Calling All Poets: An Interview with Saba Keramati

Elaina Myers

Poetry is one of the most beautiful types of literature in the world, but can also hold the most challenging forms to write. It can be easy to find yourself stuck in drafts of poetry that lose their intended impact, but have no fear because Saba Keramati is here.

 On Tuesday, April 5th Keramati is hosting a virtual poetry craft talk, “Kickstart Your Poetry: Experiments and Forms,” from 7 pm to 8 pm central time. This craft talk aims to help writers experiment with their existing drafts to bring a new life into them, whether that’s through form or voice.

““I am hoping that this craft talk inspires folks to let go of this idea that every draft needs to be perfect. I think folks get stuck in this mindset that if they write something and it doesn’t get published, then it is bad, but I want to show them that there is so much more they can do with every draft.””

— Saba Keramati

“I am hoping that this craft talk inspires folks to let go of this idea that every draft needs to be perfect,” said Keramati. “I think folks get stuck in this mindset that if they write something and it doesn’t get published, then it is bad, but I want to show them that there is so much more they can do with every draft.”

 To achieve this, Keramati plans to introduce poetry from poets that influence her, including Mag Gabbert and Noor Hindi, because she values the benefits writers gain from reading other work and finding tricks that they can then implement in their work. She also plans to present forms like the sestina and the ghazal to challenge you and show you new paths that your poetry can travel down. The revision process can be long and sometimes daunting for many poets, but Keramati stresses just how imperative it is to achieve the best version of a poem you possibly can.

 Keramati is not only an accomplished writer and editor at Sundog Lit (you can read more about her work at www.sabakeramti.com), but she also taught literature and creative writing classes at UC Davis. Aside from the amazing work she does in the literary world, she is also very passionate about social justice. She has served as a panelist for the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. “I really love poetry as an art form because I find it is one of the most freeing ways to express both anger and a hope for change,” said Keramati. “I think it is really important to look to activists we admire, especially for people of marginalized identities, because it is difficult to separate those experiences from your writing.”

 If you find yourself struggling with writer’s block, sitting on a poetry draft that has sucked all the inspiration out of you, or are just interested in trying your hand at poetry, I highly encourage you to register for Keramati’s craft talk because I guarantee you will leave with exactly what you were searching for.

Author Patrick McBride on His Teenage Years Spent Alongside The Milwaukee Bucks, Green Bay Packers, and the Milwaukee Brewers

In his teens, Patrick McBride worked for the Milwaukee Bucks, Green Bay Packers, and the Milwaukee Brewers from 1970-76.  No that’s not egregious typo—just proof that Pat may very well have been the “luckiest boy in the world.”

He worked inside the locker rooms of all 3 professional sports teams, and at the age of 18, became the youngest Equipment Manager and Assistant Trainer in professional sports history when he was named to those positions by the world champion Milwaukee Bucks in 1971.   He also worked as a student Assistant Trainer for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin-Waukesha.

“The book tells the story of a skinny kid lacking confidence and growing up in a large, dysfunctional family who finds mentors in the most unlikely place—the world of professional sports,” Pat shared in a recent interview. “As a 15 year old I entered a 25-word essay contest and became the Milwaukee Brewers first batboy; called the Milwaukee Bucks office and got a job on their bench; and hustled my way into a job with the Green Bay Packers. Though I met hundreds of stars and celebrities, presidents, governors and politicians, it was my mentors in the organizations that changed my life by giving me the confidence in myself and convincing me to go to medical school. Though struggling with Imposter Syndrome in my career, I became a professor and a Dean of a medical school.”

“The book tells the story of a skinny kid lacking confidence and growing up in a large, dysfunctional family who finds mentors in the most unlikely place—the world of professional sports,””

— Pat McBride on "The Luckiest Boy In The World"

Dr. McBride is an emeritus professor in the UW SMPH Department of Medicine's section of cardiovascular medicine and the Department of Family Medicine.  Dr. McBride directed the UW Hospital and Clinics' Preventive Cardiology program, and other clinical initiatives for people at risk for cardiovascular disease. He served as the UW SMPH Associate Dean for Students and the Associate Dean for Faculty. 

Join him for a reading and book signing at Pablo Center on Saturday, February 5 at 6PM.

He’ll also speak at First Congregational Church on Tuesday, February 8 at 6PM.

Books will be available for purchase.

On Witches, Spells, and Writing: A Craft Talk Preview with Kathryn Nuernberger

by Charlotte Gutzmer

Since the Middle Ages, humanity has been fascinated with the idea of magic and witches. Even today, Kathryn Nuernberger reminds us how witches throughout history and even into the modern day can inspire activism, understanding, and writing.

Kathryn Nuernberger is an essayist and poet who writes about the history of science and ideas, renegade women, plant medicines, and witches. Her latest book is The Witch of Eye, which is about witches and witch trials. She is also the author of the poetry collections, RUE, The End of Pink, and Rag & Bone, as well as a collection of lyric essays, Brief Interviews with the Romantic Past. Her awards include the James Laughlin Prize from the Academy of American Poets, an NEA fellowship, and notable essays in the Best American series. She teaches in the Creative Writing MFA program at University of Minnesota. This craft talk will be recorded for later viewing.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Kate about her book, The Witch of Eye, her experiences as a professor, and how witchcraft intersects with writing. Read on to learn all about how the history of magic impacts our modern society, how spells can be a form of literature, and how defiance can empower our craft. Then enjoy her virtual craft talk on November 14 at 7PM.

Charlotte Gutzmer:  Your book The Witch of Eye is a beautiful exploration of literature, history, and witchcraft; how do these historical accounts of witchcraft influence our modern society?

 Kathryn Nuernberger: We live in the future shaped by the past. Witch trials were part of that past – they were part of how our judicial system was conceived, of what we consider credible evidence and reasonable testimony was shaped. Some parts of our present judicial system are better now – our ancestors did at least learn from the Salem Witch trials that accepting spectral evidence in a court of law makes for nightmare scenarios in a community. But in other parts of our judicial system and our society more generally, it is also clear that many people haven’t learned much at all from past atrocities. While it’s true that white women are not demonized as witches nearly so often or so violently as they once were, lots of other people in our society are regularly described as monsters and demons and we see the consequences of that twisted perspective in the prevalence of police shootings of unarmed civilians, in hate crimes, and in countless other acts of bias all around us.

 CG:  In the description of your craft talk, you write that we “will explore how spells might be understood as a form of literature that calls activism, resistance, connection, and beauty into this world”. Could you write some more about spellcraft as a form of literature?

 KN: Spells are an important part of the oral tradition. Some of them use rhyme, rhythm, form in the same way a poem might. Another definition of a spell I really like is “words that make something happen,” which means we might interpret certain kinds of political writing as a form of spellcraft as well.

 CG: As a poet, how do you think that witchcraft intersects with lyric? In other words, how can our own writing be a form of magic?

 KN: Because a common definition for a spell is “words that make something happen,” it is not unreasonable to consider any act of writing to be a form of magic. I’m partial to the ones that offer readers a gift – insight or hope or solidarity or a plan for radical political transformation.

 CG:  How did learning about witches and accused witches influence growth in your writing?

 KN: Much of what I learned about accused witches came through my readings of testimonies given by the accused in court. In these moments the accused were in very precarious positions – anything they said might save their lives or condemn them. But also anything they confessed to might be an assertion of their integrity and autonomy as people or be a complete compromise and submission to an oppressive system. Most of the people I chose to write about had a moment of profound resistance in their testimony and I tried to learn from those moments how to live with integrity and courage. Sometimes they also showed brilliant ways to thwart and undermine an oppressive regime via the story you tell, and I tried to learn those lessons too.

 CG: As a professor in the University of Minnesota’s Creative Writing MFA program, how does your experience teaching affect your perspective on writing?

 KN: There’s nothing quite so inspiring as watching a student have an incredible “aha moment” about their own writing. Often I give advice I’ve given a hundred times before, but when that advice lands just right with a student and reveals something to them about their own writing, well to me it feels like I’m learning that strategy again for the first time as well. Students inspire me in many ways, sometimes through their own radical innovations and sometimes by reminding me how valuable it is to keep approaching the blank page every morning with a beginner’s mind that is open to possibilities and experimentation.

 CG: Your craft talk will discuss moments of defiance and resistance in witchcraft. How do these acts of defiance and resistance empower individuals, and how can they also empower our craft?

 KN: A lot of the spells I saw in the course of researching this book started with a description of a previous time the spell had worked. The logic seemed to be that you needed to have seen the magic work already, in order for the magic to work this time. I think that in order to imagine a more just future, it really helps to be able to find examples of that kind of justice already in place, either in small communities in the present moment or historically. Similarly, in order to engage in defiant acts of resistance against an oppressive regime, it helps to have seen someone do it before. In this book I wanted to create a catalogue of examples to make it possible to repeat the spell again, maybe better and stronger because there were examples in place of how it had previously worked, the next time around.

So what are you waiting for? Register today for Kathryn Nuernberger’s craft talk to take the next step in advancing your craft—both in writing and in magic.

Lyric Essays and Explosions: A Conversation with Matthew Gavin Frank

by Charlotte Gutzmer

We’ve all seen the classic action movie explosion sequence: beginning with the wide-angle shot where the building detonates, blossoming into a cloud of reds, oranges, and yellows, smoke pouring into the sky. At which point the hero always, always, turns away. But such a move extends beyond the Hollywood explosions.  In poet Alberto Rios’s piece “Some Extensions on the Sovereignty of Science”, he writes that “when something explodes, / Turn exactly opposite from it and see what there is to see.” Matthew Gavin Frank takes this advice to heart in his own writing, “turning away” from the subject matter in search of the more intriguing, bizarre, and extraordinary sources of inspiration—and you can, too!

Matthew Gavin Frank is the author of the nonfiction books, The Mad Feast: An Ecstatic Tour Through America’s Food, Preparing the Ghost: An Essay Concerning the Giant Squid and Its First Photographer, Pot Farm, Barolo, and Flight of the Diamond Smugglers; the poetry books, The Morrow Plots, Warranty in Zulu, and Sagittarius Agitprop, and 2 chapbooks. His heavily acclaimed work has been recognized by the New York Times, NPR, the New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, and more. On July 27th, join him in his CVWG craft talk: “Turning Away from the Explosion, Or, the Power of Free Association in the Lyric Essay”. 

I had the pleasure of chatting with Matthew Gavin Frank about his captivating books, about the new writing form of the lyric essay, and about his upcoming craft talk. Read on to learn all about creating balance in your writing and how the most fascinating stories can be found by turning away from the main subject.

Charlotte Gutzmer: In the description of your upcoming craft talk, you pose the question: “By ‘turning away’ from the subject matter with which we most urgently want to engage, are we able to capture our subject’s emotive power even more poignantly?” What are some of the advantages of approaching stories from these unexpected ways, and what can turning away from the main idea reveal?

Matthew Gavin Frank: Many of my favorite essays are struggling toward something, not presuming certainty.  In the essay, often, a presumption of certainty can seem boring. And aggressive.  And false.  Certainty often obscures a kind of truth, rather than illuminates it.  The act of “turning away from the explosion,” not only signifies that a writer is grappling—desperately and urgently—to make sense of often intense personal experience, but also signifies that the writer is interested in journeying toward that elusive sense by attempting to situate their own personal experience or obsession within a larger socio-cultural, natural, and/or historical context, in order to discover or revise or uncover meaning in personal experience.  It’s like forcing ourselves to glimpse the stars only via our peripheral vision, by which, of course, they appear the brightest to us.    

CG: Your nonfiction writing revolves around fascinating and extraordinary topics such as diamond-smuggling carrier pigeons and giant squids; where do you find the inspiration to write on these topics, and what kinds of stories are you generally drawn towards?

MGF: Hmm, I’m not entirely sure.  I think I’m pretty scattershot with regard to my obsessions, and I’m easily obsessed.  I have a decent capacity for surprise, oftentimes to a fault.  The giant squid book (Preparing the Ghost) began in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History when I saw the first-ever photograph of the giant squid (taken by Reverend Moses Harvey in St. John’s, Newfoundland in 1874; the image that rescued the beast from the realm of mythology and finally proved its existence; the one in which the carcass is draped over Harvey’s bathtub curtain rod in order to showcase its full size).  I desperately wanted to uncover the backstory behind the taking of the photograph, and of course, I became curious about the squid itself, and the ways in which we’ve variously engaged it over the years.  I wanted to know what the giant squid, and our reactions to it, could tell us about ourselves.  I became compelled by Harvey’s compulsions, and the sacrifices he had to make in order to chase them toward some nebulous end. And so, I lit out for Newfoundland to investigate further, to see what I could find out. 

