Fall 2010
Home
Poet pages
Museletter
Events
Conferences
Calendar
Publications
Links
Markets
Contests
Laureate
About Us
Suggestions
Join
Next
Museletter Archives

President's Message
Recently I had the opportunity to review Bruce Dethlefesen’s breather and Karla Huston’s An Inventory of Lost Things for Verse Wisconsin. Huston’s collection opens with a quotation from Philip Larkin’s “High Windows”, which got me to thinking about differences between that worthy English poet’s work and the worthy work of Huston and Dethlefsen.

Certainly I’ve loved Larkin’s verse ever since stumbling across “Days” in college. I’d note that there are few things more pleasurable than reading aloud “The Whitsun Weddings”, the way it picks up steam, chugs along through images from English farms and towns, and finally slows to an end, following the poet’s train ride across the countryside to end in London. And to be honest, in “Sunny Prestatyn” I always choke at the line “She was too good for this world,” even though “she” is simply an image on a billboard advertising a holiday camp. Of course, I also admire the subtle composition of this poem—so subtle one has to read it specifically for structure to notice those masterful end rhymes.

All that having been said, I do eventually tire of Larkin’s nearly unrelenting dreariness. Although his verse demonstrates the continual liveliness of a master’s artistry, the mood conveyed is universally weary. Larkin’s sophisticated ennui simply cannot allow itself relief from sadness. (Larkin said he wrote sad poems because he believed most people are sad.) Even at his lightest, Larkin is bitingly sardonic.

Reading Dethlefsen and Huston in this context, I was suddenly struck with how differently Midwestern poets such as these two convey sadness. Neither Dethlefsen nor Huston shy away from pain or grief. Much of their work is specifically about the disconnect between people, the hurts we inflect upon one another, the ways in which negative emotions can swamp us. What’s more, these poets communicate those emotions frankly, genuinely, and artistically. But unlike Larkin, they cannot help but to hope, it seems. That is to say, much of their verse is playful. Sometimes their language simply laughs. And those moments of humor are infectious—the honest grin rather than the wry, self-conscious smile of the “sophisticate.”

This, I suspect, is a gift creatives from the heartland of any nation can offer to the world-weary intellects of the coastal cities. If we pledge ourselves to weep frankly and to laugh genuinely—in equal measure—perhaps we may break through the artificial shell of sophisticated ennui, and make a truly human connection with our readers.

Sincerely,
Les

Next deadline: August 6, 2010
Send Museletter contributions to the Editor:
Christine Falk
9556 Upper 205th Street West
Lakeville, MN 55044
(952) 985-5375

thefalks@frontiernet.net

SEND US YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS if you haven't already, so we can update the WFoP database. Your address will only be used for communication among members.

Museletter Delivery Options
     To read or download the Museletter from our website, check the Museletter web page (this one) quarterly, or request e-mail notice. By choosing the e-mail option, members will be removed from the bulk-mail list and will not receive a hard copy of the Museletter (but can download and print it themselves). This will provide fastest delivery, at a significant savings to the Fellowship.
     Members may also opt to receive the Museletter by first-class mail rather than bulk mail. There is no charge to members, but this will increase mailing costs to the Fellowship.
     Notify the Museletter editor if you wish to exercise one of these options. The "default" delivery method will be bulk mail.


Membership List Available
Fellowship members are entitled to receive a list of members at a cost of $2.00 to cover postage. Please send cash or check payable to Chris Falk. Receiving the list via e-mail is free. E-mailed lists will be sent as a .pdf which requires Adobe Reader, available as a free download from www.adobe.com. In order to receive the list, members must now sign the agreement and submit it with each request (copy and paste to e-mail it).

Welcome
to the following new members who have joined since the last Museletter issue:

Marilyn Annucci
Madison
Phyllis Beckman Onalaska
Ross Boone Twin Lakes
J. Roderick Clark Cambridge
Reva Schlonsky Glendale

New member inquiries should be directed to Gillian Nevers, the Membership Chair, at 2022 Jefferson Street, Madison, WI 53711, (608)255-5080, nevers@wisc.edu. Join us!

Remember:
If you move or change your e-mail address, please notify the Museletter editor. Bulk mail is not forwarded, so you will not receive your Museletters. E-mail is the only way members are notified of Museletter deadlines.

Keep Your E-mail Info Up-to-Date
     In recent years, e-mail communications have increased within the WFOP membership. The list of e-mail addresses is kept in the main membership database. On occasion, announcements are e-mailed to the entire membership. Each time this happens, some e-mails get bounced back to the sender. The main reason this occurs is that the database manager has not been notified that an e-mail address has changed. If you have not received e-mails from the WFOP in recent months, most likely we do not have your most recent address. If you change your e-mail address, please contact Chris Falk at thefalks@frontiernet.net and let her know of the change so it can be corrected in the membership database. This will ensure that you receive all electronic correspondences.


Wisconsin Poet Laureate Marilyn Taylor—2010 Calendar of Events
August 25, 2010 - Reading, Governor's Residence Garden Party, Madison.
September 11, 2010 - Reading participant, Foot of the Lake Collective, Fond du Lac.
September 12–17, 2010 - Workshop facilitator: Lawrence University's Bjorklunden Seminar Center, Baileys Harbor. Enrollment is now closed.
September 26, 2010. 10:45 a.m. - Presentation, Wisconsin Regional Writers Assn. Fall Conference, Madison.
October 1, 2010. 5:30 p.m. - Reading w/ Bruce Dethlefsen, Karla Huston, Richard Roe & David Scheler, Wisconsin Book Festival, Overture Center, Madison
October 7, 2010. 7:00 p.m. - Reading, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Hefter Conference Center, 3271 North Lake Drive, Milwaukee.
October 10–15, 2010 - Workshop facilitator: Lawrence University's Bjorklunden Seminar Center, Baileys Harbor. Enrollment is still open at lawrence.edu/dept/bjork/bjorkseminars/course.shtml
October 23, 2010 - Workshop facilitator, AllWriters Workplace "Celebrity Saturday", Waukesha.
November 3, 2010, 7 p.m. - Benefit reading: Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, 2220 N. Terrace Avenue, Milwaukee.
November 11, 2010 - Presentation and reading, Fond du Lac Roundtable, Fond du Lac.

