research. His articles on baseball have appeared in The National Pastime and Nine: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture. His first book, Burleigh Grimes: Baseball’s Last Legal Spitballer, was published in 2013 by McFarland Press. He raised the funds to publish his most recent release, Handy Andy: The Andy Pafko Story, through a more nontraditional route.

I sat down with Joe via email to chat about his work, recent literary award, and predictions for the biggest baseball game of the year.

So why baseball? How does one find themselves in a career of writing nonfiction baseball novels?

First, I’d love to make writing my career, but, alas, I don’t think I’ll be quitting my day job anytime soon. As far as baseball goes—it has been a part of my life and identity for as long as I can remember. I played it, watched it and read about it. About a decade ago I started writing articles about local baseball history. Several years ago, one of my articles snowballed into a book.

How do you think your stories resonate with your readers?

No other sport is as tied to its history as baseball is. In turn, fans enjoy reading about players from the past—whether it be a Hall of Famer, or a favorite player from their childhood. For my two books, I think it is fun to read about a person from western Wisconsin that reached the pinnacle of their professional. 

I hear that your latest release, Handy Andy: The Andy Pafko Story, recently won an award – could you tell us more about that?

Yes, the book won a bronze in Foreword Reviews’ 2015 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award-Sports (Adult Non-Fiction). I had done things a little backwards. My first title (Burleigh Grimes: Baseball’s Last Legal Spitball), was published by a traditional publisher. For Handy Andy, I self-published through a successful Kickstarter campaign. It was a rewarding experience and nice to be recognized for my efforts.

You’ve now written books about two pretty extraordinary baseball players from Wisconsin. How did you choose who to write about?

Frankly, it was proximity that attracted me to Grimes and Pafko. Both grew up within an hour of my hometown, Eau Claire and both of them got their start in professional ball in Eau Claire, too. Of course, you start researching their lives and you ask “How has someone not done this already?” Both were a pleasure to write about. 

What should your readers expect from you next?

Oh, I have endless book ideas, but right now my efforts are focused on chronicling the life of Charles “Gus” Dorais from Chippewa Falls. He was one of the most influential football minds of the first half of the 20th century. His claim to fame is popularizing the forward pass at the University of Notre Dame with his good friend, roommate and receiver, Knute Rockne, but there is so much more than that. I hope that it will be available around this time in 2018. 

What’s your favorite local baseball story?

I don’t have one story that I can pinpoint, but, personally, I like to look back on the great times I had playing sandlot ball with my two brothers and the eight-ten guys from the neighborhood we grew up in. Every generation feels like theirs was the end of the innocence, but, those memories are wonderful. 

As the Chippewa Valley’s baseball expert, I have to ask—who’s going to win the World Series? 

Well, I don’t think I can take the crown of the area’s baseball expert. There are plenty who have forgotten more than I’ll ever know. But, as far as the World Series goes, I’d like to see the Cubs and Red Sox, with the Cubs winning in six. 

Well there you have it, folks! Be sure to check out Joe’s books, which can be found through his website and at the Local Store. 

Scribble (9-14-16): “Falling, Falling, Falling”

Each month we’ll offer a low-stakes, writing prompt applicable to all genres. Upon completing the prompt, send your piece (500 words or less please) to chippewavalleywritersguild@gmail.com for potential publication in next month’s newsletter!

Without further adieu, “Falling, Falling, Falling” ...

September is here, and with it comes one of the top four most beautiful seasons in the Chippewa Valley: Fall. The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are starting to drop (just a little), and the leaves won’t be green for much longer. Often, the transition between summer and fall happens so gradually that it’s hard to tell when one season starts and the other begins.

Write a story about the moment you know summer has turned into fall. Is it the first sight of a golden tree? A trip to the apple orchard? Or has it already passed with the first day of school?

Something for Everyone at the 2016 Chippewa Valley Book Festival

Lucie Amundsen will share stories of learning to raise chickens at the 2016 book festival.

By Chris Kondrasuk, CVBF marketing co-chair

Mysteries? Historical fiction? Nonfiction? I like them all, which is why I belong to three book clubs —and why the Chippewa Valley Book Festival is right up my alley. I can hear authors of all kinds of books right here in Eau Claire and the surrounding area. 

From this year's selection of authors, I’ve already read a mystery book (The Guise of Another by Allen Eskens), one whose main character is an early Chinese empress (The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel), one that takes place in the South (Mudbound by Hillary Jordan), and one about the influence of being born to a mother in prison (Prison Baby by Deborah Jiang-Stein).

And that’s just a few of the more than a dozen that will be presenting.