The pigeon book (Flight of the Diamond Smugglers) began when I was visiting the Diamond Coast of South Africa, chatting deep into the night in a bar with a former diamond diver, over lots and lots of brandy.  He told me about the ways in which workers would sometimes use trained homing pigeons to smuggle diamonds out of the mines, and that if pigeons are overloaded with too much weight, they can lose their natural GPS, and begin landing at random.  This happened along coastal South Africa—diamond-bearing pigeons dropping from the sky onto the local beaches.  I couldn’t get that image out of my head.  A rain of birds, burdened with gems.  It was that image that eventually led me to investigate further. 

In answering this question, I’m starting to wonder how the act of traveling impacts my openness to potential subject matter, as if my nerve endings are more exposed and aroused when away from home. Traveling seems to intensify my penchant for self-reflection and self-pity, for loneliness, for the shoehorning of my own life into some larger socio-cultural context.  And all of these actions and desires— while traveling especially, and snapped out of my comfort zone— are likely misguided and obsessed with all the wrong beautiful things, and thereby terribly, heartbreakingly human.  And worth shuffling through on the page, via multiple drafts of course.  I don’t know.  This is a really long answer.

CG: As an acclaimed author of both nonfiction and poetry, how do you combine these distinct elements into what is known as the “lyric essay”?

 MGF: In the past, there was a real disconnect for me between the process of writing a poem, and the process of writing prose.  Not so much anymore.  As with the writing of poetry, much of the energy that fuels the writing of my essays is derived from the attempt to find the perfect ingredients necessary to bridge seemingly dissimilar bits of subject matter.  It’s wonderful: as writers, we have the power to manipulate connections between just about anything, no matter how seemingly dissimilar.  It just takes research, contemplation, imaginative alchemy, and the P.I.-style investigation to uncover that perfect “bridge” ingredient.  

CG: What are some of the greatest rewards and challenges of being a lyric essayist?

MGF: Sometimes, the essay needs to call out and re-examine our cultural narratives (and their desire to simplify the world for us) as illusory.  To call attention to the mess.  To restore a false simplicity to its innate complexity.  To agitate our readers’ expectations rather than to confirm them (as well as our own).  I suppose there’s both reward and challenge in forsaking easy, comforting answers, and instead embracing mystery.  Sometimes I have trouble separating these lines of thinking from the processes of writing and just plain general living.  

CG: How can a writer strike a balance between the “explosion” that is their subject matter and the associative subject matter that adds depth to their craft?

MGF: I’m not so sure that balance should be the goal here, but rather a carefully curated imbalance, maybe.  A symphonic, perhaps dissonant, kind of shuffling of the various bits of subject matter, which can sometimes be engaged via formal leaps (a braided essay, a segmented essay, an essay in the form of a syllabus, or in the form of an invented mathematical theorem, or in the form of series of love letters to multiple recipients across time and region and species, or in the form of a narrative map…).  

So, I’m not sure about balance.  I’m chronically imbalanced on the page, especially when drafting! I just try to keep moving forward.  I used to think that there was something wrong with this, and I kept grappling toward some semblance of balance (whatever that means), until I read this article by another writer (though I can’t recall who it is), about how such imbalance can be a good thing; how it can be electric and inspirational, and how that it’s precisely this sort of off-kilter and anxious state that oftentimes yields urgent and exciting work.  I really wish I could remember who wrote that article.  I’m sure if I was better balanced, my memory would be better as well!  And during the pandemic, I’ve learned to be gentler and more generous with myself and others, and not to fret too terribly over ephemeral and elusive and ever-malleable things like “balance.”  I’m not always successful at such ventures, but I’m trying.  

CG: While your craft talk will focus on “the power of association as an entry point into the lyric essay”, can these ideas still be incorporated into other writing forms and creative mediums?

MGF: Oh, of course.  Such ideas can be mapped over and onto just about any art form and medium, sure, but also onto any real aspect of navigating this life.  Going for a walk, watching birds, listening to the frogs, talking to the coupling dragonflies…  Being associative in this way is innate, isn’t it?  I mean: how to navigate all these stimuli?! Maybe it’s a matter of trusting in said associations and inflaming them, interrogating them, bringing them to the fore—being led around by the forces of whimsy and wonder. 

So what are you waiting for? Register today for Matthew Gavin Frank’s craft talk to learn all about how you, too, can turn away from the explosion and bring the inspiration of lyric essays into your craft.

On Love, Social Justice, and Poetry: An Interview with Angela Trudell Vasquez

by Charlotte Gutzmer

In a world fraught with conflict and injustice, Angela Trudell Vasquez grips her pen tightly, writing poems of healing, identity, and love. These magically captivating poems do more than simply warm the heart; they bring people together, fostering a prosperous community like no other.

Angela Trudell Vasquez is a Mexican-American writer and holds an MFA in poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Finishing Line Press published her third collection of poetry, In Light, Always Light, in 2019, and recently accepted her fourth collection, My People Redux, for publication. Her poems have appeared in the Yellow Medicine Review, The Slow Down, the Raven Chronicles, The Rumpus, on the Poetry Foundation’s website, and elsewhere. She is the current poet laureate of Madison, Wisconsin and the first Latina to hold the position. She recently co-edited a poetry anthology entitled Through This Door—Wisconsin in Poems, with current Wisconsin Poet Laureate, Margaret Rozga, and released it through her small press, Art Night Books, in November 2020. With poet Millissa Kingbird, she co-edited the Spring 2019 issue of the journal the Yellow Medicine Review. On July 29th, join her in her CVWG craft talk: “Poetry for the People Workshop”.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Angela about her poetry, her experience as the first Latina poet laureate, and about her upcoming craft talk; read on to learn all about incorporating themes of social justice and love into your writing, about writing poems of witness and share, and more!

Charlotte Gutzmer: The About Place Journal describes your poetry as a medium for “highlighting love and social justice”. How can one incorporate these themes into poetry, and how does the process of writing and publishing these poems affect writers and readers?

Angela Trudell Vasquez: Wow, that's really nice of them. I write what I feel and have been an activist from a young age marching with my parents for farmworkers' rights with Cesar Chavez during the lettuce boycott as a child. We lived in Iowa City at the time, my Dad went to the University of Iowa on the GI Bill and we lived in family student housing with people from all over the world. The smell of curry floated into our open windows. My best friend was from Australia. My parents were founding members of the Chicano House and we spent lots of time there. I think I was born a feminist actually. Social Justice has long been a part of my life. We were a Mexican American family living in Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines, we had politics for breakfast as a family and discussed history and politics, not just partisan, we went deeper. I understood class, socio economics from an early age having a super big family with different levels of education and income. Personally, people need to write about what they are moved to write. What are your deep concerns? Your words? Poetry must come from a deep well of truths, your truths. Everyone has their own story to tell and people are endlessly fascinating to me. Poetry can close the gap between people, foster greater understanding, connection and healing. Poets can not be false. There are two things I will mention when I present in June, poetry of witness and documentary poetics. I come from a long line of literary ancestors who helped shape me into the poet I am today. The more we share our poems the more we learn from each other and the greater human experience for all. 

CG: In addition to your own writing, you also have experience editing with the literary journals Yellow Medicine Review and About Place Journal.  How have your experiences in publishing influenced your perspective of the world around you? 

ATV: I have also edited a few more collections including two zines from my time in Milwaukee, and one most recently with the former Wisconsin Poet Laureate, Margaret Rozga, in November 2020 entitled, Through This Door. I also have my own press with my husband, Art Night Books. I find publishing others to be a joy! It does take work. I have learned that when curating a collection it is important to let all the pieces come in before I start reviewing them, so that the pieces can be in conversation with one another. You put a call out to the universe and you get what is floating in the ether. You get exactly what you need. I have also discovered I love having a co-editor like Millissa Kingbird with the Yellow Medicine Review, and Peggy Rozga with Through This Door which along with the other titles came out of Art Night Books. I love talking art and poetry with co-editors and shaping something into being. I enjoy editing my own work and developing good editorial skills in my MFA program. I will say there are so many good writers out there doing their thing without lots of fanfare and it is nice to publish them alongside more well-known writers. I guess I have learned we do not do anything on our own but with the help of others, and I do want to encourage others to write and express themselves. 

CG: In 2020, you were named Madison’s Poet Laureate, and you are the first Latina to hold the role! Could you reflect on your experiences so far in this position? 

ATV: Yes! I am the first Latina in this role and I do not take that lightly. I have had a great time. Later today I will proof the final images for the Bus Lines Poetry Project. I consider myself a literary ambassador, a poet for the people, and I want to connect, only connect in this role and sometimes that means reading my own poems and other times it means expanding people's ideas of poetry by introducing them to someone else's work. The city of Madison has been very welcoming. I love working with Karin Wolf who is my main contact at the city. I love bringing other poets and their poems to read poems at the City Council meetings. I have lost track of how many poetry contests I have judged and how many virtual readings I have done at this point. I do know how many I have done in person. I look forward to being more in the community and working with more young people. Poetry is having its day right now! In addition to what I do locally, I am active on the national and regional scene. Being the Madison Poet Laureate is my dream come true! I have been writing since the age of 7, and really it has been unbelievable for me. I feel most fortunate.

CG: Your craft talk will feature an exercise where participants “write their own poems of witness and share.” Could you speak on the importance of writing these types of poems?

ATV: Yes, absolutely. I am among other things a poet of place, space and time. I learned the term "Poetry of Witness" from the amazing poet who I adore Carolyn Forche, and I credit her book, The Country Between Us, as shaping me as a young poet in my twenties. Her work was also part of my thesis, this book, among many of her others. I like to write contemporary poems about the people around me, the times we are in and what I observe and see in the world. I can write a poem about anything; but sometimes I choose to write from the point of view of the witness, and/or create or sculpt on the page what I see, observe and suss out from the world around me. I write when traveling and before the pandemic that meant poems from travels in the US and outside. It can be a serious topic or it can be something else too.  Like my poems from Isla Mujeres. Or poems from this past weekend, poems from my first niece's wedding, the first to call me, name me "Titi." There were so many beautiful moments I have been writing them down, glimmers, and there is also this absence of those we miss like the young groom's father and his grandmother. With fierce love comes this sadness, coupled with coming together after the pandemic. We have to keep laughing or we will be crying moments, what people said, how they danced with the photographer, the moment we lost track of the rings, the way the young people looked, the bridal party walking down the aisle magnificent and pure in their love for the couple getting married. Meanwhile somewhere else there are people being bombed, losing what we all hold precious, our lives, our beloveds, our lives. This is all true. We, the people come and go but "Art Speaks" across the ages. You can time travel in poems. I have touched on this before in many other poems...

CG: In your upcoming craft talk, you will be sharing your poetic influences, including Carolyn Forché, Joy Harjo, Simon Ortiz, Eduardo Galeano, Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, Arthur Sze, among others. What can we learn from studying the work of other authors, and what is one poetic technique that you have picked up from these writers? 

ATV: This is going to be so exciting for me! There is much to learn from other poets and to enjoy. Think about how much you enjoy standing in front of a piece of art at the Art Institute of Chicago or at the Chazen in Madison, or the Art Museum in Milwaukee, just writing down the names sparks my brain thinking of all the art I have seen and admired being alive. Good art inspires more art I find. There are poems I can never get enough of in this world and poems I am just stumbling on. I have almost passed out at a reading of a colleague or mentor at IAIA. Reading, listening to writing, these are wonderful gifts of humanity. If you want to be an artist/writer I think it is important to study others and not limit it to literary arts by any means. Arthur Sze's notion of every line being a poem is something I greatly admire!

CG: In the description for your upcoming craft talk, you also state that “poets and poems are central to the global movement towards peace and justice”. How can poetry be used as a force for positive societal change? 

ATV: Point of view, empathy, someone else's story, one they have shared with you can be very effective as a tool for creating a more just and peaceful world. The more we know about each other the less we can dehumanize each other, or allow others to do it to large groups of people. Story telling, sharing of words and stories, and poems can only help the equation. Poems are meant to be heard and are rooted in an oral tradition which by definition creates community. Art has traditionally been used for many different causes; it can certainly work for today's concerns as well. I think about how music, songs from the civil rights movement are just as poignant and relative today as they were when they initially played on the radio. I think of Picasso's Guernica and what it felt like to stand under it and witness what he depicted on the canvas for everyone to see and remember.

So what are you waiting for? Register today for Angela Trudell Vasquez’s craft talk to learn how you, too, can take the next steps towards writing poetry that can help bring people together instead of tearing them apart.

