Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Contest Opportunity!
Wisconsin People & Ideas Short Story and Poetry Contest
Deadline: December 15, 2009
Winners of the Wisconsin People & Ideas/Wisconsin Book Festival 2010 short story contest will receive prizes of $500 (first place), $250 (second place), and $100 (third place). Their stories will be published serially, beginning with the first-prize story, online at www.wisconsinacademy.org and in the summer 2010 issue of Wisconsin People & Ideas.
The first-place story will be reviewed by a noted literary agent, and the author will receive a one-week stay at Edenfred, a creative arts residency in Madison owned by the Terry Family Foundation. This year, an esteemed panel will judge short story submissions. The lead judge is Dwight Allen, essayist, novelist, and author of The Typewriter Satyr (UW Press, 2009). The contest is coordinated by Wisconsin People & Ideas editor, Jason A. Smith, and ably judged by Alison Jones Chaim, Nickolas Butler, and Beth L. Lueck. Complete contest rules and submission guidelines at www.wisconsinacademy.org.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
2009 Jade Ring Winners Announced
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2009 JADE RING WINNERS!!!!!!!
Nostalgia:
1st Place: Janet Grant-Gustafson
2nd Place: Martha Griffiths
3rd Place: Martha Griffiths
1st Honorable Mention : Patricia Kasten
2nd Honorable Mention: Dorothy M. Loftus
Juvenile Short Story:
1st Place: Darlene A. Buechel
2nd Place: Carol Deprez
3rd Place: Carolyn Marquardt
1st Honorable Mention: Laurie Risch
2nd Honorable Mention: Idella Anacker
Humorous Poetry:
1st Place: Cathy Conger
2nd Place: Dorothy Lund
3rd Place: Ruby Walton
1st Honorable Mention: Kathleen Hayes Phillips
2nd Honorable Mention: Cathy Conger
Serious Poetry:
1st Place: Mary Jo Balistreri
2nd Place: Judy Kolosso
3rd Place: Karla Huston
1st Honorable Mention: Christine L. Abresch
2nd Honorable Mention: Patty Miler
Article:
1st Place: Jeane Knapp
2nd Place: Greg Peck
3rd Place: Elayne Clipper Hanson
1st Honorable Mention: Sally Bair
Adult Short Story:
1st Place: Cheryl A. Hanson
2nd Place: Kathleen Ernst
3rd Place: Cynthia Uhrich
1st Honorable Mention: Barb Jenson
2nd Honorable Mention: Carolyn Ostrander
3rd Honorable Mention: Kimberly Suhr
Essay:
1st Place: Cheryl A. Hanson
2nd Place: Nancy Sweetland
3rd Place: Joanne Nelson
1st Honorable Mention: Barb Jensen
2nd Honorable Mention: Betty Brogaard
Well done all!!!!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
WRWA On Wisconsin Public Radio!
Nate Scholze and Robin Butler will be guests on Wisconsin Public Radio with host Larry Meiller, Tuesday, September 8. 2009!
The program will begin at 11:00 AM and will highlight the WRWA Fall Writers’ Conference in Eau Claire, September 25-27. Listen in to The Ideas Network in your area, call in if you like, and join in the fun!
Monday, May 18, 2009
WRWA FALL WRITERS' CONFERENCE
Well known radio talk show host, Jean Feraca, will grace our presence on Saturday afternoon when she reveals her experiences and talks about turning poetry into memoirs.
Noted New York City literary agent, Barbara Poelle, will share her insights on the publishing industry from the big market perspective, and what it takes for new writers to break into the big time.
John Lehman, well known poet and Wisconsin Poet Laureate runner-up, will talk about getting published in the poetry world.
Eva Apelqvist, explains how children's writers can succeed in a failing economy.
Greg Peck, local Wisconsin published author, shares his experiences being published and why he pursued a small mainstream publisher.
Cassie Hansen, local college student, freelancer, and Youth Member’s Service Coordinator will discuss how young writers can get involved and become successful in the writing industry.
The conference has something to offer everyone with Writers’ Breakout Sessions Saturday evening, and opportunities to read material aloud without critique on Friday and Saturday evenings.