What's Happening in Your Region?
Central-Fox Valley Region

Bill Gillard, Central-Fox Valley Regional VP
1478 Midway Road
Menasha, WI 54952-1224
bill.gillard@uwc.edu

Cathryn Cofell’s poetry was accepted or published by New York Quarterly, North American Review, and Qarrtsiluni, and by Rhino and Slipstream Press in collaboration with Michael Kriesel. A poetry exercise was accepted by Dos Gatos Press in collaboration with Karla Huston, an essay published in Verse Wisconsin, and a poem appeared on the Your Daily Poem website. Cathryn read at the Bergstrom Mahler Museum’s Art Festival and at Harmony Café to the music of Obvious Dog (aka Bruce Dethlefsen and Bill Orth) from their newly released CD Lip.

Jean Biegun had poems in Verse Wisconsin (summer print issue), Wisconsin DNR 2010-11 Calendar, and forthcoming in Goose River Anthology 2010.


East Region

Janet Leahy, East Regional Co-VP
13480 W. Fountain Drive
New Berlin, WI 53151-3968
leahyja@earthlink.net

Carolyn Vargo, East Regional Co-VP
6147 West Stack Circle
Milwaukee, WI 53219-3054
vargocj@execpc.com

The Wisconsin Library Association named Margaret Rozga’s book 200 Nights and One Day an outstanding achievement in poetry for 2009.

Jane Kocmoud has a poem, "The Assumption” published in the July online issue of Verse Wisconsin. Her haiku “apple-red berries” will appear in the fall issue of The Aurorean.

Members of The Poetry People of Waukesha presented a program of poetry at Bookfest held at UW-Waukesha in June. Participants were: Paula Anderson, Barbara Bach-Wiig, Jo Balistreri, Katy Phillips, and Ginny Scholtz.

Karen Kerans, Janet Leahy, and Katy Phillips had poems accepted for the 75th anniversary celebration of The Clearing in Door County. Their poems will be on exhibit at The Clearing through summer of 2011. Janet also read at the Olbrich Garden Poetry Marathon in June.

submitted by Janet Leahy and Carolyn Vargo, East Regional Co-VPs

CJ Muchhala has poems published or forthcoming in Sacred Journey, Summer 2010, the 2011 Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar, and the fall issue of Verse Wisconsin online.

P.C. Moorehead has six poems displayed in the ekphrastic poetry exhibition, “Juxtaposition”, now showing through September at the Merton Town Hall Library in North Lake. The poems accompany six watercolor paintings of flowers by Teri Peterson, owner of the Lakes Gallery of Fine Arts in North Lake. Ekphrastic poetry gives the writer’s interpretation of a work of art, as well as the poet’s reaction to the art. The Merton Town Hall Library is close to the junction of Highways VV and 83 in North Lake. P.C. Moorehead had five poems published in Empty Shoes: Poems on the Hungry and Homeless, an anthology published by Popcorn Press in 2009, and a poem of hers appeared in the Spring-Summer 2010 edition of Echoes. Her poems have also appeared in the Spring 2010 Museletter and in the 2011 Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar. A short story of hers appears in the Goose River Anthology 2010.

Sr. Irene Zimmerman was awarded Third Place for Best Original Poetry 2010 by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada for her poem “Pieta”, which was published in St. Anthony Messenger. Her poem “Gamble” recently appeared in Review for Religious.


Mid-Central Region

Joan Johannes, Mid-Central Regional VP
800 Ver Bunker Avenue
Port Edwards, WI 54469
joanjeff@wctc.net


Northeast Region

Sarah Rose Thomas, Northeast Regional VP
970 School Place
Green Bay, WI 54303
psychopsychosarah@yahoo.co
m

Ralph Murre’s poem, “What is Given” was featured on June 21st on yourdailypoem.com. It is available in the archives. Ralph’s third book, The Price of Gravity, is now available from Auk Ward Editions. He gave a reading from his new book as part of the Dickinson Poetry Series on August 11th at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Ephraim.


Northwest Region

Jan Chronister, Northwest Regional VP
3931 S. County Road O
Maple, WI 54854
janchronister@yahoo.com

C. Dahlen had a poem appear in the Summer issue of the online journal The Road Not Taken: A Journal of Formal Poetry.

Ann M. Penton of Sarona, WI, and Green Valley AZ, participated in two poetry classes at School of the Arts in Rhinelander, WI, this July. Earlier this year she attended a weekend poetry workshop in Tubac, AZ and was one of the poets and book sellers at a public poetry reading in Green Valley at the conclusion of a poetry course. Some of her work was included in a newsletter and in a book of poetry by members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Green Valley.


South Region

Frank Konieska, South Regional VP
3633 Honey Creek Rd.
Burlington, WI 53105
konieska@tds.net


South-Central Region

James Roberts, South-Central Regional VP
324 Kedzie Street #30
Madison, WI 53704
jrob52162@aol.com

Hello? Hello? Is this the WFOP Hotline? Help! This is an emergency. Our poets are not sending in their news! My mailbox is lonely. Something may happen! Here are the details....

Peg Sherry takes me to task for not including mention of her first-place victory in the Bo Carter Waukesha Writer’s Contest. Congratulations, Peg. And if I forget again, you can unpin my sheriff’s star and pin it where it truly belongs.