A Journey Across Time—From the Comfort of Your Home: A Sound & Stories Sneak Preview

by Charlotte Gutzmer

Stories and music have been with us throughout all of time; from oral folktales and traditional flute music to modern recreations of poetic forms and ambient synth music, art has evolved alongside us, always surprising us and delighting us with new experiences. On Thursday, May 6th, from 6:30-7:30pm, join the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild for a new Sound & Stories event, “Something Old, Something New.”

Writers and musicians from across western Wisconsin are coming together for the next installment of  the CVWG’s Sound & Stories. The virtual event will be available for free to stream at 6:30pm.

Click here to register for your free ticket today!

Hosted by B.J. Hollars and produced by Jonathan Rylander, settle in for a Pablo Streams event featuring stories from Andy Patrie, Selika Lawton, Mike Paulus, and Angela Hugunin, all accompanied and with original music from Peter Phippen and The Nunnery. And introducing musical guest Simone Patrie! With additional music support from James Igancio and Victoria Shoemaker. And visuals from Erik Elstran!

I had the pleasure of chatting with many of the artists and hearing about their inspiration and their relationships with and through time. They were also kind enough to share a few sneak preview lines from their stories, excerpted in italics below.  Read on to learn more about this exciting event, as well as the writers and musicians working together to bring the magic to you.

Andrew Patrie

“A compelling line from the piece I will be reading, one that proves some things do not change with time, comes from my daughter, who is transgender, following an incident on a school bus. After I share a story that happened to me on the school bus (always a bus!), she asks, ‘Why are people so obsessed with body parts?’ She waits a moment before adding, ‘Why are people so mean?’”

Andrew Patrie, a writer and a teacher, is the author of the collection of poems Half-Life and the book Nights, Grace. He’s also a prolific writer for Volume One, where he features articles on everything from dad jokes to introspective articles on music. The piece he’s reading for the event “is excerpted from a book length memoir I am in the process of revising, a writing project which has placed me squarely in the past for the last couple years I've been working on it in earnest.” His writing strikes a phenomenal balance between what we see as lament and what we celebrate; after all, Andrew reminds us, we “can’t get to these milestones without time, either.”  While his writing looks back towards the past, he “wouldn't say it's necessarily done through a lens of nostalgia. The past is often difficult to look at, but it can allow us to make some sense of the present... I get nostalgic like anybody else (my friends and family might say that's an understatement), but if time was a VCR, I've learned that, for as much as I'd like to press the pause button, it's healthier for the tape to let it play out.”

Angela Hugunin

“So it was that Grandpa, months after losing his beloved wife of sixty-six and a half years, bought a Slingshot.”

Angela Hugunin is a senior at UW-Eau Claire majoring in Creative Writing and French. Angela is “drawn to connections: connections between people, between people and places, and between themes that may look at first glance like they’re unrelated... I’m curious about what’s going on under the surface and about what meaning can be found if we examine our experiences closely. Even the most seemingly mundane moments can hold immense meaning!” Some of Angela’s publications include her poem “Heal” in the Spring 2018 edition of NOTA, her essay “Here, We Do Dignity” in the November 2020 edition of Barstow & Grand, and even a variety of French poetry published in the French magazine D’ailleurs. For her, “writing is a wonderful vessel for exploring time. Playing with time—or at least, sifting through it—in writing allows me to process things, to look for commonalities and differences between experiences or themes, and to give the creative work more depth. In my piece for Sound and Stories, time is a prominent force. Moving through it gives me space to reflect on my current relationship with my grandfather, but in looking backward, I also find powerful truths about who he is and who I am. I get to look at who we’re becoming, too. I find that moving through time in my writing can allow powerful truths to emerge. Time can be a challenging force to pin down, but I’m learning that I don’t necessarily need to wrestle it to the ground or try to figure it out; instead, I can observe it and learn from it.”

Dr. Selika Lawton

“Everyone thinks that where they live, is the best place, the coolest place. When I came to Wisconsin. My students in Eau Claire were eager to tell me that Eau Claire was the New Orleans of the North. I did not exactly believe them…”

Dr. Selika Ducksworth Lawton is currently a Professor of history at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Dr. Ducksworth-Lawton is a specialist in Twentieth-Century African American Military, National Security, and Civil Rights History. She works in the intersection of race, national security, civil rights, and protest. Her book, Honorable Men: Armed Self Defense and the Deacons for Defense and Justice, is under contract with University Press of Mississippi and expected in press early next year. Honorable Men describes how African Americans veterans in the Deacons for Defense and Justice combined their military service knowledge with an African American vision of republicanism and citizenship to create a militia in Louisiana that successfully fought the Klan in the 1965-8 activists and protects white and African American Congress of Racial Equality activists. Dr. Ducksworth Lawton is the co-author of Minority and Gender Differences in Officer Career Progression. She is working on a new book on the impact of culture and geography on the activists’ choices between non-violence and armed self-defense in several states in 1964-1967. She earned her PhD in 1994 from Ohio State University in 20th Century military and African American History.

Mike Paulus

The heat lightning was sorcery to us. Some kind of rare devilry quietly bursting across the midnight horizon, raving over the dark, distant pine trees…

Mike Paulus is the Digital Services & Marketing Specialist for the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library here in Eau Claire. He’s worked in local publishing for over two decades, including 14 years as an editor with Volume One, where his “Rear End” column has appeared since 2004. He’s the co-creator and former host of Volume One’s “Let’s Be Honest” grownup storytelling night, and co-produced Volume One’s 2018 stage show True North. He’s a past contributor to Wisconsin Public Radio’s Wisconsin Life program, and he’s hosted multiple cat shows.

Peter Phippen

Peter Phippen is a Grammy Award Nominee, International Acoustic Music Awards Nominee, One World Music Awards Nominee, multiple Native American Music Awards Nominee and a 2021 Native American Style Flute Awards Lifetime Achievement Awards Winner. Phippen is a performing and recording artist specializing in traditional flutes from around the world. Over the past three decades Phippen has researched the history and performance technique of flutes both ancient and modern. In his approach to world flute performance, he is an experiential, natural folk musician with a penchant for creative and artistic musical improvisation. Phippen offers a captivating collage of sound images, covering the folklore and history of flutes from around the world and throughout time. Phippen performs an enchanting mix of the very old and very new in music. He has shared the stage with R. Carlos Nakai, Coyote Oldman, Xavier Quijas Yxayotl, and many more. As a recording artist, Phippen has recorded for Curb Records, Canyon Records, and Promotion Music Records. Phippen's flute playing has also appeared on Lifescapes, Sounds True, and Heart Dance Records.  For more visit: https://www.peterphippen.com/

The Nunnery

The Nunnery is a solo act featuring Sarah Elstran, a Minneapolis-based musician who uses the art of the loop pedal to explore a world of peaceful and ambient sound. By layering voices and instrumentals upon themselves, Elstran creates a lush atmosphere inspired by the spaces and stories around her. Listening to The Nunnery is an experience that inspires healing, emotional understanding, and meditative contemplation. Elstran’s new single “Whirlpool Ride” is available to stream on Spotify, Youtube, iTunes, and Bandcamp.

So dig out those sepia-toned photos and prepare to view them in Technicolor! Dust off the heirloom and discover the story within! Tilt an ear toward the past, fix your eyes on the future—let’s see what magic awaits in the in-between!

Nourishing Connections: An Interview with Phong Nguyen on Writing, Inspiration, and Collaboration

by Charlotte Gutzmer

How do you craft a lasting story? Most people will tell you that the work begins with compelling characters, strong plots, and resonant themes. But beyond these basics lies the secret to creating stories that will endure the test of time and ingrain themselves in the hearts of readers: connection. Phong Nguyen knows that lasting stories all foster relationships between plot, setting, character, and theme, synergizing their strengths to build a narrative that leaps off the page.

Phong Nguyen is an award-winning author who has published three novels: The Bronze Drum (forthcoming from Grand Central Publishing, 2022), Roundabout: An Improvisational Fiction (Moon City Press, 2020), and The Adventures of Joe Harper (Outpost19, 2016, winner of the Prairie Heritage Book Award); and two short fiction collections: Pages from the Textbook of Alternate History (Mastodon Publishing, 2019) and Memory Sickness (Elixir Press, 2011). He is also the Miller Family Endowed Chair in Literature and Writing at the University of Missouri. On Tuesday, May 18th at 7pm, join him in his upcoming CVWG craft talk: “Building Strong Connective Tissue: Beyond Plot, Character, Setting, and Theme.”

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Phong Nguyen about his phenomenal writing and his upcoming craft talk. Read on to learn all about how nourishing the connections and establishing powerful emotions can strengthen your work, as well as how collaborations between community and literature create lasting impacts on writing.

Charlotte Gutzmer: In the description of your upcoming craft talk, you stress the importance of creating connections between plot, character, setting, and theme. What makes these connections so engaging and important, and how do these connections contribute to a story?

Phong Nguyen: The specific connections we will be discussing in the talk are those between character and plot ("Why is this character in this particular story?") and between character and setting ("How does this character's internal conflict manifest in an external action?"). These connections are vital because you can have the most compelling character and the most interesting plot but if there is no sense of why these events are meaningful to that character and how they affect their future, you will leave readers with the question "So what?" It is not enough to have crafted each of these discrete elements; they need to relate to one another in order to answer that question.

CG: In your short story collection Memory Sickness, I was impressed by not only your ability to craft lasting stories, but also by their emotional intensity. How can a writer weave these powerful emotions into their craft?

PN: If a writer is striving for emotional effect, one prerequisite is that the reader feels close to the characters; they need to feel real. For the characters to feel real, they should be highly specific. If you think about the people you know in your own life, they are highly specific-- the more we know someone, the more aware we are of their contradictions and complexity. Character in fiction works the same way; familiarity and identification go hand in hand. Another prerequisite is that the characters want something urgently, whatever that may be. That way, when their yearnings are denied (or fulfilled), the reader has been with them on the journey all along, yearning alongside them and sharing in the glory or tragedy of its attainment.

CG: Many of your stories feature a clear connection between internal characterization and external plot. What advice can you give writers who want to know more about how internal character affects external story?

PN: The most important aspect of this relationship is that the internal conflict must manifest as an external action. Most writers intuitively understand that their character(s) must experience some internal conflict; the trick is to manifest that conflict in a scene. You might call this the "slipper fits" moment. Theoretically, in the Cinderella story, the Prince or his representative could have simply seen Cinderella and recognized her from the ball, and they lived happily ever after. But that would be narratively inert and unsatisfying. It doesn't matter that the internal conflict is resolved. It never manifested. Therefore we need that "slipper fits" moment to make the conflict real and indicate a narrative destiny for the characters through scene.

CG: Where do you find inspiration for intriguing plots, characters, and conflicts?

PN: My answer is "yes." In other words, I find inspiration anywhere I can: life experience, dreams, research, stories, games, you name it. I try not to limit myself by drinking from only one fountain of inspiration.

CG: Several of your novels and short story collections focus on alternate realities or literary retellings, including The Adventures of Joe Harper and Pages from the Textbook of Alternate History. How, in your opinion, can our own lives and realities be affected by exploring these alternatives?

PN: I'm fond of collaborative writing and collaborations in general. Ancient myths were not created by individuals but by communities over vast spans of time. In the same way, I see The Adventures of Joe Harper as a collaboration with Mark Twain, and I see Pages from the Textbook of Alternate History as a playful collaboration with real historians (the highest compliment I receive from Pages is that readers often feel the need to go back to read the real histories after they read the alternate versions). As far as how our own lives and realities are affected by this, I suppose that such collaborations make us less self-centered and egoistic. It's important to remember that we are single links in a long literary chain.

CG: In your craft talk, you’ll be exploring the most difficult aspects of strengthening the connective tissue between the various aspects of fiction. Could you give a sneak preview from your craft talk that will help a writer overcome these difficulties?

PN: One exercise that we will undertake is to look at summaries of stories I've received that succeed on every level when it comes to discrete elements of storytelling but fail when it comes to making connections between them. Those who attend are invited to provide solutions to the lack of "connective tissue" between plot and character, and between character and setting. There will be time for attendees to write their own summaries of stories that make such connections.

So what are you waiting for? Register soon (link forthcoming!) for Phong Nguyen’s craft talk to learn all about how you can craft lasting stories and strengthen the connective tissue between the various aspects of fiction.

On Writing Extraordinary Moments in History: An Interview with Amanda Skenandore

by Charlotte Gutzmer

Have you ever opened the pages of a book only to be transported to a world full of intrigue, allure, and fascination? Amanda Skenandore has, and as a writer of historical fiction, much of her work is devoted to the art of rebuilding remarkable scenes from history and transposing them onto the page. Jennifer Klepper, USA Today bestselling author of Unbroken Threads, even wrote that Skenandore paints these landscapes of history “with such fine strokes that it’s hard to believe she didn’t somehow transport herself back in time to do her research”! 