I love the chance to hear the authors talk about their works and what inspires them, and that's what the Chippewa Valley Book Festival is all about. Barbara Massaad will talk about refugees and Syria at a Lebanese-inspired dinner at the Altoona Country Club; Lucie Amundsen will share stories of learning to raise chickens and sell eggs at L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library; poets Rita Mae Reese and Ron Wallace will share readings with us. I loved Sandy Tolan’s book The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, and now he will be here to talk about refugees and his latest book Children of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard Land. What a wealth of diversity! I try to attend as many sessions as possible.

In addition to author presentations, there are writing workshops and a panel on publishing. Programs are held around the Chippewa Valley, and everything other than meals and workshops are free to attend. I know that I want to attend the cooking demonstration of recipes from Barbara Massaad’s Soup for Syria which will be held at Forage. I could meet Jack Mitchell, one of the earliest employees of Wisconsin Public Radio, at a lunch at the Chippewa Valley Museum. And I definitely want to try chicken with freekeh, a Lebanese inspired dish, at the Eau Claire Country Club. Lebanese food in Eau Claire? This is a real opportunity! 

At the end of the festival, I’ll still have a pile of books to read, but I know I will already be looking forward to the next year’s authors.

And not to forget the children. There are writing workshops, authors in the schools, and even an opportunity for aspiring authors to read their own stories. I’ve been the host for visiting school authors in past book festivals, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The kids are so excited to meet the author of a favorite book.

If I’ve piqued your interest at all, details are available on our website, cvbookfest.org. The Book Festival will be held from October 10-20, and whether you live in Eau Claire, Bloomer, Chippewa Falls, Menomonie, Altoona, or any place in between, there should be a program that appeals to you.

Start your own pile of must-read books now!

10 Things I Learned at Cirenaica Last Summer

Local educator Ken Szymanski reads his work at the Cirenaica Writing for Radio residency

By Amy Renshaw

This summer, I had the pleasure of hanging out in a log cabin with a group of skillful nonfiction writers in a residency program organized by the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild. Over the course of a fun weekend, I learned a few things. 

1. It’s pronounced SEAR-IN-NAY-KUH. 

It means “siren of the sea,” according to fishermen from Uruguay. I’m not sure why the fishermen have a language that differs from people with other occupations, but I did feel pulled away from my mundane responsibilities to focus on writing. However you pronounce it, it’s an alluring concept.  

2. Everybody struggles with first drafts. 

Author and former UW-Eau Claire professor John Hildebrand shared early drafts from essayists E.B. White and George Orwell, and we compared them to the finished versions. Studying only perfected, final drafts is like trying to learn construction by only looking at finished houses, John said. The key is to keep working until you’ve built the best piece that you possibly can.  

3. Put more of yourself into your work. 

Nonfiction is telling the truth, but there are lots of ways to tell it. Bring in your own opinions, describe things in your own words, study photographs to get visual impressions, and make your work uniquely original. Even a biography that’s been told and retold dozens of times can take on new life with a fresh perspective.  

4. Provide interesting context. 

It’s the privilege of the storyteller or historian to be able to see the big picture. If your subject lived through wars, persecution, or social upheaval, spell it out. Talk about the location, culture, and setting of the story.  

5. Help readers to envision the characters. 

A few words describing each person who’s named in the piece can enable the reader to form a clear mental picture. If the person isn’t key to the story, don’t give a name. In a memoir or personal essay, remember that you’re a character, too. 

6. Recognize the value of feedback from others. 

Hearing what works and what doesn’t work from supportive people who care deeply about writing is immensely valuable. In addition to the group at the weekend residency, the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild website offers connections to writing groups in a variety of genres and styles. 

7. Read your stuff out loud. 

At Cirenaica, one evening featured a reading that was open to family and friends. Beforehand, UW-Eau Claire professor Allyson Loomis shared helpful tips. She suggested reading at a slower pace than usual, practicing ahead of time, and timing your performance (5-7 minutes was the target length that evening). Allyson also encouraged including a “potato chip”—one tasty idea that makes the audience think or laugh. 

8. Less is more. 

Most writers were urged to consider cutting out early pages or paragraphs, or even chopping off the ending, to focus on the compelling action in our stories. Preparing for the reading on Saturday night was a useful exercise in trimming the excess.   

9. It’s never too late to start. 

Some members of our group were from the retired set, and their stories were fresh and appealing (one person wrote about riding a bike around his Oahu neighborhood during the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941). We all have memorable experiences that others will enjoy hearing about.  

10. Cold oatmeal tastes a lot better than it sounds. 

Seriously. Mix uncooked oatmeal with milk, yogurt, fruit, and nuts, and put it in the fridge overnight. It could fuel your genius.