Yvonne Yahnke sends some interesting news: a tanzaku poem of hers was accepted and hung on a tree in a Phoenix project in May. The name of the park is Encanto and this is done every spring. (hmmm ... there’s an idea for a WFOP project.)

May 13th saw two readings occurring almost simultaneously. Miriam Hall read poems from both old and new work at A Room Of One’s Own in Madison beginning at 6:30. At 7:00, Robin Chapman and R. Virgil Ellis joined Marilyn Taylor at a reading at Avol’s Bookstore. Your obedient servant managed to make it to both readings, albeit he missed much of the Avol’s shindig.

The Dane County Youth Poetry Festival was held on May 14th at Memorial High School in Madison. Richard Roe, Andrea Musher, and Fabu joined host Bill Rodriguez in honoring area high school writers.

James P. Roberts participated in the Sauk County Young Writer’s Workshop held on the UW–Baraboo campus on May 20th.

Sarah Busse read with Robert Schuler at Avol’s on May 23rd.

James P. Roberts and Kimberly Blanchette read their poetry as part of “Chocolate and Sin: Words With A Sweeter Taste” during the WisCon science fiction convention held in Madison on May 31st.

June 13th brought the 18th Annual WFOP Invitational Poetry Marathon at Olbrich Gardens. South-Central region members who participated were David Steingass, Fran Rall, Richard Swanson, and Jeanie Tomasko. Jeanie Tomasko reported that she had spent time earlier in the day with WFOP poet Shelley Hall who was taken off life support and passed away later in the evening.

The Regent Street Neighborhood Poetry group continues to meet quarterly. Catherine Jagoe facilitated the summer meeting on June 14th.

R. Virgil Ellis and Russell Gardner, accompanied by local musicians Angela Smith and Tom Zografi, gave a multimedia reading and presentation at Avol’s bookstore on June 17th.

F.J. Bergmann typed extemporaneous poems for Cold Read, a live performance with Tom Ferella's polaroids, exhibited as part of “Wordplay” at the Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, on June 27th and July 26.

Katrin Talbot (St. Cecelia’s Daze) and Lisa Marie Brodsky (We Nod Our Dark Heads) read from their works at Avol’s Bookstore on July 22nd.

Russell Gardner put together an art-and-poetry exhibit called “The Art of Human Behavior.” A public reception was held on August 5th at the Pyle Center in Madison, home of the exhibit, which ran until August 14th. Poets included were Marilyn Annucci, Gillian Nevers, Fran Rall, Ron Ellis, Andrea Potos, Richard Roe, and Shoshauna Shy.

James P. Roberts had a poem, “Encounter on Route 66” accepted by Verse Wisconsin for their Fall 2010 “On The Road” issue.

Kimberly Blanchette has her photographs, “The Doors of Wisconsin” displayed on the cover of the digital version of Whitewater Press. Such decorative doors should inspire some poems, n’est-ce pas?

Susan Elbe was a semi-finalist for the Pablo Neruda Poetry Prize. One poem from the winning series, “In Which I Enter, Not the Last Room, But the Hidden One”, will be published in the Fall issue of Nimrod International Journal. She also has a poem online in Ascent, participated with Lake Effects Poets in a reading at Sundance Art Gallery in July for Borderland: where worlds arise out of touch, and has a review of Barbara Crooker’s new book, More, online in Verse Wisconsin. Also, her poem “Safe Sex” is one of the featured poems in the Poetry at the Market Project sponsored by The Foot of the Lake Poetry Collective. Until next time...

Submitted by James P. Roberts, South-Central Regional VP

Shoshauna Shy had a visual art piece that incorporated a poem titled “Saturday Night in Cheyenne” that took the 2nd place ‘Best of Show’ $100 prize in the ‘Art of Human Behavior’ exhibit. This was in conjunction with a conference of The International Society of Human Ethology on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus.

F.J. Bergmann has had poems accepted or published in Aoife’s Kiss, Apex, Asimov’s, Cabinet des Fées, Everyday Weirdness, Flurry, GoingDown Swinging, Harpur Palate, Hummingbird, Illumen, Mythic Delirium, Big Pulp, Opium, the 2010 Rhysling Award Anthology, Reed, Right Hand Pointing, Space and Time, Strange Horizons, tiny words, Verse Wisconsin, and Weird Tales, and has won an International Publication Prize in the Atlanta Review poetry contest. She had an article on genre poetry in the spring issue of Verse Wisconsin, and exhibited with photographer Tom Ferella in “Word Play” at the Kohler Art Museum in Sheboygan with Cold Read, an extemporaneous Polaroid-and-typewriter performance. A Cold Read exhibit opening with refreshments and a short talk in conjunction with the Wisconsin Book Festival happens Thursday September 30th, 6:30 pm, at Avol’s Bookstore in Madison. Jeannie taught a summer publishing class for American College Adventures in Madison, and will also be teaching a number of poetry workshops at Whispering Woodlands in Verona, WI, this fall: 9/13–10/4, Mondays, 7–9 pm: Writing Poetry toward Publication; 10/17, Sunday, 1–4 pm: Submitting Poetry and Short Fiction; and 11/13, Saturday, 1- 4 pm: SF, Fantasy, and Horror Poetry.

The Portage Center for the Arts, Inc. sponsored a garden tour which included Art that Blooms at the Drury Callery at the Center the last weekend in July. Artists submitted paintings, sculptures, photographs, which were matched by floral arrangments by local florists and individuals, and poets wrote ekphrastic poetry about the various artistic endeavors. All were read to the public as part of the garden tour. Poets from Writers at the Portage and Pauquette Wordcrafters participating were Charlotte Clark, Sarah Selah Mautz, and Elayne Clipper Hanson.