Amanda Skenandore is the author of two historical novels, The Undertaker’s Assistant and Between Earth & Sky, winner of the 2019 American Library Association’s Reading List Award for Best Historical Fiction. Her third novel The Second Life of Mirielle West comes out in August, 2021. An avid reader, tea-drinker, and wanderlust, Amanda lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband and their pet turtle Lenore. On June 15th at 7pm, join her in her upcoming CVWG craft talk: “Writing the Past”.

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Amanda Skenandore about her fascinating historical fiction novels and her upcoming craft talk. Read on to learn how to find extraordinarily inspiring moments in history, how to create resonance between the past and the presence, and how to craft a story that is unforgettable.

Charlotte Gutzmer: What draws you to researching and writing about the past?

Amanda Skenandore: I’ve always loved history. In many ways, the past is like an entirely different world—a world I get to visit in my mind when I research and write. And yet there’s so much that’s relatable in history too, so much that’s relevant to our modern-day lives. History challenges me. It surprises me. It broadens my perspective.

CG: How can one find extraordinary moments in history?

AS: History is filled with extraordinary moments, and you can find them by being curious—not just in your reading but your everyday life. The imprint of those moments is all around us, in the physical spaces we inhabit, in our customs and values. But oftentimes you have to peel back several layers of myth and bias to get at the truth of those moments and find what’s really extraordinary.

CG: In the description of your craft talk, you discuss how there are “common elements that make stories from the past resonate with modern readers”. What are some of these elements?

AS: Many of those elements relate back to our shared humanity. Readers want to be transported to another time, but they want to see people (real or imagined) relating to that world in ways similar to today. Not necessarily on an operational level, but on a physical and emotional one. Heartbreak, ambition, loss, pain, courage—these existed in the past as much as they do today and can bridge that distance in time for the reader.

CG: What are some of the greatest rewards and challenges that come with being a writer of historical fiction?

AS: One of the greatest rewards of writing historical fiction is connecting with readers and sharing with them lesser-known parts of history. I feel like I grow with each novel I write and am able to see the world with a fresh perspective. One of the greatest challenges is finding primary source material, especially for marginalized voices and overlooked events.

CG: Your craft talk will discuss “the responsibility an author has to the historical record and to the reader.” What are some of these responsibilities, and what makes them so important?

AS: I believe writers of historical fiction make a pact with readers. In exchange for their trust, we present a well-researched rendering of the past. Too many errors or misrepresentations and readers will be pulled from the story world and approach the work with suspicion.

CG: Could you give a sneak preview of one of the historical research techniques that you’ll cover in your craft talk?

AS: One of my go-to resources is Google Books. I use it not just to read out-of-print material but also to verify word usage. I can set the date range I want in the advanced settings and search for words or phrases to see if and how they were in use during that time period.

CG: In the description of your craft talk, you quote Rudyard Kipling: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” What makes a story unforgettable?

AS: For me, it’s the character. When we experience history through the lens of a person—their thoughts and fears and hopes and dreams—we connect with the surrounding events, the history, on a more visceral and memorable level.

So what are you waiting for? Register today for Amanda Skenandore’s craft talk for the chance to peer into the past and to transport yourself into a time where you and your writing will never be forgotten.

On the Art of Questions, Storytelling, and Magic: A Conversation with Margi Preus

by Charlotte Gutzmer

When it comes to worlds of mystery and adventure, no one knows how to navigate to the heart of an enchanting story quite like Margi Preus. Whether it’s a breathtaking tale of history and heroism or a bewitching story of myths and magic, she knows exactly what questions will drive her to the deepest and most enthralling moments, settings, and characters.

Margi Preus is a New York Times bestselling author of the Newbery Honor Book Heart of a Samurai and other notable novels and picture books for young readers. New in 2020 are Village of Scoundrels, The Littlest Voyageur, and The Silver Box, part of the Enchantment Lake mystery series. Her books have won multiple awards, been honored as ALA/ALSC Notables, selected as an NPR Backseat Book Club pick, chosen for community reads, and translated into many languages. When not writing, Margi enjoys traveling, speaking, and visiting schools all over the world. On June 8th at 7pm, join her for her CVWG craft talk: “Can I Pull This Off? And Other Questions That Drive Our Writing And Inspire Our Stories”. 

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Margi Preus about her extraordinary stories and her upcoming craft talk. Read on to learn all about how asking questions as you write can hone your craft, the rewards and challenges of writing for young readers, and more!

Charlotte Gutzmer: What are some of the rewards and challenges of being a writer of literature for young readers?

Margi Preus: If you think about what books have meant the most to you, or that have influenced you more than others, it’s likely you’ll single out a book or books from your young reading life. There is no more passionate reader than a young reader. This knowledge makes writing for young readers both rewarding and harrowing. The same thing that makes writing for young readers so rewarding also offers up its greatest challenge: the responsibility that comes with writing for those young hearts and minds.

CG: On your website, you note that your magically fascinating books are rooted in your “family, their stories, and their love of the outdoors.” How does writing help you explore your heritage and the world around you?

MP: Writing makes us see the world more sharply; it allows us to examine human relationships more deeply; and it gives us time to contemplate big questions—the questions raised in and by our own small family spheres as well as the greater world around us.

CG: Your website also refers to a love for travel and for speaking! How have your personal experiences in these passions influenced your craft?

MP: Whether taking shelter behind a boulder during a snowstorm in Norway or getting lost in a forest in France where Jewish children hid during WWII, things I experience when I travel seem to work their way into my stories. And the people I have been privileged to get to know in my travels and through interviews have not only enriched and shaped my writing, but my whole life.

CG: In the description of your upcoming craft talk, you stress the importance of questions and how they are integral to enlightening both writers and readers. How can questions help writers home in on the heart of their craft?

“I find that I am most engaged in my writing not when I am trying to make a statement, but when I am grappling with questions, questions I don’t know the answers to, sometimes unanswerable questions.  ”

— Margi Preus

MP: I find that I am most engaged in my writing not when I am trying to make a statement, but when I am grappling with questions, questions I don’t know the answers to, sometimes unanswerable questions.  

Being aware of the questions that propel you to write in general and why you want to write a particular story help to inform your writing and enrich your writing experience. The questions that you raise within your story for readers to ponder add depth and meaning to that story.  

 I don’t believe we need to always answer the questions we raise, or to wrap everything up in a tidy bow. Raising questions for the reader to ponder and wonder over is a perfectly legitimate purpose of telling stories and may enlighten in deeper ways than answers and solutions.

CG: Of the many questions one might ask oneself when beginning a project, what question is most important?

MP: That is always going to depend on the writer and the project. Still, at some point early in the process the question, “Can I pull this off?” is probably going to occur to the writer. For me, the answer is pretty much always ‘probably not’ which could mean I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, but it might mean there is something wonderful in store—something that will stretch my abilities and expand my imagination, something that will challenge writer and reader.

I think we all ask ourselves questions at the start of a story, even though we’re not always aware of what they are. I hope in my session we can delve into all kinds of things we wonder about, ask ourselves, and consider what questions we hope to pose to the reader.

CG: On your website, you give writers the valuable advice to read “like a writer”. How does one read like a writer, and what benefits does this practice bring?

MP: In a second read-through (the first read-through should always be just for pleasure) look for moments where the story has made you cry, laugh, shiver with suspense, or has kept you turning pages well past your bedtime. What kind of magic trick has the writer performed to make those things happen? Take it apart and study it, as you might learn how to make a coin disappear or pull a rabbit out of a hat. Then practice it. 

So what are you waiting for? Register today for Margi Preus’s craft talk to find out which questions are going to ensnare the senses of your readers, to practice exercises that will create intrigue and magic in your own stories, and to find out how you, too, can delve into the enchanting world of storytelling.

The Intersection Between Writing and Teaching: An Interview with Larry Watson

Charlotte Gutzmer

As writers, we all understand the magic that comes with transcribing our innermost thoughts into tangible stories—what you may not fully recognize, however, is how the creative and transformative power of teaching can be just as magnificent.

Larry Watson isn’t just a renowned writer: he’s also an acclaimed teacher who has been teaching for over 40 years! With decades of experience in the craft of writing and the art of teaching, he has published ten novels, the fiction collection JUSTICE, and the poetry collection Late Assignments. His work has received critical acclaim and won awards and prizes from Milkweed Press, Friends of American Writers, Mountain and Plains Booksellers Association, and more: his 2013 novel, Let Him Go, has even been adapted to the 2020 film sharing the same name and starring Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. On Tuesday, June 1st at 7pm, join him in his upcoming CVWG craft talk: “40 in 40: Lessons from 40 Years of Teaching Condensed into 40 Minutes”. 

His craft talk will focus on “narrative modes, conflict in story and how it corresponds to story structure, and the storytelling devices that do a particularly effective job of engaging readers.” Those who join will also learn about “some exercises that might lead to the creation of full-length fictions or that might be incorporated into longer narratives.”

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Larry Watson about his work, his escapades in education, and about his upcoming craft talk. Read on to learn all about how tension “pulls a story taught”, how his experiences in teaching transformed his work, and more.

Charlotte Gutzmer: Congratulations on your novel Let Him Go being adapted into a film! What was the most exciting part of adapting your novel for the screen, and what challenges did it pose?

Larry Watson: Thanks. It was pretty exciting. But really, I had next to nothing to do with making the film. All the challenges of adapting the novel fell to Thomas Bezucha. He wrote the screenplay. He was also a producer and he directed the movie. All credit goes to him and his commitment to the project.

CG: You’ve published 10 acclaimed novels, a fiction collection, and a book of poetry. As someone well-versed in many forms of storytelling, how does the process of writing shift from one mode to another?

LW: I don’t write many short stories. It’s just a very difficult form for me, perhaps because I can never be sure what can be left out. Poems I have to wait for, and they don’t come around much anymore. When they do, I need to get a complete draft written—no matter how rough—as quickly as I can. Subsequent revisions can take hours or years or any span of time in between. But novels I can approach and work on like a job in an office. I can—and do—write something every day. I’m slow but steady.

CG: Your most recent novel, The Lives of Edie Pritchard, “crackles with tension”, according to Kirkus Reviews, and your upcoming craft talk will focus on conflict in story. How do you add tension to your writing, and what makes tension so integral to narrative?

LW: I consider the scene a structural fundamental in my fiction, and I try to make sure that there’s some tension in every scene. It might not be overt (and come to think of it, it seldom is), but there needs to be something to pull things taught. That something often has to do with a character’s desire, stated or unstated. And what one character wants might well be at odds with what another character wants. But if the scene has only one character, I still have to find a way to introduce a conflict of some kind.

CG: In your poetry collection Late Assignments, you refer to memory as a storyteller. How, in your opinion, does memory play a role in telling stories, and how can writers begin to transcribe them?

LW: I’ve said that I write from memory more than from observation. And I think of memory as a kind of filter. Whatever sticks in the filter is there for a reason, though I might not know what that reason is. Part of my task as a writer is to present the image or incident in such a way that its significance becomes apparent. (Significance isn’t necessarily the same, in my view, as meaning). I also don’t care whether the memory is “true” or not; it can be useful for fiction either way. In this way, memory can contribute to storytelling. 

CG: In your opinion, what are some of the biggest misconceptions about teaching, and what are some of the greatest rewards?

“I don’t think people who don’t teach understand how much time it takes. It goes way beyond hours in the classroom or even hours reading student writing”

— Larry Watson

LW: I don’t think people who don’t teach understand how much time it takes. It goes way beyond hours in the classroom or even hours reading student writing. Research is often required to work up lessons or compose lectures (even very short ones). And teaching takes up a lot of thought-time, as teachers think about what they’ll do in class that semester, that week, that day, that hour. Every student is different, and attention must be paid to how all those individuals are progressing—or not. All of these things are true of writing, too. No matter how much time a teacher devotes to [their]  classes and students, [they] can always do more. And no matter how much time a writer spends on his writing, he/she can always do more. More time is what both writers and teachers always need. Of course what writers and teachers learn from their art/craft can be tremendously rewarding, and some of those things are discoveries that could never be reached without the classroom or the devotion to a piece of writing.

CG: How has your style of teaching changed over the course of 40 years, and what’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your experiences as a teacher?

Maybe I became a bit more efficient as a teacher. After all those years, I might have developed a better sense of the lessons and activities that would be useful and helpful to students. And while this isn’t exactly a lesson, I learned early on that in virtually every class there’d be at least one student with the talent and skill to be a published writer. It was wonderful to come across those students. It was also wonderful to see that other students usually recognized that talent too and went out of their way to praise the writer and the work. But not all those talented writers went on to write and publish. Something besides talent and skill is required.

CG: How has your experience teaching in colleges and universities influenced your writing?