7 Questions with Jon Loomis

Photo: Volume One Magazine 

By Alison Wagener

Jon Loomis wants you to know that happiness is fleeting. But not to worry – in a few short days, you can simultaneously bask in the moment, look nostalgically upon your past, and celebrate your own impending and unavoidable death while reading his latest book of poems, The Mansion of Happiness. To preview his upcoming release, I sat down with Jon (albeit 300 miles apart and via email) to talk about writing, happiness, and the man behind the mansion.

Q: From the poems I've seen from your collection, you've spanned quite a lot of topics and themes, from sandhill cranes to suicide, from Reagan masks to Thanksgiving. For you, what - if anything - ties these poems together?

A: The human condition.  Which is to say, this book is a love song for the present, in which we are reasonably happy—or at least not suicidal—and not terribly unwell, and the children are doing okay and we’re maybe even, at this point in our lives, almost prosperous, but what’s looming on the horizon is not good, at all.  It’s global warming and ocean acidification and Zika virus and Donald Trump and heart disease, and all the horrors of our age bearing down on us.  So enjoy the moment, because it won’t last, and what’s trailing along behind it is going to suck, and if you’re lucky you’ll die before it gets here.  So it’s a cheerful book, is what I’m saying, about the nature of happiness, and what a fragile construction that can be.  

Q: Who would you say you write for?

A: About 20 years ago I was running a reading series on Cape Cod, and the first or second week of the series we had two very famous and engaging readers—a poet and a memoirist.  And just as I’m about to shut the doors and go do the introductions, a big silver Cadillac pulls into the parking lot and a guy jumps out.  He’s kind of stocky and he’s dressed for the golf course, circa 1978—plaid pants, white belt, white shoes—the full Cleveland, pretty much, and he’s smoking a big cigar.  And he asks me who’s reading that night, so I tell him.  And he says, “Are you sure?  I thought I read in the paper that this guy Jon Loomis was reading.  I’ve been following his work and it really gets to me."  And I said, sorry, no—it’s a famous and dynamic poet and memoirist—should be a great reading.  And he thinks for a second and says, “Nah,” and gets back in his car and drives away.  And I realized that he was my audience—the man in the white belt.  And he was not a guy who would put up with any bullshit.  So that’s who I write for, pretty much—smart people who may not be academics or other poets.  Not that there’s anything wrong with poets and academics—I just don’t care as much about whether they like my work.    

Q: How would you describe The Mansion of Happiness in one sentence?

A: It’s a cheerful book about the nature of happiness.  And death.  Two sentences—sorry. 

Q: Why did you feel compelled to write this collection?

A: After my first two books of poems came out, I spent about eight years writing novels, which is a very different kind of work.  But all during that time I knew I wanted to go back to poetry at some point.  Long form fiction is hard—it requires lengthy stretches of one’s full attention—you have to keep the whole thing in your head, and there are a lot of moving parts—and I found that after three novels I was kind of exhausted by the process.  Poems are hard, too—they’re fussier in their obsessions—but you can work on them in shorter bursts.  Perfect for someone like me, who has terrible adult ADD.

Q: Mortality is at the forefront of many of your poems, but your tone towards the subject shifts a lot throughout the collection: the feeling of desperation in "Sandhill Cranes in Migration," the blind optimism of "Thanksgiving," and the solemn peacefulness of "If I Come Back." What was your reasoning in presenting these different approaches? 

A: Well, I’m not sure I’d call “Thanksgiving” an optimistic poem—those white sails are headed our way.  But yeah—I think as a whole the collection is pretty dark, though that gets mixed up with a certain amount of manic hilarity at times.  It’s about doing the police in different voices.  Bonus points if you get the reference.

Q: Out of the collection, would you say you have a favorite poem? Which one, and why?

A: I’m not sure I have a favorite.  My wife likes “When the Rapture Came,” which works for me.

Q: What do you want your readers to take away from The Mansion of Happiness?

A: Attention to the moment.  A brief period of putting down your phone, maybe, and seeing what’s around you.  Being happy with what you’ve got, because it’s probably not going to get any better than this.  A blend of appreciation and moderate pessimism, I guess.

Mark your calendars! Author Jon Loomis will be hosting a reading and book release for The Mansion of Happiness at the Volume One Gallery on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. More details about the event can be found here. If you miss the release, be sure to pick up a copy at The Local Store or the UW-Eau Claire bookstore. 

For more information about Jon Loomis and The Mansion of Happiness, please see these two wonderful articles published by Volume One and the Leader-Telegram.