Russell Gardner, Jr. and R. Virgil Ellis much appreciate the videos made by Paul Baker that he then put on YouTube. He accomplished this on June 17th from 7 to 9 p.m. at Avol’s Book Store. We should point out that the videos available via the links to follow do not include that R. Virgil Ellis furnished direction for the Gardner sequence in combination with music; the 16-part poem, “Banville’s Freddie and His Trip to There” stemmed from summarizing or abstracting each page of John Banville’s novel, Book of Evidence, into a sequential line of sonnets. Instruments used included Tom Zogarfi on the West African djimbe and Angela Smith on bass guitar. Gardner Part 1; Gardner part 2; Gardner part 3; Gardner part 4; R. Virgil Ellis reading (1 part): Ellis first presented three video-poems not included in YouTube links. Then the same musicians with different instruments jammed with him in his final two poems of the evening. For this Angela Smith played guitar and Tom Zografi harmonica.

Daniel Kunene attended the XIX Festival Internacional de Poesia de Medellin in Medellin, Colombia, July 4 to 11, 2009. He read poetry mainly in Medellin. Breakout groups of 4 to 5 were driven to read at outlying towns and villages, some reached only by a small plane. Opening and closing ceremonies and readings at a hillside amphitheatre were attended by an estimated 8,000 people. Two of his poems, namely “Benzeni?” (in Sesotho, English and Spanish) and “Soweto” were published in Prometeo, Numero 84-85. A 3-day Festival (October 14-16, 2009) at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale was held to launch Bending the Bow, An Anthology of African Love Poetry (Editor: Frank M. Chipasula). It was also a celebration of a new Press, namely The Brown Turtle Press, with Chipasula as Founding Publisher and Editor. Daniel’s poems “Will You My Dark Brown Sister” (aka “Dikerama”), “Music Of The Violin”, “It Is Not The Clouds”, and “Red” were published in Bending The Bow. Daniel attended VI Internacional de Poesia de Granada, Nicaragua in Granada, Nicaragua, February 14-to-20, 2010. He read in Granada and outlying towns. He read also at a Police Academy where some of the police participated with music and dancing. Publication of selected poems will follow. Daniel read poetry at the Barrymore Theatre on September 11, 2009, Eve of the Bob Fest at Sauk County Fair Grounds. Daniel published a book of poetry: The Rock at the Corner of My Heart, (Brown Turtle Press, 2009 [P.O. Box 44, Makanda, Illinois 62958]) and My Child! My Child! (Maskew Miller Longman, Cape Town, 2010), a translation by Daniel of the Zulu novel Mntanami! Mntanami!, by Professor C.L.S. Nyembezi.


West-Central Region

Sandra Lindow, West-Central Regional VP
320 W. Tyler Avenue
Eau Claire, WI 54701
lindowleaf@yahoo.com

August in the Chippewa Valley has brought huge crops of green beans. The hardy hibiscus has just begun to bloom. Poets and artists have been working hard to prepare for September’s The Vision and the Word collaborative show at Eau Claire’s Phillip’s Memorial Library. The opening will be September 12th with followup readings/presentations on the 19th and 26th.

Peg Lauber’s poem “The Caterer” appeared in the Spring Verse Wisconsin and her “Land of Geometrics” was accepted for the spring online “Alternate Realities.”

David Blackey’s poem “Odessa” appears in the Summer 2010 Verse Wisconsin.

Sandra Lindow’s poem “Apostles of the Interstate” will appear in Verse Wisconsin Online. July 3rd, Sandra Lindow conducted a poetry workshop at Convergence Science Fiction Convention in Bloomington, Minnesota. August 1st, she also participated in a speculative poetry reading at Diversicon Science Fiction Convention in Saint Paul. Her poem “Nothing Given to a Child Is Ever Was” was selected for a themed poetry chapbook that will be published by Inglis House.

Bruce Taylor’s poem “Poetry, Booze, Sex, Music, Love and Death” appears in the New York Quarterly Vol. 66, “Middle-aged Man Smoking” in the most recent issue of Light Quarterly. “Our Body” and “In Class Exercise” are in Verse Wisconsin and are available online as read by the author in the Verse Wisconsin Audio Supplement. “A Whole Day” was featured on Your Daily Poem and “Saint Bruce” appears with audio in the winter 2009 issue of Able Muse.

submitted by Sandra Lindow, West-Central Regional VP

A submission of Phyllis Beckman’s appears in the literary journal Essential Inklings, Summer 2010 published by The Franciscan Spirituality Center (La Crosse, Wisconsin). The price is $10.00 and can be ordered from fscenter@fspa.org (extra charge for postage). The journal celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Franciscan Spirituality Center.

Patrick T. Randolph and his wife, Gamze, published a poetry anthology, Empty Shoes: Poems on the Hungry and the Homeless. All proceeds are going to benefit homeless shelters and food pantries across America. Thus far, $1,203 was donated to Feed America and another $200 was sent to shelters in cities where Patrick and Gamze have done readings. In July, Mary Jo Balistreri, Patrick, Gamze, and others did a reading at Avol’s Books in Madison and raised $85 from book sales. This money was sent to Wisconsin-based food shelters and homeless shelters. Randolph also published poems in The Rockford Review, Word Riot, Write On!, The Pink Chameleon, The Sheltered Poet, The Istanbul Literary Review, Verse Wisconsin, and Quill and Parchment. His breath poems have been published in Word Riot.

Verse Wisconsin Spring Issue Now Available
      Verse Wisconsin 103, the Summer Issue, is now online! The print issue is making its way to subscribers & contributors at varying speeds, so go read/see/listen to poems about “Work” in the meantime & check out these online features: a Lorine Niedecker poem newly discovered by Sarah Busse, Wendy Vardaman’s interview with Martín Espada, a round-up of recent books by younger Wisconsin poets, Nick Lantz’s Twitter Poetry Project, Marilyn Taylor’s discussion of the First United Poets Laureate Conference, Laurel Bastian’s essay “Poetry in Prison,” & Cristina Norcross’s advice on making poetry events memorable ... plus book reviews, print contributors’ audio, and Wisconsin Poetry News, available at versewisconsin.org.