LW: Oh, the influence is so great I couldn’t begin to summarize it! But here’s one way that writing and teaching worked together for me, and, I suppose, influenced each other. In creative writing classes, I usually did the same assignments—both in class prompts and more formal exercises—that I gave my students. Doing that helped me understand what a writer was likely to come up against in the writing. And on a few occasions, what I wrote turned out to be something more than an exercise. I came up with drafts of poems, ideas for stories, and scenes for novels. I tried never to give students exercises or assignments that were frivolous or that couldn’t lead to or couldn’t be a part of something useful to writing fiction, poetry, drama, or nonfiction.

So what are you waiting for? Register today for Larry Watson’s craft talk to experience 40 wondrous years of teaching in what may be the most rewarding 40 minutes of you

A Journey Into The Wild--From The Comforts Of Your Home A Sound & Stories Sneak Preview

Charlotte Gutzmer

The animal world is full of magic and beauty: from the majestic beasts of the jungle to the pets who sleep beside us at night, they have always coexisted with us, providing inspiration for all kinds of music, art, and stories. On March 4 at 6:30pm, join Pablo Streams’s Sound & Stories event, “All Creatures Great and Small” for an unforgettable evening of music and tales (or maybe tails?) centered on the animal world. 

Writers and musicians from across western Wisconsin are coming together for the next installment of  the CVWG’s Sound & Stories. The virtual event will be available for free to stream at 6:30pm, and will include American Sign Language interpretation as well as subtitle services. Click here to register for your free ticket today.

The line-up includes award-winning nonfiction writer John Hildebrand, animal welfare expert Bekah Weitz, environmentalist and ornithologist Steve Betchkal, and author Katherine Schneider, all accompanied and with original music from Humbird and The Nunnery.

I had the pleasure of chatting with each artist and hearing about their inspiration and their relationships with animals. They were also kind enough to share a few sneak preview lines from their stories, excerpted in italics below.  Read on to learn more about this exciting event, as well as the writers and musicians working together to bring the magic to you.

Katherine Schneider

“Since I’ve had Seeing Eye dogs for forty-eight years, you might think it would be an old hat to train with a new one, but it isn’t. The journey is an intense one, full of heartache and miracles…”

Photo description: Kathie and Calvin

Katherine Schneider, a retired clinical psychologist, prolific writer, and speaker on disability issues, joins the Guild for this event with her tenth Seeing Eye dog Calvin. Her relationship with her Seeing Eye dogs offer an exceptional perspective on animals. “Each one is a unique being, but each has been my best friend, my eyes, and my transportation. The way the partnership works is a daily miracle.” Schneider’s writing revolves around her identity as someone living with disabilities, and she has published four compelling books that explore how her life experiences and her wisdom affects her world. “Both the accommodations necessitated by the disabilities and people’s reactions to me as a disabled elder creates opportunities for fresh stories about life’s frustrations and joys.”

Steve Betchkal

“The outdoors is a wild and dangerous place, populated with shameless, grease-seeking, ring-tailed miscreants. It’s not for the meek or credulous or unsuspecting. Be well advised, my domesticated friends, of the inherent hazards of Nature. Frolic at your own risk.”

Photo description: Steve Betchkal birding

Steve Betchkal, a life-long environmentalist and professional ornithologist, fell in love with animals at an early age: “In fact, my Mom deflected me from a life of crime at age six. I wanted a bird book so badly I tried to shoplift it before she caught me at the register!” Betchkal has travelled the Western Hemisphere and encountered nearly 1100 birds, as well as an extensive list of mammals, dragonflies, butterflies, grasses, wildflowers, and even Wisconsin’s own Tiger Beetles. He believes that “humans are intimately responsible for the significant decline in natural habitats, systems, and species, and that they need to be actively educated that plants and animals add to the quality of our lives.” His award-winning writing, which focuses on the complicated and beautiful natural world, is a delight for all of those fascinated with the environment. “This is at the very root of all my writing: I love life because it’s essential and sacred. Don’t you?”

John Hildebrand

“I’ve been reading up on gophers since their lives remain such a mystery. Like us, they don’t hibernate but put up their own hay in underground storage chambers to last the winter. They live an almost entirely subterranean existence… If they view the surface the way we do the dirt, as a nasty place and potential burial plot, it’s because every predator has gopher on the menu.”

Photo description: John Hildebrand on an icy shoreline.

John Hildebrand is the author of five non-fiction books and a professor at UW-Eau Claire. This March he’ll be sharing a piece from his second book, Mapping the Farm: The Chronicle of a Family. Hildebrand, who is fascinated with “the complexities and unpredictabilities of everyday life”, goes looking for captivating and sensational stories. These stories, which view animals as an essential fabric of the world, incorporate his experiences with meeting with those who have complicated, unique relationships with creatures, including “wildlife biologists, subsistence hunters in Alaskan Native villages, Midwestern farmers… Each has informed (and enlarged) my view of the natural world.”

Bekah Weitz

“My coworker was right that he was beautiful. Pale grey and white feathery hair, big soft feet, eyes such a pale blue they looked cold, like ice. A picture-perfect Husky puppy. But he was also angry. Not just aggressive like other dogs I’d seen. This puppy was backed all the way into the furthest corner of his kennel, eyes darting back and forth at all of us, staring with the most irate resolve I’d ever seen from a dog. He wanted no part of any of this. He was angry.”

Photo description: Bekah Weitz and dog

Bekah Weitz is an animal health inspector and an expert in the complicated relationship that is the human-animal bond. She’s worked in animal shelters with homeless pets, investigated crimes against animals, and now works to keep animal industries healthy and strong. She explains that “my work reinforces that humans simply wouldn’t be who we are without the wild and domesticated animals in our lives supporting us. They have changed and now sustain who we are as a species by providing us with companionship, food, transportation, entertainment, or a combination of those things. Animals and humans are inextricably connected and extraordinarily important to our humanity.” Weitz has encountered a plethora of animals in her work, from house cats to tigers, and is now excited to share her experiences with the beautiful creatures. She’s been around animals since birth, and has “learned to listen to them and hear what they feel deeper than one learns a language. Because my person is so tied to the animals that surround me, I’ve been dedicated to doing my best to serve animals and the people who depend on them. I didn’t choose this work – it was simply the only work I ever could have done.”

Humbird

“My relationship with nature and animals is one of total enchantment and wonder. I wish I was better at slowing down to simply witness the world. When I am able to do so, I feel most complete, and inevitably, I think that’s when the best work comes out, too.”

Humbird is a Minneapolis-based musical artist who explores the relationship between nature, folktales, and longing through experimental folk and environmental Americana. Siri Undlin, the creator and face of Humbird, is inspired by the complexities and intricacies of everyday life and the world around her: “Inspiration can come from anywhere if you’re paying close attention. All of my music starts with a seed of inspiration, then grows from there.” With over 400,000 monthly listeners, Humbird’s music is a refreshing blend of indie-folk and the poetic magic of Midwestern winters. In preparation for this event, Undlin is “excited to see how the collaborative elements of this event resonate between the different performers – it’s always really magical to witness and participate in that.”

The Nunnery

Photo description: The Nunnery, Sarah Elstran, posing.

The Nunnery is a solo act featuring Sarah Elstran, a Minneapolis-based musician who uses the art of the loop pedal to explore a world of peaceful and ambient sound. By layering voices and instrumentals upon themselves, Elstran creates a lush atmosphere inspired by the spaces and stories around her. Listening to The Nunnery is an experience that inspires healing, emotional understanding, and meditative contemplation. Elstran’s most recent album “We are the Stars” focuses on themes of nature and space and embodies the importance of understanding and growth. 

So what are you waiting for? Plant your gardens, fill your feeders, and invite your pets up on the couch. Then join us on March 4 at 6:30pm for a journey into the wild – from the comforts of your home.

"To me, the truth is whatever scares you into silence": An Interview with David Shih

James Baldwin said that the “hardest” and “most fearful” thing in the world for the writer is simplicity. This is especially the case for writers who write about race. On January 17, award-winning UWEC English professor David Shih will share how he came to understand that his worst, most convoluted writing about race revealed a fear of telling the truth. Join us for a conversation on how this realization guided his approach to completing his current nonfiction book project—coming your way soon! We recently caught up with David and learned more about his upcoming event, his forthcoming book, and the impact of teaching on writing. Scroll on for the complete interview!

B.J. Hollars: Tell us a bit about your craft talk.  What inspired this topic, and what are you most excited to share?

David Shih: It was inspired by the book I am writing now, a memoir/cultural criticism hybrid. I find that some of the most tortured language today comes from the decision to write about race and racism. I include my own writing in this lot, of course, which is always going to be a work in progress as long as I am one myself. The challenge may come from imagining multiple audiences while we write—always tricky—but also from imagining ourselves being someone we’re not. I plan to share my experiences about writing about white people, which began as the most natural thing in the world to me when I was an assimilated teenager. What was exciting for me to learn was how quickly your story or essay about race and racism falls into place as soon as you’re willing to write about what scares you the most.

BH: How has teaching about race impacted your creative work?

“My job as a professor and as a writer is basically the same, which is to get someone else to see something that they might otherwise miss, but the way you go about that work is and should be different.”

DS: It has mattered a lot. I don’t think I could have written this book even ten years ago—at least not very well—because I was still learning how to bring that knowledge from the class onto the page in a way that wasn’t just a dressed-up transcript. I absolutely don’t want my creative work to be an extension of my pedagogy, although I expect that it might be received that way by some. My job as a professor and as a writer is basically the same, which is to get someone else to see something that they might otherwise miss, but the way you go about that work is and should be different. And then when undertaking both endeavors, teaching and writing, you have to leave something for the other party to do that you, as the “authority,” should not know yourself.

BH: Can you share a bit about your latest book project?

DS: As I mentioned above, it is a memoir/cultural criticism hybrid. It covers social issues that are important to Asian Americans today by focusing on my own experiences as a Chinese American belonging to a generation that saw some of the greatest shifts in meaning for Asian identity in this country—Gen X. I expect that readers will learn more about the history and dynamics of anti-Asian racism in this respect, but the book’s narrative is not ultimately instrumental in the way that we see in Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist or DiAngelo’s White Fragility. It is not a “how to” book. For that to be the case, I would have to have the answers already, and I wanted to write the book because I didn’t have them. All that said, the closest comp in purpose and approach, if not in style or content, might be Cathy Park Hong’s excellent book Minor Feelings (2020).

BH: In your craft talk description you mentioned a "fear of telling the truth."  Can you tell us more about that fear, and that truth?

“To me, the truth is whatever scares you into silence”

DS: To me, the truth is whatever scares you into silence. People do tend to know what it is but may not have to confront it because they have options—money, position, a generous partner, whatever. These options allow you to maintain the status quo in your own life, which, if you’re in this place, is probably comfortable enough in superficial ways. Baldwin knew that a hypocritical society was the outcome of hypocritical individuals whose private lives were inconsonant with those they showed to the public. So if there were ever going to be any reduction in harm socially, it had to begin at the personal level, and the reason is that you cannot hide the truth from everyone. Someone else knows that you’re lying. Maybe a lot of people. This is what Baldwin meant when he said that black people can never be strangers to white Americans—only witnesses—no matter how much the latter long for that innocence. It is the same innocence that he saw them maintaining in their stories.

BH: Who are some writers who have impacted your understanding of writing on the subject of race?

DS: Well, as for so many others, James Baldwin is probably at the top of the list, which is why the talk centers on his idea of the fear of telling the truth. I didn’t read him until I was a doctoral student. Better late than never. And even then I didn’t quite understand him in the way that I thought I understood Richard Wright or Ralph Ellison. I think we naturally expect writers like them to be writing about black people. And they are, except my mistake was thinking that they could do so independently of white people. Baldwin disabused me of that fallacy right away. In his essays, he wrote not so much about black people but about white people and in a way that took others decades to catch up with, if they ever did. I would not be writing my book if not for Maxine Hong Kingston. I tend to return to The Woman Warrior whenever I feel stuck and prosaic. It taught me how to count syllables in my sentences and how one too many or too few could wreck everything. It’s probably why I write so slowly. But it also taught me how to be an American and honor my parents at the same time. There was nothing that seemed off-limits in that book, no fear at all, which was such a valuable lesson. It is a wonder.

Tune into to David’s craft talk on January 19 at 7PM. Thanks to our co-sponsor, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library!

