Wisconsin People & Ideas short contests

Wisconsin People & Ideas, the quarterly magazine of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, is accepting submissions for its annual short story and poetry contests for Wisconsin residents. 

Short story contest winners will receive prizes of $500 (first place), $250 (second place), and $100 (third place) and poetry winners will receive  $500 (first place), $100 (second place), and $50 (third place). 

All winning works will be published serially in 2010 issues of Wisconsin People & Ideas. Winners received other prizes, including a poetry recording session at Abella Studios and artists’ residencies at Edenfred in Madison, WI.  

Entry fee: $20 one story / $10 up to three poems. Contest rules and guidelines at www.wisconsinacademy.org.

Deadline: December 15, 2009

Milwaukee Book Festival

The Milwaukee Book Festival, Oct. 9 through 19th, includes events at a variety of venues throughout the Milwaukee area.

Events include:

Book Festival Kick-off with Wendell Berry, The Urban Ecology Center (hosted by Woodland Pattern). (1500 E. Park Place, Milwaukee, WI) $8/$7/$6 tickets

 Anne Basting, author of the nonfiction book Forget Memory, Boswell Books, (2559 N Downer Ave, Milwaukee, WI).

Humorist Max Brooks, The Zombie Survival Guide, UWM Union, Wisconsin Room, 2nd Level, (2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., Milwaukee, WI)

Talk by Sorrel King, author of the memoir Josie's Story, Carroll University, Dorothy Goff Frisch Recital Hall in Shattuck Music Center, (218 N. East Ave., Waukesha, WI)

Edgerton Sterling North Book & Film Festival

The Edgerton Sterling North Book & Film Festival, Oct. 17th, 2009 will feature the following:

Malachy McCourt - author

Keynote Speaker, Saturday, Oct. 17, EPAC  "A Monk Swimming" 

Younger brother of Frank ("Angela's Ashes"), Malachy is an actor and one-time Green Party gubernatorial candidate from New York and the author of several memoirs and histories, most notably "A Monk Swimming." He has had a recurring role on a soap opera, kept some of the most elegant saloons in New York City, and once smuggled gold for a living.

Kurt Busiek  - Graphic novelist 

Speaker, Saturday, Oct. 17, EPAC  "The Avengers" 

Graphic novelist Kurt Busiek is famed for his two decades of fantastic tales, especially episode of the popular "Marvels," Thunderbolts," and "The Avengers" series.

Leroy Butler  - Former Green Bay Packer, Author of "Leap of Faith" 

Speaker, Saturday, Oct. 17, EPAC

Former Green Bay Packers player LeRoy Butler, inventor of the Lambeau Leap.

Jerene Mortenson  - Mother of author Greg Mortensen 

Speaker, Saturday, Oct. 17, EPAC  "Three Cups of Tea " 

Jerene Mortenson, the Janesville mother of Greg Mortenson, author of "Three Cups of Tea," an inspiring tale of how the positive actions of one man helped to create a network that has since been responsible for building a series of schools in Afghanistan.

Workshops include:

Writing Workshop, John Lehman: "The Story Only You Can Tell (Writing Your Memoirs)

Writing Workshop, Kevin Devine: "E-Publishing and Self-Publishing: Expanding Options for The Future

Demonstration and Discussion of the Japanese video art of Machinima

Murderer's Row Roundtable: a discussion of what makes a perfect crime, with mystery writers John DeDakis & Jess Lourey and true-crime writer/historian William Drennan.

Click here for a full schedule of events.

Writing Prompt -Oct. 3

The writing prompt for the Oct. 3rd meeting is: I never go anywhere without ________.

Use it in a poem, essay, short story or sketch. Enjoy!

Meeting Reminder

Just a reminder that the Oshkosh Area Writers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 19 in the lower level meeting room of the Oshkosh Public Library. The writing prompt is: An unusual museum. Bob B. is the Author Spotlight.

Writer's Cheat Sheet

Michelle Jerott and Michele Albert have created an interesting collection of "cheats" that includes character info, editing tips, and advice for a 5 minute pitch. Check it out here.

10th Annual Chippewa Valley Book Festival

The 10th Annual Chippewa Valley Book Festival will be held Oct. 22-25, 2009. The free, 4-day event includes readings, book signings, discussions, workshops, author receptions, and children’s programs.

A sampling of presenters (taken from the website) :

Jonathan Friesen’s book Jerk, California recently won the Schneider Book Award from the American Library Association. Like his fictitious character Sam in Jerk, Jonathan suffers from Tourette syndrome.

Joe Knight writes about the outdoors and captures life in Wisconsin winters in Frozen Assets: Winter in Northern Wisconsin.

Jon Loomis writes hard-boiled detective novels set in Provincetown, MA, where Detective Frank Coffin investigates homicides.

Marilyn Taylor, Wisconsin’s Poet Laureate, is the author of five collections of poetry. Her award-winning work has appeared in dozens of poetry journals and anthologies. Her latest work Going Wrong was released from Parallel Press in July 2009.

Kao Kalia Yang was only six when she immigrated to St. Paul from Thailand’s Ban Vinai Refugee Camp. With a storyteller’s gift for lyricism, Yang recounts in The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir her family’s harrowing escape from Laos, their life in a refugee camp and the challenges and joys of adapting to life in a new land.

Wisconsin Book Festival

The Wisconsin Book Festival will be held in Madison, Oct. 7-11, 2009. The event will take place throughout the city of Madison; check out the full roster of presenting authors, poets, historians, artists and more, click here.

Featured authors include Wisconsin writer Michael Perry, who will also do a performance with his band The Longbeds.

Legendary Wendell Berry is the keynote event speaker at 4 p.m. Sunday, October 11th at Overture Center for the Art.

For more information, please click here.

Writing Prompt - Sept. 19

The writing prompt for our Saturday, Sept. 19th meeting is: An unusual museum.

Have fun!