A Look Ahead to the Fall Conference
      Our Fall Conference will be held in Stevens Point Holiday Inn and Conference Center, November 5-7. Our special events will include a reading and discussion of web editing by poet Todd Boss and a reading and workshop by poet and teacher Freya Manfred.
       Todd Boss’s poems have appeared in The Best American Poetry 2010, The New Yorker, Poetry, and on MPR’s “All Things Considered.” His debut poetry collection, Yellowrocket, was published in 2008 by W. W. Norton & Co. Born. He edits the online poetry website, Flurry, a magazine dedicated to wintry thinking. He was raised in central Wisconsin and now lives in Saint Paul with his wife and two children.
       Freya Manfred won the 2009 Midwest Booksellers’ Award for Poetry for her sixth collection of poetry, Swimming with a Hundred-Year-Old Snapping Turtle, reddragonflypress.org/. Her poems have appeared in over 100 reviews and magazines and over 30 anthologies. Poet Robert Bly says: “What I like about Freya’s poems is that they are not floating around in the air or the intellect. The body takes them in. They are brave. The reader and writer meet each other in the body.” Freya’s memoir, Frederick Manfred: A Daughter Remembers, was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award and an Iowa Historical Society award. She lives near Hudson, WI.

Support the Kay Saunders Memorial New Poet Award
      Kay Saunders loved to encourage budding poets of all ages and you may wish to do the same through her memorial fund established by her late husband, George Saunders. The fund is called “The Fearsome Foursome” in honor of Kay’s poetry group with June Zwickey, Helen Fahrbach, and Ellen Kort, all very active members in WFOP.
       Only $2,000 more is needed of the $10,000 amount required for the fund to be self-sustaining. At the $10,000 amount the fund becomes a permanently endowed fund, generating at least 5% ($500) annually to support the New Poet Award which is given each fall.
       Contributions to the New Poet Award can be made to the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, P.O. Box 563, Appleton WI 54912-0563, or their online page for gifts (please refer “Fearsome Foursome Fund” on bottom of check or the online designation box).
       Thank you for a contribution of any size to nurture these new poets.


Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar 2012 Submission Guidelines
      Cities and towns are often under-represented when poets write about Wisconsin, so we have chosen Alleys and Valleys as the theme for the 2012 calendar. We hope that you will interpret this theme broadly, but we want to encourage you to think about the urban areas of Wisconsin, as well as the rural areas. Poets must be 18 or older and live in Wisconsin (or have some connection to the state) to submit.
       Submission period is from November 1, 2010 to February 1, 2011. Poems received before or after those dates will not be considered.
       We prefer e-mail submissions; however, we will be happy to accept snail mail submissions, as well. Send e-mail submissions with the poems in the body of the e-mail (please, no attachments) to jjohannes7@gmail.com with “Calendar Submission” as the subject line, or snail mail your submission to:

WFOP Calendar
c/o Jeffrey and Joan Wiese Johannes
800 Ver Bunker Avenue
Port Edwards, WI 54469-1126

       Please do not e-mail poems with unique formatting, which may be changed in cyberspace. We will confirm the receipt of e-mail submissions by e-mail. Please send a self-addressed stamped postcard if you would like confirmation of snail-mail arrival. We will acknowledge receipt of your submission as soon as we receive it. Then we will carefully read/consider your poems and respond by April 15, 2011.
       Please include the following with your submission:

  • Contact information (name, address, e-mail address, phone number)
  • Biographical note of fewer than 50 words. (We may need to edit biographies longer than three lines.)
  • Up to 3 poems
  • Maximum of 32 lines/poem, including including title, stanza breaks and any epigraph or dedication (shorter is better)
  • Publication information if previously published
  • Single-spaced, standard font
  • We prefer poems that are not centered on the page. Accepted poems may need to be right-justified to fit on the Calendar pages; please indicate if you refuse to allow your poem to be displayed this way.

       We’re looking forward to reading your work. You can contact us at the e-mail address above if you have any questions or call us at 715-887-2217. Thank you in advance for your submissions. Jeffrey and Joan Wiese Johannes, 2012 Wisconsin Poets' Calendar Editors


jumpstart awardPoetry Jumps Off the Shelf Announcing Winners of the 2010 Woodrow Hall Jumpstart Award
Paula Sergi of the Foot of the Lake Poetry Collective in Fond du Lac won first place and $500.00 to collaborate with the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) office, the Association of Commerce, the Fond du Lac Public Library, the Fond du Lac Arts Council, and Park Ridge Organics to bring poetry to the farmers’ markets, the library, the Windhover Center for the Arts and two harvest festivals in the Fond du Lac area. The finalist was Phil Hansotia of Ellison Bay who received $250.00 to create “poetry trails” (poems in display cases mounted on posts) in Newport State Park, a partnership between the Wallace, Unabridged and Word Women poetry groups with the Newport Wilderness Society, Newport State Park, and Sevastapol, Gibraltar and Southern Door high schools.

Shoshauna Shy of Woodrow Hall Editions, based in Madison, created the Woodrow Hall Jumpstart Award, an offshoot of the Poetry Jumps Off the Shelf initiative, designed to help other Wisconsin poets implement a project that brings poetry into the eye of the general public in an unconventional manner. Learn more about this award and the Poetry Jumps Off the Shelf program at PoetryJumpsOfftheShelf.com.


Markets
Contest Updates
Publications

A Last Will and Testament

Pay Me Forward

when my time comes
don’t call it my deathbed
let it be named her Bed of Life
celebrate my passing
by gifting my eyes
to someone who’s never
seen a sunset
my heart to a person
who’s known only pain
and the rest of me
to whomever or wherever you choose
scatter my ashes
in a field of Queen Anne’s Lace
and deeply bury my faults and prejudices
sending my soul soaring
with the seagulls
to remember me
deliver a kind word or deed
to someone in need
if you do all this
I will live forever

             —Susan Anderson, Baraboo

I Leave You Trees: for my children

Being of simple mind and means,
I cannot leave you emeralds or blue chips;
no keys to a condo or a bright red corvette.