Joy to the Word SNEAK PREVIEW: Kaia Simon

““I was trying to pretend that everything was fine. I was sure that the glass eyes of the taxidermy animals lining the walls of the lodge could see right through my act.” ”

We are just days away from Joy to the Word 2020 Edition! Which means, of course, that it will be held virtually! Thankfully, that makes the show more accessible than ever! And FREE! Click here to register, and on Dec. 17 at 6:30, settle in for stories courtesy of former Wisconsin poet laureate Max Garland, UWEC’s Director of Multicultural Affairs Dang Yang, UWEC English Professor Kaia Simon, and writer Sarah Jayne Johnson, all accompanied and with original music by The Nunnery. Also featuring original visuals by Erik Elstran.

Read on for a sneak preview of Kaia Simon’s story!

Blount: Could you share a quote from your story?

Kaia Simon: Sure. The story is called “Singalong.”

“I was trying to pretend that everything was fine. I was sure that the glass eyes of the taxidermy animals lining the walls of the lodge could see right through my act.”

KB: Why did you pick this story? What makes it special to you?

KS: I chose to tell this story because it’s a significant and special holiday memory. It’s also a bittersweet memory. I wanted to reflect this feeling to our audience because I know many of us are facing challenges, and the 2020 holiday season will also probably hold some of those bittersweet memories. Sharing this story reminds me, and so I hope it will remind everyone, that there are also those moments of light and love amid the winters of our lives.

KB: Keeping with the theme, what is something in your world currently bringing you joy?

KS: I’ve never been happier to see holiday light displays than I am this season.

Challenge Your Assumptions: Neal Griffin Visits Eau Claire in Virtual Craft Talk

Kensie Kiesow

I was in the middle of my normal, COVID-era social distancing routine, sitting alone in my house working on my laptop, when I chanced upon the opportunity to interview a fantastic, local crime fiction writer. What great luck I stumbled into because the one I would be assigned to interview was none other than Neal Griffin! This ex-marine, retired police officer, and bestselling author born and raised in Wisconsin was kind enough to chat with me over the phone about his most recent book, The Burden of Truth, which came out last July, as well as about his life as a Southern California police officer.

Griffin will be visiting the Chippewa Valley à la the internet on September 22nd from 7PM to 8PM to offer a craft talk sponsored by the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild and co-sponsored by the L. E. Phillips Memorial Public Library. During “Crime Fiction as Social Commentary”, he will discuss books from authors like Harper Lee and Walter Mosely, which contain social commentary that has maintained its relevancy to this day. He will also be exploring how real-world policing and justice are portrayed in the crime fiction genre as well as opening the floor afterwards for any questions. Be sure to tune in to his talk on Zoom (link here!) on September 22 at 7PM! Read on for more on Neal’s latest book, writing beyond oneself, and how his police work does (and doesn’t) translate on the page.

Kensie Kiesow: What influenced the subject matter of your newest book, The Burden of Truth? 

NG: Well, after 27 years in Southern California law enforcement, at some point I got the writing bug. I’m a big believer in using crime fiction to test people’s assumptions about policing in America, and that’s certainly been true since I’ve been published in 2015. So, I wrote three books that were pure fiction and based in an entirely fictional environment in Wisconsin, and I enjoyed that and had some success with it. But, in the last couple of years, I talked to my editor about a story that kind of haunted me about a young man I met in my last couple years at the Escondido Police Department here in San Diego County. He, like Omar, was living in that hazardous middle lane of barrio street justice where gang culture is active in the community. On the one hand, he has to deal with the police officers who, when they look at Omar, see somebody who fits the profile of a gang member, and they treat him that way. Now, on the other hand, Omar’s gotta get along with the actual gang members. So, Omar’s that guy who was at ground zero of a very serious crime, and he had been in a car that he probably shouldn’t have been in, but he felt like he had to, to protect his family.

Well, the young man wound up getting arrested and involved in a major gang murder case. And, he had to testify in open court. I remember, after we arrested him, when we sat down in the interrogation room, he just sat forward and said, “Okay, let me tell you what happened.” He told us a story and that story didn’t change from the first day he told us to the last day he testified in court. It was his absolute truth. And, that truth almost cost him his life because, according to California law, being there at the scene of the crime considered him a principle of the crime, so he was looking at twenty-five to life. But, he was a nice kid, and when he got in the car that night, I don’t think anyone could have held him morally responsible for the decision he made to protect his family. But, legally, he wound up in a lot of trouble. Young men like Omar are constantly put in these situations where they have to go along to get along. They end up in the legal system, and the law can be pretty harsh. I’ve always wanted to write that book, so I decided to write what I call fiction true to life. I decided to make it in San Diego county in a real community because that story hits close to home.

KK: I noticed that your first book, The Benefit of the Doubt, was written with two, white male protagonists, and I was just wondering, how has your writing changed to portray a Latino man?

NG: Ben Sawyer, the protagonist of The Benefit of the Doubt, was sort of the cop I would always have liked to have been. He’s just a real bold and terrific police officer, until the moment he’s not, of course. He commits an act of abuse so egregious that his whole career is destroyed. Now, the real question is, “Where do I, a 60-year-old white man, get off trying to write as an 18-year-old Latino boy?” and I think that’s a fair question. The fact is, I did work with a lot of young men like Omar on both sides of the coin. I met young men who were really in that difficult situation and managed to make something great out of their lives, and some who didn’t. My wife is also a first generation Mexican-American, and her family mostly lived in Salinas, which is a pretty tough town up in Northern California, so I know some of her first-hand experiences. From hers and my own personal and professional background, I felt that I had some skin in the game, so to speak, that I could have the audacity to write as an 18-year-old Latino. Now, I did get some sensitivity readers because I didn’t make that decision lightly. To write that far outside of your own reality is something that you should be very careful with, particularly when you’re crossing cultures.

KK: What about the crime fiction genre draws you in, both as a reader and as a writer?

NG: As a writer, what we really strive for is to challenge the assumptions that people have. And, certainly everyone has an opinion of police work, and most of the people I come across not only have an opinion about police work, but they’re “experts.” They think they know everything that cops go through. That’s changed within the last couple of years because, with the ubiquity of cell phones, it’s become harder to challenge people’s assumptions. People are seeing it themselves from reality TV and youtube. Although, I still like the idea, and I want The Burden of Truth to challenge people’s assumptions, specifically concerning how they think justice plays out in the lives of young men like Omar. That’s really what motivated me to create that very first character, Ben Sawyer, then Tia Suarez after him, and quite a few others.

KK: What made you want to become a police officer in the first place?

NG: Crime fiction! It’s funny because, way back in 1970, I wandered into the Eau Claire Public Library on Farwell street, and there was this book that everyone was talking about. It was a book of the month selection, and it was called The New Centurions by Joe Wambaugh, who was a new writer and a detective for the Los Angeles police department. I tried to check it out, but the librarian wouldn’t let me because it was adult fiction. Instead, I went over to my dad, who was a professor at the college, and he got it for me because he believed that children should read whatever they wanted. I did end up reading it when I was very young, and the librarian was probably right that I had no business reading it as a 10-year-old, but by the time I was 12 years old, and because of the books I read, I was bound and determined to become a police officer. I ended up joining the marines, but when I was discharged, I immediately went over to the academy in San Diego and worked in the county for 27 years.

KK: I noticed you studied police ethics at the FBI National Academy in Quantico. How has that influenced your police work on and off the beat?

“So, I’ve always been fascinated by police excellence and how to train that, how to operationalize that as opposed to just depending on people being able to respond to such difficult circumstances. When you train shooting, driving, or even report writing, you’re training the physical imagination on how to respond to certain scenarios, but when you’re training ethics, you’re training the moral imagination. That’s the part that I try to drill in them.”

 NG: I was a core instructor, so that meant I instructed on police conduct and police ethics. I like to talk about police excellence, but of course we studied misconduct as well. I’ve studied that field for close to 20 years, so when I ended up at the FBI academy, that’s what I wanted to specialize in. I’m fascinated by what makes some cops so good at what that do, and how sometimes we let people who clearly have no business wearing a badge and a gun work in that field. And I don’t think I need to use any specific examples because all you have to do is go on youtube. When I started teaching ethics, I said a good trick for law enforcement is to behave as though there is a camera on you, but now I have to tell them, “remember, you are always being filmed.” So, I’ve always been fascinated by police excellence and how to train that, how to operationalize that as opposed to just depending on people being able to respond to such difficult circumstances. When you train shooting, driving, or even report writing, you’re training the physical imagination on how to respond to certain scenarios, but when you’re training ethics, you’re training the moral imagination. That’s the part that I try to drill in them. In police work, you don’t have the moral right to be pretty good at your job, you have to be really good at it.

KK: How has studying police ethics and patrol procedures influenced your opinions on the recent shootings of unarmed black men and women?

NG: Well, my career began in 1989, and within the first couple of years, there was the first viral police video. It’s interesting because, back in the day if you mentioned Rodney King, everyone knew who that was, but now if you mention that name, no one knows anymore. There was a time when everyone had an opinion on Rodney King, and in the last ten years, we’ve seen so much of this egregious misconduct that it’s very difficult to come to grips with it. I do point out when I answer this question that the police respond to between forty and sixty million calls for service every year, and over 98% of them involve no use of force whatsoever. That being said, I can’t look at the video of Kenosha and defend that. What police officers need to recognized is that people can see it with their own eyes. They can see what has occurred, and they can see it’s just not defensible conduct. I could break down what happened in Minneapolis frame by frame and see so many opportunities for a competent, well-meaning officer to avoid that situation. I can also see some malice, particularly in Officer Chauvin, for standing on George Floyd’s neck, and I think that’s going to be a very solid criminal case against him. In Kenosha what I see are some issues of competency as well. I still teach ethics, and a lot of the time, it really just is police officers who aren’t very good at their jobs.

 Tune in on Tuesday, September 22 at 7PM on Zoom (link here!)! For more info on Neal Griffin, or to order his latest book, The Burden of Truth, visit his website at nealgriffin.com

Five BIG Updates to The Priory Writers’ Retreat

B.J. Hollars

Our first summer at The Priory Writers’ Retreat was nothing short of magical.  In no small part, this was due to the perfect combination of committed writers, engaging writers-in-residence, and a comfortable setting.  But in the spirit of perpetual improvement, over the past six months we’ve listened to participant feedback and worked hard to make every suggested adjustment we can to the facility.  Thankfully, most of these fixes were quick and easy!  And they’ll make a world of difference!

We’re pleased to have partnered with UW-Eau Claire’s Camps and Conferences Team to bring these changes to next year’s retreat.   

1.)   A New and Improved Menu.  Food matters!  And because food fuels the work, we want to be sure to offer participants the very best.  This summer, we’ve dramatically overhauled our menu while keeping costs relatively the same.  Participants will now enjoy three hot meals a day. 

• Breakfasts include a variety of the following: croissants, hashbrowns, crispy bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs with cheddar, Garden vegetable quiche, mushroom and spinach quiche, donuts, breakfast breads, and more! 

• The lunch menu includes Chimichurri Flank Steak Sandwich, Buffalo chicken wrap boxed lunch, Spicy Italian Baguette Boxed Lunch, and cookies, chips and fruits. 

• Thursday’s dinner (“Little Italy”) includes Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons, Vegetarian Antipasto Platter, Assorted Rolls and Butter, Sautéed Fresh Zucchini, Pasta Bar with Spaghetti, and Penne Pasta with Marinara Sauce and Pesto Cream Sauce, Home-Style Meatballs in Marinara Sauce, Traditional Chicken Cacciatore, Tiramisu, and more. 

• Friday’s dinner (“Asian Fusion”) features Asian Salad, Sticky Rice, Garlic Lemon Ginger Broccoli, Vegetable Lo Mein, Cilantro Breast of Chicken, Teriyaki Glazed Salmon Filet, Fortune Cookies, Coconut Lemon Almond Gourmet Bar, and more. 

• Saturday’s dinner will be on your own in downtown Eau Claire—with plenty of choices for every palate. 

• Vegetarian options are available.  And do let us know about any allergies!

2.)   Craft Coffee Brought To You Bright and Early. While paper and pen may be the traditional tools of the writer’s trade, let’s never, ever overlook the power of coffee.  Good coffee.  Great coffee.  Strong coffee.  The kind of coffee that will snap your eyelids back and send you soaring to the keys.  This summer, participants can enjoy 6AM freshly-brewed coffee courtesy of Shift Cyclery and Coffee Bar—Eau Claire’s premiere shop.  And enjoy your cup of joe in your very own, brand new Priory mug!  You can even take it with you as our gift to you.

3.)   New and Improved Classroom Space.  While there are no shortage of writing nooks at The Priory, last summer we did struggle to find ideal classroom spaces for all of our courses.  But not anymore!  This summer, a new classroom will be created to ensure that each of our four courses can have its own intimate space.  In addition to contributing to the overall audience, this additional space will also help manage acoustics. 