The conference will climax with the annual Jade Ring Banquet where Contest winners will receive awards and read their winning entries aloud to the audience. So, this year’s WRWA Fall Writers’ Conference promises to be an event not to miss. Plan to join the fun September 25-27, and meet the professionals, and enjoy the company of all your writer friends. Find out how to register here!
Friday, March 27, 2009
2009 Spring Writers' Conference
Click on speakers names for their bios
Friday, May 1st
6:30 – 9:30 p.m. Writers’ Roundtable (separate sessions for prose and poetry)
Saturday, May 2nd
8:00 – 9:00 Registration, coffee, and meeting each other
9:00 – 9:10 Opening Remarks
Robin Butler, Boyd Sutton, Denis Simonsen
9:10 – 9:30 Brief Presentation: Alan Ansorge Play
9:30 – 9:45 Book Sales/Signing/General Audience Admission
(Public access for Michael Perry’s 1st presentation only)
9:45 – 10:45 Michael Perry (1) – Stories from Home
10:45 – 11:00 Break – Book Sales/Signing
(People who came only for Perry’s presentation buy books and depart)
11:00 – 12:00 Michael Perry (2) – Freelancing, Publishing, and the Writing Process
12:00 – 12:15 Book Sales/Signing
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
Explanation of Exhibit: Ladysmith Exhibit (writing & visual arts)
Brief Presentation: Tom King (reading/recitation)
Lindemann & Nelson Contest Awards
1:00 – 1:45 Michael Norman – How to gather and organize material for your writing
1:45 – 2:15 Youth Contest Awards (Denis Simonsen and LaMoine MacLaughlin)
1st place winners read their entries
Cassie Hanson Song
2:15 – 3:00 Beverly Larsen – Poetry is Significant
3:00 – 3:15 Break – Book Sales/Signing
3:15 – 4:15 Open Mic
4:15 – 4:20 Closing Remarks
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Robin's Ramblings
Our Board of Directors, acting as a committee-of-the-whole, as it has in the past, is incapable of attending to the growing variety of writers’ needs that WRWA must address today. That’s not because our elected Directors haven’t tried, or haven’t done their jobs. It is because, as the singer says, “The times, they are a-changing,” and one of the biggest—and still expanding—changes in society today is the electronic revolution.
Unless you were born in the Computer Age, and grew up with it, as a Johnny-come-lately senior citizen like me, you have undoubtedly found it difficult to adapt. Just learning to use a word processor, a spreadsheet, and e-mail become challenges, not to mention things like cell phones, iPods, Blackberries, “blogging,” Web “surfing,” Google’ing, and a hundred other electronic devices and processes for instantaneous connection to the whole world.
So, what has the electronic age have to do with providing members’ services in WRWA?
Everything! For example: It will soon be possible to renew your membership and register for a conference by credit card on the WRWA Web site; or, if you do not have computer access, to use your credit card by mail or in person at the registration desk—electronic payment, in other words. That will require a lot of adjustment—time and work—on the part of your officers and “staff” to catch up to other organizations that have been providing that service to their members for years.
That’s just one example of how the electronic age will affect, is affecting, WRWA. I’ll mention more in future “Ramblings,” but here’s another.
All our committees are now in action. They are chaired by competent Directors and “staffed” by willing volunteers from the general membership. And, they are empowered to ACT WITHOUT BOARD INVOLVEMENT as long as their actions are within the coordinated Annual Plan and Annual Budget—which will become a reality at a special board (and staff) meeting called for that purpose on January 17, 2009, in Wisconsin Rapids.
These committees are now conducting their business electronically—by e-mail. After all, with the volume of work facing us to maintain and improve WRWA, no one can afford the time, travel, and expense of in-person committee meetings scattered all over the State of Wisconsin! The Board of Directors, too, will be doing business electronically. In addition to an annual planning/budgeting meeting, the two in-person meetings of the Board in conjunction with the Spring and Fall Conferences, will continue, as will occasional special meetings, but, again, there is simply no way that what has to be done can all be done in just face-to-face meetings.
We Directors, Officers, and Staff are dedicated to the Mission of WRWA, which means we are committed to serve the members. We will use every means available to accomplish the goals and objectives that service requires—and that certainly includes the now-available electronic technology that can assist us.
Robin