Instead, I leave my land and all its contents:
pines and willows, apple trees and spruce;
a perennial supply of coneflowers and peonies.

I bequeath you all the thyme and sage
you could ever need; an abundance
of rhubarb and berries and currants.

I leave you soil, rich in humus,
air, redolent with lilac and lemon balm,
bejeweled with monarchs and honey bees.

I hand down the stewardship
of all these earthly riches. Keep them safe
for the sake of your children’s children.

             —Sue DeKelver, Brussels

 

last will & testament of the american citizen

<begin file
receipt of this msg means my organic food network cell has been compromised
as u know almost all is 4feit 2 credit card costs of our health care_but as gifts
the following contraband is sealed n a password vault bhind apt h2o heater
_4 my wife         1c seeds_non-gmo wheat_4 future children who won t fly
        out of employer-owned tenement windows
        high on ergot-riddled franken-grain & fda-approved food dyes
_4 my dghtr       1 tattered copy decl of indep w/ list on back
        gov bldgs & amer landmarks_b4 they were renamed
        4 their corp sponsors by lapdogs n congress
_4 my son          1 faded picture_grassy fields speckled w/ such cows
        as once grazed n open air b4 they were moved inside
        2 grow cheaper_like fungus_immobile n the dark
_jointly               1 bk_from my teaching days_thoreau_walden_2 remember
                          that once u could hike n woods & plant food_b4 the patriot act
        barred such things as dangerous threats 2 public health
access code_07041776_since companies run schools grads don t know it anymore
        text msg content locked biometric authorization confirmed february 13 2051
        erasure of file by viral sequence will complete within 20 sec of open
end file>

             —Erik Richardson, Milwaukee

 

Testament From the Dark

hot tallow scalds
wicklight gutters
ink fails
thoughts fracture

the beast
stirs in its sleep
nostrils twitching

and I with only
this gibberish
of marks
to bequeath to you....

             —Sheryl Slocum, Milwaukee



Nine Lives

The first one I left with the tom in the barn
I wasn’t his kitten; he meant me real harm.
The second I left to the cow in the field
Who stepped on my foot and so crooked it healed.
The third one I left to the jay on the nest
Who pecked out one eye ’cause I was such a pest.
The fourth one I left to the kid with a gun
Who shortened my tail ’cause he thought it was fun.
The fifth one I left to the cat in the alley
Who tore off my ear and then started a tally.
The sixth one I left to the dog down the street
Who chased me forever—he thought it was neat.
The seventh I left to the mouse with bad kidneys
Who soured my stomach and nearly undid me.
The eighth one I left to a creepy disease
But, then, you found me and cured me with ease.
The ninth one is yours, you’ve offered a home
And now I am settled and will never roam.

—Lorelee Sienkowski, Packwaukee

 

Last Will & Testament

I had my secrets,
one of which I’ll share:
I never stopped wondering
what I’d lose and when.

But to you I can grant my deepest wish:
To live with Love,
reckless, patient, courageous Love.
And so at the end of your own life
you can say with peace in your heart,
I close the door gently as I go
and leave Love behind.
May it be so.

             —Elizabeth Keggi, Appleton


Cheerio

Remember that wave that came over our boat
sweeping me screaming off the slick wet deck
dumping me into the rampaging sea
while you, my captain, yelled what the heck!

It’s yours.

Remember that pony you bought for the kids
the one that bucked me five feet in the air
breaking my arm, my glasses, my pride?
You closed on the deal, said the price was fair.

He’s yours.

I tried to list everything on legalzoom.com
for fifty-nine bucks and a guarantee
but they wouldn’t take rhyme in exchange for cash
so ta-ta, adios, this one’s on me.

—Susan Kileen, Watertown


Testament

Take me apart. Let the wind
Be my body’s executor,
And God be my soul’s.

Scatter my memory
Among all who remember me,
My love among whom I’ve loved.

No patent binds,
No copyright holds,
No claim or trademark remains,

Only you, who read this
Poetry as my witness,
As my witness.

—Thomas Toerpe, Baileys Harbor

Inventory

Enclosed find my deathbed confession
to larceny, damage, and guile,
accounting for your lost possessions,
(but Buster next door left that pile).

You’ll find your insoles in the heat vent.
Your coin purse is under some rocks,
and I caused the hole in the pup tent,
(but Buster dug up the blue phlox).

On Monday I swallowed an earring,
it came out today on the mat.
The dead squirrel was my engineering,
(but Buster tormented the cat).

I couldn’t resist velvet Elvis—
ingested, digested, fini.
My actions were certainly callous,
(but Buster chewed up the CD).

If dogs may take their master’s measure
when answering the heavenly call,
of all of my left behind treasures,
you’re the one I will miss most of all.

             —Laurie Risch, Madison

 

Last Will and Testament

To every creature living here, I leave this 80-acre farm,
undeveloped in land trust.

to the woodcock I leave mossy clearings for April courtship, the island thicket for nesting

to the meadowlarks, all remaining fence posts from which to sound forth your clear-voiced whistle in spring

to the bobolinks, the uncut grasses east of the lane

to the bluebirds, a trail of two dozen nesting boxes and a responsible monitor

to the grasshopper sparrows, the bottom limbs of the white spruce and the mixed grasses of hickory hill

To all I leave my gratitude for the never-ending awe and delight you have given me.

—Judy Kolosso, Slinger

 

Last Will

However I die
by human foot—or
of a natural way

I bequeath
my nest
its accoutrements
my egg
my last remains
to cousin Ant Tilley
of the colony
to care for
as naturally she will.