4.)   Decorous Occasion Social Hour.  Last year we were thrilled to have an evening of live music on Friday night.  This year, we’re excited to have MORE live music.  But rather than a sit-in-your-seats concert, this year it’ll be what we’re calling our “Decorous Occasion Social Hour.”  Following a lovely dinner, we’ll all gather in the main hall for live music, socialization, networking, and a cool drink of your choice (non-alcoholic options available, of course.)

5.)   Upgraded Towels, Sheets and Linens.  Your comfort matters.  This summer, we’re pleased to offer all our participants upgraded towels, bedsheets and linens.  Additionally, extra mattresses are available upon request.  Having said that, our on-site lodging participants should be aware that our rooms are of a dorm room quality.  Each private room has a desk and twin bed.  Participants are encouraged to bring whatever might improve your comfort: books, art, additional bedding, etc. Or, if you prefer, you can stay off-site.  In short, there are many options for your comfort.

This is only the beginning.  Over the next few months we’ll continue to work hard to curate the perfect experience for you.  When you’re at The Priory, your primary responsibility is to give yourself fully to your craft.  Let us ease your mind of the day-to-day tasks.  You’re here as our guest.  You’re here for your work.  Applications open February 1!

DMITRI’S DREAM: DISCOVERING THE ALPHABET OF THE UNIVERSE – A CONVERSATION WITH STEPHANIE TURNER

Rebecca Mennecke

Dimitri Mendeleev had a dream. 

Literally, a dream. 

After writing his book, Principles of Chemistry, Mendeleev (or, by his Russian name: Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev) sought a way to organize the elements. According to legend, Mendeleev was so exhausted by his efforts that he fell asleep on a train ride after spending three days straight trying to develop an effective system of classification. 

Mendeleev recalled, “I saw in a dream, a table, where all the elements fell into place as required. Awakening, I immediately wrote it down on a piece of paper.” 

This discovery, as it turns out, was what we now know as the periodic table of the elements. 

Faculty and students from UW-Eau Claire’s art, sciences, English, theatre, and other departments are celebrating the 150th anniversary of this historic discovery in “Dmitri’s Dream: Discovering the Alphabet of the Universe” – an event that will be celebrated at 7pm on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at the Pablo Center.

I had the chance to chat with Stephanie Turner, a fantastic professor of English at UW-Eau Claire, who has been “ground zero” in assembling the audio and visuals for the event – a learning curve that has been fun for her, since she enjoys visuals and problem-solving with technology. 

Rebecca Mennecke: First, can you tell me a little bit about yourself? I notice on your Blugold profile that you specialize in rhetorics of science! How did you get to be a part of this event?

Stephanie Turner: I'm drawn to this sort of event because my teaching and research typically crosses disciplines. I teach science communication and visual rhetoric, and my writing focuses on animals in visual culture and artists' response to biodiversity loss. I'm interested in how people learn about and use scientific knowledge to make practical decisions. Plus I really like the people involved in this Art AND Science group! I've been involved with their events in previous years. For example, I was one of the readers in a readers theatre production of excerpts of four science-related plays. That was my first experience with doing readers theatre, and it was a lot of fun.

RM: Technical writing is one of your specialties, and part of that comprises taking language within science and communicating it to specific audiences in a way they understand. How can we take a cue from Dmitri in finding new ways to not only integrate science into art, but also communicate that intersection to specific audiences?

ST: Dmitri was a teacher as well as a researcher, and his challenge was trying to teach his chemistry students about the elements. In addition to the story that he had a dream in which he envisioned the periodic table, another story has it that he developed the table that became the basis for the modern periodic table in trying out different ways to teach chemistry. He knew that to really understand something, it's important to teach it. 

RM: Why is the 150th anniversary of the periodic worth celebrating?

ST: Dimitri's contribution to chemistry is that he recognized the periodicity of the elements. In other words, they are predictably related by atomic weight and atomic number, and this can be represented in a systematic way. In fact, I think he used the word "system" to describe his table. In recognizing this underlying system, Dmitri was able to predict the existence of elements that had not yet been empirically demonstrated. That's what we are celebrating with the 150th anniversary.  

RM: Why is art a great way to represent the periodic table? Furthermore, how does science and art interact in this event?

ST: The periodic table is an ongoing human development. Like any other history, the history of chemistry is populated with great moments of insight, loads of everyday problem-solving, and smart, driven people. So the art of story-telling is very much involved in the history of chemistry. Something that fascinates me in particular, though, is the fact that the periodic table itself has been represented in so many dozens of ways. This raises the questions of whether there is an "optimal" periodic table and whether aesthetic considerations can be involved in science. These questions reflect an important divide between realists and instrumentalists, between theory and practice, that until this semester I hadn't really appreciated as an issue in chemistry. Another challenge in representing the elements is that, though they are real physical "things" that exist in the world, like copper and hydrogen, they don't all lend themselves easily to being visually represented. Visual artists love challenges like that, and their attempts to represent the elements and they ways they interact can be both educational and entertaining. 

RM: What makes the story of Dmitri Mendeleev worth sharing?

ST: Well, for one thing, it's got tons of pathos. I won't spoil it for you (you'll have to come to the show!), but the story of how he managed to get into school to learn about chemistry in the first place involves great loss and tremendous effort. You can't help but be on his side when you find out about his early years. 

 RM: What can we learn from Dmitri Mendeleev’s story or from him as an individual?

ST: Find a passion and keep putting one foot in front of the other – you will be rewarded.

RM: What are you looking forward to with this event? What are you hoping to see?

ST: I'm looking forward to seeing how the efforts of so many people involved in this event – faculty and students in chemistry, astronomy and physics, English, and art and design – manage to pull off a cohesive set of images and text. I'm hoping to see audience members find something to wonder and smile about. 

RM: Why is this a must-attend event for students of all disciplines?  

The elements are the very stuff the world is made of. There is no facet of life that they aren't involved in. And there are probably still a few we haven't identified yet. Who doesn't love a good mystery?

*

This isn’t the first event that the arts and sciences have collaborated to produce. Paul Thomas, a professor of physics and astronomy at UW-Eau Claire has been doing outreach projects for quite some time, he said. 

In November 2017, professors Jack Bushnell (English), Jim Rybicki (Physics and Astronomy), and Jill Olm (Art) presented a show at the Foster Gallery on the theme of “Color” as a part of the “Art AND Science” program – which “Dmitri’s Dream” blossoms from. This event, like “Dmitri’s Dream,” included faculty presentations, poetry readings, and drama presentations by students from various departments. It was coordinated with the “Ask a Scientist program,” and over 1,000 people attended both events, Thomas said. 

Last year, Jewell presented the movie “Let There Be Light,” a film about the development of nuclear fusion energy, at the Woodland Theatre in the Davies Center.  Afterward, Dr. Carey Forest, a researcher in the field of fusion energy, presented a brief talk and hosted a Q&A. More than 100 people attended this event. 

This year, “Dmitri’s Dream” is sure to be a hit! It’s coming up quickly, so grab your tickets now! 

Tickets are $5 and are available here.

Keeping The Wheels Turning: Jan Carroll Continues 6x6: A Reading Series

by Rebecca Mennecke

The rules for 6x6: A Reading Series are simple – Six readers. Six minutes. No repeats. 

Jan Carroll began the reading series after initially thinking of doing something similar with friends. When she pitched the idea to BJ Hollars, he said he had been thinking of doing something similar, and 6x6 was born! 

“Several people came to the first reading out of curiosity and to support those first six readers, and people really enjoyed it,” Carroll said. “It hasn’t really lost that momentum. It’s always fresh because each time features six new readers – not to mention a different theme. Also, it’s fun to be able to attend a reading where six quite different readers will be presenting their work. We try to include a variety of ages, backgrounds, and writing-experience levels.” 

On Tuesday, Dec. 10, the legacy of 6x6: A Reading Series continues with Kaye Henrickson, Maddie Gray, Barbara Arnold, Jay Gilbertson, Marty Wood and Pamela Livingston, all of whom will read original work on the shared theme “Wheels.” 

Carroll brainstorms each theme for the event by thinking about things that can have multiple interpretations.

“A variety of takes on the subject makes a more interesting reading, in my opinion,” Carroll said. “Then I try to keep the theme something that most people can relate to, rather than assigning a really narrow idea.” 

Barbara Arnold said she considered numerous elements in her interpretation of “Wheels.”

One of her daily writing practices is “morning pages,” which Julia Cameron recommends in her book, The Artist’s Way. 

“The practice is you start writing whatever comes into your head as soon as you wake up in the morning,” Arnold said. “For me, that can be 3am or 4am – I call it the ‘bewitching hour,’ as I’m not totally awake nor totally asleep. Sometimes I’m still in a dream-like state. You write at least three pages, long-hand cursive – not on an electronic or digital device. I spend an hour or two writing this way every day – whatever comes into my head – in notebooks I’ve bought for this purpose.” 

She continued her “morning pages” practice, along with contributing to Volume One, when Carroll invited her to participate in 6x6. 

She said that Ken Burn’s recently released Country Music series inspired the piece she’ll perform, thanks, in part, to the story of The Carter Family and Johnny Cash and June Carter. 

“Can The Circle Be Unbroken (Bye and Bye) by the Carter Family in 1935,” Arnold said. “A circle is like a wheel. Ring of Fire by June Carter Cash and sung by Johnny Cash in 1963. A ring is like a wheel. Roseanne Cash shared in an interview how her father worked out his problems on stage by singing and playing his music. And I realized a connection of sorts as I was doing the same through my Morning Pages.” 

After viewing the series, she began searching for words that had “wheel” in it, then reviewed the list for inspiration. 

At the least expected moment, “up bubbled a memory” from when Arnold visited a Daoist/Taoist temple in Hong Kong in 2012. There, she learned about the Dharma Chakra from a daoshi – or a Daoist/Taoist priest. “Chakra” means “wheel” in Sanskrit. 

That’s when the piece took on a life of its own.

“Both are metaphors for life,” Arnold said. “And that’s where I landed… I created an interactive poem where the audience can ‘play’ along for a longer presentation. The piece is not likely to ever be the same.” 

She said it took about six months of thinking, researching, and letting her ideas percolate before—after a few weeks of writing and editing—she reached her final version.

“With the 6x6 piece, I went through six versions during two weeks. I also read what I write out loud – sometimes in front of a mirror – to make sure it sounds natural,” she said.

Past themes of 6x6 event have included: work and play, Earth, Home, and so many more!  

As a part of 6x6, Carroll hopes for a variety of genres, different tones, and that each reader is “true to their own voice.” 

“I hope each time that each reader is learning something about their writing and about themselves,” Carroll said. 

All local writers are welcome! Writers don’t have to be a part of the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild or have had any work published. If interested, just shoot an email to chippewavalleywritersguild@gmail.com. 

“I’m delighted to be part of 6x6, and if only once and forever, that’s wonderful!” Arnold said. “Perhaps this experience will lead to other opportunities to share my writing at gatherings like this.” 

 6x6 is shaking things up and hosting the event at 200 Main Art and Wine Gallery. Space is limited, so nab a ticket ahead of time. Check out more info here! 

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Rebecca’s Top 7 Picks

by Rebecca Mennecke

Most kids get to go to the zoo on the weekend. Or, perhaps, they go to the playground, to sleepovers, or to see a movie. When I was younger, I was dragged to authors’ book talks and  signings. Correction: I was willingly dragged to authors’ book talks and signings. A letter from my first-grade teacher revealed I was “sparkly-eyed” when talking about how I met David Shannon – the author of No! David. The author list continues: Marie Lu (author of Legend) Marc Brown (the mastermind behind the Arthur books), Patrick Carmen (author of Skeleton Creek), Lemony Snicket (author of A Series of Unfortunate Events), and so many more. I grew up immersed in literature, so it’s no surprise that I’m super pumped for the Chippewa Valley Book Festival this year. 

But, I’m a busy lady. As much as I’d love (seriously, love!) to go to every one of the events, there’s no way I can cram them all into my already-bursting schedule. Here are my top-picks for this year’s festival, and why I know I can’t miss them. 

1.) Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time

Tanya Lee Stone's Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time discusses one topic I’m personally passionate about: girls’ education and the positive impact it has on society as a whole. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a feminist. I wrote an entire column for my school newspaper, titled Bad Feminist based on Roxane Gay’s TED Talk Confessions of a Bad Feminist. As a writer, and as a human being in general, it’s crucial to know the importance of women empowerment in society. This could be me channeling my inner Emma Watson here (“If not me, who? If not now, when?”), but this is one event you won’t want to miss.