Now—being wholly well
I excrete bodily fluid
confirming my wishes.

             —Palmer R. Haynes, Mount Horeb


My Last Testament

Lying here in a white shirt and black suit
On a bed of silk, with a small pillow
Beneath my head. Hearing folk’s salute
My life, glad of the plot by the willow

Tree. Knowing it weeps not for me
But for you. For if a phone should ring
I am not obliged to answer it.
In a Karaoke bar, I don’t have to sing.
If musical chairs, I can always sit

Out. But you must go on with the weddings
And funerals. Listen to cousins whose
Memories should rest under the heading
Boring, while yearning to take off your shoes.

Me? There is only one thing I must do,
Lie in this box, until you are all through.

—Tom Cullen, Madison

 

Poems By Our Membership Pages
Theme & Guidelines for Winter 2010 Issue:

Don’t Get Mad, Get Even!

The winter issue of the Museletter Poetry Pages invites submissions of the poetry of revenge! It’s your chance to retaliate, vindicate, finally give those rotten scoundrels what they deserve! (Humor—while certainly not required—is welcome). The rules: 1. Any form, rhymed or unrhymed. 2. 18-line maximum 3. No profanity (sorry), and no poems about the weather, please. You can do better than that!

1. Submit no more than ONE POEM PER MEMBER, please.
2. Title of poem, name of poet and home town of poet must appear on the submission itself.
4. Email submissions preferred, either as MS Word attachments or in the body of the e-mail to: mlt@uwm.edu
6. Snail-mail submissions to: Marilyn Taylor, 2825 E. Newport Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53211. (Poems will be recycled.)
Membership status must be current to be considered for publication on these pages.
Deadline: Friday, November 5, 2010


Lorine Niedecker Wisconsin Poetry Festival Coming in September
       The Friends of Lorine Niedecker are hosting the Lorine Niedecker Wisconsin Poetry Festival on Friday night September 24th and Saturday September 25th in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. The goal of the Poetry Festival is to celebrate Wisconsin poetry.
      “Last year was an overwhelming success and we will continue the momentum,” said Ann Engelman, President of the Friends of Lorine Niedecker. The Festival offers opportunities for poets, publishers and those who appreciate poetry to gather, share, read poetry and raise awareness for poetry in our culture. “Wisconsin is rich with great literary history,” said Amy Lutzke, Resource Librarian at the Dwight Foster Public Library. “This festival is building a poetry tradition and Fort Atkinson, along the banks of the Rock River, is the perfect place to host this event. Fort Atkinson is home to poet Lorine Niedecker, a significant 20th -century poet. She is known nationally and internationally but has yet to be widely recognized in her home state. What better place to gather inspiration than this quiet place where the river runs through.”
       The Festival will include workshops, poetry readings, presentations, opportunities to meet publishers and pick up the latest poetry buzz. Two workshops will be held; “Write Like a Poet: Tricks Poets Can Teach Every Writer” and a writers workshop on Blackhawk Island at the cabin of Lorine Niedecker. The Council for Wisconsin Writers Lorine Niedecker Poetry Award winner, Angela Sorby and other invited poets will read during an evening event “Wisconsin Poetry.”
       A schedule is now posted to lorineniedecker.org, or at the Wisconsin Poetry Festival. For more information about the Poetry Festival, contact Ann Engelman 920-563-0416 or Amy Lutzke 920-563-7790.

American Haiku Festival Scheduled
       You can write haiku poetry in English. Join haikuists from the U.S. and Canada for their Second Annual Cradle of American Haiku Festival, at 2 p.m., Friday, September 10th, to 1 p.m., Sunday, September 12th, at Foundry Books, 105 Commerce St., in Mineral Point. The festival is open to the public, and beginning and experienced haikuists are welcome.
       Haiku is a short, Japanese poetic form of usually three lines and about 17 syllables. It is thoughtful, imagist poetry, (often inspired by nature), and it captures the moment.
       The festival will include several workshops and presentations on the form and art of haiku/related Japanese poetic forms, readings of haiku, and Japanese art. This year’s theme is “Remembering Robert Spiess—His Life and Work.” Spiess was a longtime haikuist and author, and former editor of Modern Haiku, an international journal of haiku and haiku studies.
       The festival will also feature an opening reception; a “Kukai,” a peer-reviewed haiku contest on the theme “Transitions;” Tai Chi, meditative exercises; a presentation on “Kodo,” Japanese incense; mini-critique sessions with award-winning poets and publishers; a social with cocktails and Midwest style picnic/tailgate; and a “ginko” walk to observe nature and write haiku. Haikuists may also participate in a sale of books they’ve authored.
       At the festival, The Haiku Society of America will hold its annual national quarterly meeting to which the public is invited. However, the HSA is not sponsoring the festival.
       Southwest Wisconsin is the birthplace of American haiku. Mineral Point is a historic, scenic town of 19th century architecture, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, located in the region’s hills. It is about a 45-minute drive from Madison and Dubuque, IA.
       The cost of the festival is $30 which includes workshops, all activities, reception, and picnic. For more information, with a schedule of events and lodging options, contact Charlotte Digregorio, Midwest Regional Coordinator, The Haiku Society of America, at email cvpress@yahoo.com or by phone at 847-881-2664.


One Vision: Art & Poetry Show
“One Vision: A Fusion of Art and Poetry in Lake Country” brings together fifteen pairs of artists and poets for a fine art exhibit and poetry reading at 7 p.m. Saturday, October 16th at the Oconomowoc Arts Center, unveiling the final results of a summer-long collaboration between the selected artists and poets. A reception with live music and refreshments will also be part of the evening’s event, which is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for a preview and meeting with the artists and poets.

Called “ekphrastic” (that is, art or poetry inspired by other creative mediums), the project’s goal is for the artists and poets to interact with each other to create a new expression of art or poetry from that experience. Poets and artists have spent the summer viewing/reading each other’s work as they got to know each other and how the creative process works in each of their respective mediums. From this exploration, a poet could write a new poem to a piece of artwork, the artist create a new piece inspired by a poem, or the two could craft a whole new expression of art and poetry. Part of the adventure of ekphrastic art/poetry is to see where it leads creatively.

“The inspiring effort of collaborating and creating something new is what matters,” says Cristina Norcross, coeditor of the project. Sponsored by the Pewaukee Area Arts Council, this is the second year for the program, which had a successful debut at the The Raven Gallery in Pewaukee last year. Long range plans are to continue the project in order to give many area artists and poets the opportunity to participate, and to bring awareness of the diversity of the arts to the community as part of PAAC’s ongoing mission. A call for submissions will be announced each winter.

“Artists and poets found working together to be very enriching last year,” says co-editor Liz Rhodebeck. “There’s quite an exciting buzz going on this year as well.”

An outgrowth of the project has been the production of limited edition notecards featuring the artwork and accompanying poem of each pair; sets will be available for purchase the evening of the reception. All profit from the sale of the notecards will support PAAC’s programs and outreach in the community.

Both the artwork and poetry will be on exhibition to the public at the OAC through November. For more information, visit pewaukeearts.org or contact Liz Rhodebeck at (262) 695-2761.


In House
Michael Belongie has initiated a program within the Fellowship to keep members aware of significant changes taking place for particular members. This program, In House, will post changes of addresses and alerts members to that change of address. These changes may be due to significant changes with longstanding members’ health or greatly altered circumstances that we do care to know about between conferences. We are “a fellowship” and members appreciate our friend/poet’s whereabouts. Please e-mail Michael Belongie at poetpow@charter.net or 1421 Hiawatha Drive, Beaver Dam, WI 53916 – cell 920-210-6073.


In Memoriam

Shelly L. Hall

     Shelly L. Hall, Ph.D., of Waukesha, Wisconsin, passed away on Sunday, June 13, at Waukesha Memorial Hospital, from cancer.
      Dr. Hall was born March 2, 1958, in Cleveland, Ohio, of Curtis C. Hall and Marjorie Campbell Hall. She held a doctorate in religious studies from the University of Iowa and an MFA from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. She taught at Waukesha’s Carroll University, and for Goddard and Carlton Colleges and University of Phoenix.
      Dr. Hall was well known for her lively poetry. A member of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, she was published in several journals and had two books from Popcorn Press, with a third forthcoming. She also helped to found local drum circles.
      A celebration of her life will be held 6-8 p.m., Wednesday, September 8, at Todd Wehr Memorial Library’s coffee shop at Carroll University, followed by a gathering at House of Guinness. Donations in her honor can be sent to Waukesha’s Order of Julian of Norwich.

Even fire needs a place
to rest, out of
the killing rain
the frenzying breeze
the obligation
to consume whatever
can be consumed

—Shelly L. Hall


Keep Your Dues Current
      Please remember that membership dues are payable by January first of every year. We no longer offer a "grace period" after nonpayment of dues. Members must be current with their dues to enjoy membership benefits such as:

  • the opportunity to be published in the Museletter's Poetry Page
  • listing of recent publications in the Museletter
  • free chapbook ad, and reduced advertising rates for other ads in the Museletter
  • eligibility to enter the Triad poetry contest
  • reduced entry fee for the Muse contest
  • free member web page on the Fellowship's web site
  • and, of course, the Museletter itself.

Don't Forget the New Dues Option
      Members may pay $100 for a five-year membership. That's five years worth of membership for four years' dues. Please take advantage of this savings. The Fellowship also saves money by reduced mailing cost for all those payment reminders and lapsed memberships.

Would you like to read your Museletter online?
      As many of you already know (Q.E.D.), the WFOP’s Museletter is available on our website. You can read it right on the site or you can choose to print a hard copy of the Museletter. To print a copy of the Museletter, go to the top of the Museletter page (this one)and then click on the “printable .pdf of current issue” in the upper right corner. If you would like to discontinue receiving the Museletter by mail and get your newsletter online instead, please notify Chris Falk (contact information near top of page). You will be notified by e-mail when the Museletter is available for viewing on the website (right here!).


See print Museletter or .pdf for Financial Report


Museletter Advertising Rates
Books for Sale in Poetry Publications
section..................... $5.00 per listing
(This price is not discounted to Members. Discount is built into the one free listing per book, per year)

Business Card ....... $25.00
Quarter Page ........ $50.00
Half Page.............. $100.00

Prices are for camera-ready advertisements. Specialty designs or advertisement setups at a price to be determined. Contact Museletter editor if interested in purchasing advertisements.


Conference Rotation Schedule

Fall 2010
November 5-7
West Central

Spring 2011
April 15–16
East-Milwaukee

"Fellowship" T-Shirts, Sweatshirts & Mugs Available
Sport your Fellowship membership proudly, and support us as well! The WFOP logo now graces T-shirts and coffee mugs. The "T" is a basic-white model, silkscreened front and back in black. L and XL for $10; XXL costs $11. The mug, at $5, is white ceramic with fired-on black printing. To purchase, contact membership chair Gillian Nevers at (608) 255-5080 or nevers@wisc.edu.

Discounted 2010 Wisconsin Poets’ Calendars Available

There are a limited number of 2010 Wisconsin Poets’ Calendars available for the reduced price of $5.00. This price includes shipping and handling. There are some older issues available at the reduced price of $5.00 which also includes shipping and handling. Contact Michael Farmer for availability:

Michael Farmer, Business Manager
PO Box 555
Baileys Harbor, WI 54202-0555

Phone: (920) 839-2191
E-mail: mfarmer1876@gmail.com