Wednesday, Oct. 16 from 7pm-8pm at Centennial Hall (Room 1614), UW-Eau Claire

2.) Don’t Call Me Crazy: Navigating Mental Health with Compassion, Understanding, and Honesty

I have anxiety. It’s a fact of my life. But, I’m not alone in that respect. At least 20 percent of Americans have a mental illness. Yet, it seems like talking about mental health can be really tricky, leading many people to skip conversations about it altogether.  Kelly Jensen, the author of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation about Mental Health is shaking things up by openly talking about mental illness. (Cue the enormous collective gasp.) This is a book I’m seriously in love with, and I know you will be too. 

Thursday, Oct. 17 from 5pm-6pm at Schofield Hall, UW-Eau Claire

3.) Making the Unseen, Seen: Giving Voice to Diverse Characters in Fiction and Beyond

Achieving diverse representation is something we all as writers aspire to achieve in our writing. However, it can be really tricky to achieve not just representation, but representation that has agency and is meaningful. This talk will walk writers through that complex topic of diversity in writing  with the fantastic read, If You See Me, Don’t Say Hi. 

Monday, Oct. 21 from 6:30pm-7:30pm at the Memorial Student Center Ballroom, UW-Stout

4.) A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate

If you know me well, you know I work hard to make my handwriting look impeccable. I love looking up “study inspo” on Pinterest just so I can look at neatly-printed notes, and I keep a hoard of colorful pens and markers around my apartment just for that rare moment when I want to try my hand at my own “study inspo.” How the handwriting of Frenchman Marcel Heuzé became a modern cursive computer font is a mind-blowing story that attracted me immediately. When I saw this book on the new book shelf at the library (where I work), I snatched it before any of the other librarians could. 10/10 would recommend. 

Tuesday, Oct. 23 from 7pm-8pm at the Fall Creek Public Library

Wednesday, Oct. 23 from 10:30am-11:30am at the Menomonie Public Library 

5.) Revenge of the Asian Woman: A Reading with Dorothy Chan

Besides being the new assistant professor of English in the English Department at UW-Eau Claire, Dorothy Chan is a brilliant poet who takes on seemingly ordinary topics like sex, food, Asian culture, and family while serving up some fresh (and savory) takes. Her poetry is a delightful read, and so I know I’m more than a little bit stoked to attend her book talk. (Plus, let’s talk about that title: “Revenge of the Asian Woman.” Talk about powerful. I want to know all her titling secrets.) 

Wednesday, Oct. 23 from 6pm-7pm at L.E. Phillips Memorial Library

6.) The Great Believers: Where Fiction Meets History

I couldn’t escape Rebecca Makai’s The Great Believers even if I tried. And, believe me, this is a good thing. Besides sharing the phenomenal same first name, we share the same home – Chicago. (Okay, I cheat. I’m from the suburbs. But, close enough.) This book is seriously phenomenal (and, not to mention, it’s a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer in fiction and the 2018 National Book Award). Also, this book is available literally everywhere. Every time I go to a bookstore, the book is waiting right there on the shelves. I’m pretty sure the bookstores are trying to subtly tell me to buy every copy. Tickets for this event are free, but reserve ‘em ahead of time here. 

Saturday, Oct. 26 from 7:30pm-8:30pm at the RCU Theatre, Pablo Center at the Confluence 

7.) Barstow & Grand: Issue #3 Release Reading

One of the beautiful parts of being a part of the Chippewa Valley community is that we have an awesome literary community, jam-packed full of talented writers. Barstow & Grand offers just a snippet of those talented writers, and so I’m not kidding you when I say this issue will be phenomenal. The Issue #2 release was more than just a book release; it was a joining of great creatives and literary minds from around the Chippewa Valley collectively celebrating words. It’s on a whole ‘nother planet to hear writers read their own work. Check all these fabulous local writers out yourself at the new issue’s release. 

Wednesday, Oct. 23 from 7:30pm-9pm at Lazy Monk Brewing 

As much as I wish I could attend every event, my busy schedule says I have to choose carefully. This is only one short snippet of the talented writers who are presenting their hard work, and they’re all about topics I’m really passionate about. You might find other topics that are way more interesting to you. You can only find out by checking out the event lineup for yourself at the Chippewa Valley Book Festival website, found here. You never know the neat things you’ll find there…

"Oddly Enough" season 2 creeps Onto Converge Radio in October

by Rebecca Mennecke

CREEEAK... 

What’s that sound? No worries, it’s just season 2 of the local radio drama series, Oddly Enough creeping onto Converge Radio (99.9) beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4 and running every Friday through Dec. 13. 

This local radio drama comprises the so-good-it’s-spooky work of local writers and radio masterminds resulting in ten episodes involving supernatural and sci-fi elements. Karen Drydyk, the showrunner, assures listeners that the new season will offer “a gasp, a giggle, and the chance to embrace our world in all its weirdness.” 

Drydyk said it takes about a year to put each season of fictional episodes together. After the writers finish the scripts, they do a table read, record and then spend significant time “crafting the auditory experience of each episode.” 

What exactly does that look like when it comes to season 2? I chatted with Karen Drydyk to find out more about this thrilling new radio drama masterpiece. 

KAREN DRYDYK 

Rebecca Mennecke: What should listeners expect from this season? What are you looking forward to in the release of season 2? 

Karen Drydyk: Listeners should expect some twists and turns, some regional geographic nods, and a few surprises. I’m most looking forward to our first and last episode of the season, but that’s because I think they’re relevant for me and other Millennials. 

RM: What makes Oddly Enough a unique storytelling experience, as compared to other radio drama series? 

KD: Oddly Enough is a unique experience because it’s a fictional account of sci-fi and odd concepts. No other local (and very few national) radio dramas focus on episodic sci-fic topics. 

RM: This is a locally created radio drama series! What is it like to work with folks around the Chippewa Valley on this project? 

KD: My favorite part of working as a showrunner for Oddly Enough is working with the incredibly talented inhabitants of the Chippewa Valley – from writers to production staff to voice actors. We have such a vibrant community, and I’m honored to bring their talents and voices to the airwaves. 

JIM JEFFRIES 

One of the writers behind two of the episodes, “Memory Root and Bough,” and “Wrong Number,” Jim Jeffries (also known as: Jane Jeffries’ husband) said it’s pretty sweet to get to work with such “amazingly creative” people. 

Rebecca Mennecke: Can you walk me through the creation of each episode from start to finish? 

Jim Jeffries: My wife, Jane, and I work as a team.  Usually each of us has an idea for a script and write the first three pages.  Then we switch scripts, revise what was written by each other, and then advance the script about three more pages.  We are more objective (ruthless) with each other and are not worried about hurting each other's feelings. We end up cutting a lot of dead wood.  

RM: What makes Oddly Enough unique as compared to other radio dramas? 

JJ:  I like the local feel of the scripts in a Twilight Zone universe.

RM: What makes writing for print different from writing for radio? What are some tips you have to keep in mind? 

JJ: We love radio because we don't have to worry about sets, costumes, blocking, or memorization. And the sound wizards at Converge are awesome to work with for sound effects.

After the writers finish up their reads, the “sound wizards” at Converge radio takes over to make the episode in its final form. One of those sound wizards is Alexx Stadtlander, a UW-Eau Claire student and the producer of every episode. 

ALEXX STADTLANDER

 Rebecca Mennecke: Converge Radio works on adding in music and sound effects to the radio drama. Can you tell us more about the work you have to do to reach the final product of season 2? 

Alexx Stadtlander: The final product for each episode takes anywhere from 3 hours to 6 or 8 depending on how detailed the writer wants the episode. As the producer I have a sound effects library that I get most of the sound effects and music from. If an episode calls for footsteps I'll find it in my database and listen to 2-4 recordings to find the sound that fits the episode best. I do the editing and recording in Adobe Audition so once I find the right sound effect I place it in the correct spot of the recording. Sometimes if I can't find a sound effect I like or the writer is looking for a specific sound I get to find something close and then edit by putting filters on it, I like having the freedom to put my own little twist on the sound effect. 

RM: How does adding music and sound effects change the storytelling process? 

AS: Music and sound effects bring the radio drama to life. It starts with a few voice actors that we record in the studio. They do a good job bringing their voice and character to life but if that were to air on the radio it wouldn't hold the listeners attention very well and the story wouldn't make as much sense. The sound effects add depth to the story and help bring it to life. Footsteps show that the character is walking around or is anxious and pacing around. The campfire ambiance shows that the scene takes place outside at dark. Without those little cues the story is not as exciting.

RM: What was it like to work on Oddly Enough? What is your favorite part of working on this project? 

AS: It was a lot of fun to work on "Oddly Enough". I was part of the recording process for this season and I was the only producer this season so it was a lot of work but I enjoyed all of it. My favorite part of working on this project is the people I get to meet. I get to listen to really interesting stories written by local residents and then I get to meet and work with the writers.

Last season featured five spooky episodes, but this season,  the Oddly Enough team has doubled their efforts with ten jaw-dropping episodes including: 

• Friday, Oct. 4: “Cornfield of Love” by Laura Buchholz 

• Friday, Oct. 11: “Go the Extra Mile” by Deb Peterson 

• Friday, Oct. 18: “Memory Root and Bough” by Jim Jeffries & Jane Marie 

• Friday, Oct. 25: “The Legend of Gassy Gus” by BJ Hollars 

• Friday, Nov. 1: “The Colony” by Deb Peterson 

• Friday, Nov. 15: “Civil Dialogue” by Laura Buchholz 

• Friday, Nov. 22: “Hold Your Nose and Make a Wish” by Deb Peterson 

• Friday, Nov. 29: “Wrong Number” by Jim Jeffries & Jane Marie 

• Friday, Dec. 6: “The Tinkerer” by BJ Hollars 

• Friday, Dec. 13: “7 Inches of Snow” by Laura Buchholz 

In addition to listening on the radio and via online streaming, “Go the Extra Mile” will also be performed live on October 29 as part of the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild “Sound and Stories” series.  Tickets are available here.

More information can be found on the Oddly Enough Facebook page here. 

Finally, to get caught up on last season’s episodes, check out our Midwest Radio Drama portal available here.

"If Mama Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy": An Interview with Writer/Director/Performer Katie Venit

by Lauren Becker

Mother’s Day weekend is almost upon us and we know just how you can spend it.

Join us at the Pablo Center May 13th at 7pm as we round out this season's Sound & Stories series with one final installment. 

Celebrate alongside local writers and storytellers Allyson Loomis, Yia Lor, Brooke Newmaster, Patti See, the Eau Claire Women in Theater (ecWIT), and musician Jerrika Mighelle for an evening of songs and stories on the vast and varying experiences of motherhood.

In preparation for this event, we had a chance to chat with the event’s director and storyteller, the tremendously talented Katie Venit.

Lauren Becker : For those of us who aren’t as familiar, could you tell us a little bit about the nature of the Sound & Stories Series?

Katie Venit : Sound and Stories is a series that combines the talents of local musicians with local writers and other spoken word performers. It's a great little event in an intimate space at the Pablo.

LB : Could you give us a teaser on what we can expect from the evening?

KV : Sure! All of our performers are women, and many of them chose to explore mother-daughter relationships, either through the perspective of the mother or daughter (or in the case of ecWIT's dramatic reading, both). Most pieces will be personal essays (with one fictional piece). We'll also have performances about mothering sons. So it's not just pieces about being a mother, but also having a mother. I'm really excited about the diversity of the ages represented in this show. Often when people think of motherhood, they think of new mothers and that astonishing time. But as this evening will illustrate, motherhood just begins when the baby is born. It just gets more interesting.

LB : Could you share with us some insights you’ve made about the brilliant artists you’ve had the pleasure of getting to know through your time spent planning this event?

KV : They're hilarious. Not every piece that we experience at the Sound and Stories event will be funny or have humor in it, but as people I think they're each delightfully funny. I also went into this process trusting the artists to do their best work. I figured all I had to do was tell them where to be and when, maybe with a little nudging to make sure we stay on theme. That faith has been completely justified. They're each so, so talented.

LB : Can you speak on how various manifestations of motherhood will be communicated with those who have never experienced it?

KV : That's a good question. I think the job of every good writer is to help the reader or audience understand an aspect of the human experience that they might not be familiar with. If we've done our job right, you won't have to have been a mother, or even had a significant relationship with your mother, to recognize some aspect of your own life in our stories. We've all known mothers, though, whether they were our own or someone else's, and we've all loved a woman who was a mother. I think this will appeal to everyone, mother or not.

Deb Brown, member of ecWIT and one of the artists who will be guiding us through this intimate evening of exploration, offered this thematically relevant quote courtesy of N.K. Jemison’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms : “In a child’s eye, a mother is a goddess. She can be glorious or terrible, benevolent or filled with wrath, but she commands love either way. I am convinced that this is the greatest power in the universe.” -

Can’t wait? Neither can we. Purchase your tickets here.