Past Events

Connect & Read: Share Your Work at Our Open Mic

Date:

Nov. 20, 2021

Many members of our writing community have been working hard on their craft this year. And we at the Driftless Writing Center would love to hear what you’ve been working on. So we’re hosting a virtual open mic, and the special guest is YOU!

Who: YOU

When: November 20th at 7 pm (CT)

Where: Zoom link

Meeting ID: 874 0932 8249

Passcode: 125542

To sign up for the open mic, email us at driftlesswritingcenter@gmail.com. We have a limit of 15 readers, so sign up soon! We’ll create a waiting list once we reach 15 participants. If you plan to sign up, please choose a piece that you can read within an allotted time of five minutes per person.

Not ready to read yet? No problem. You can still come and listen to what your fellow writers have been working on. And thank you for supporting the Driftless Writing Center. We look forward to celebrating everyone’s work!

Reading and Q&A with United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo

Date:

Thursday, October 21, 2021

Registration is now closed. The event will be livestreamed here

The Driftless Writing Center invites the public to attend a reading by United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo on the University of Wisconsin La Crosse campus. A Q&A session and book signing will follow Harjo’s reading.

The reading is free and open to public on a first-come, first-served basis. All attendees will be required to wear a mask during the event and while on campus.

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She is serving her second term as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States, the first Native American to hold that post.

The author of nine books of poetry, including the highly acclaimed An American Sunrise, several plays and children's books, and two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior, her many honors include the Ruth Lily Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Foundation, the Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, two NEA fellowships, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. As a musician and performer, Harjo has produced seven award-winning music albums including her newest, I Pray for My Enemies. She is Executive Editor of the anthology When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through — A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry and the editor of Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry, the companion anthology to her signature Poet Laureate project. She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Board of Directors Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, and holds a Tulsa Artist Fellowship. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The free public reading will be held at 1400 Centennial Hall, located at 308 16th Street North, La Crosse. Parking is available in front of the Fine Arts Center, at 16th and Vine Streets. Please contact the Driftless Writing Center at driftlesswritingcenter@gmail.com or 608-492-1669 to alert organizers to any accessibility needs.

Earlier in the day, Harjo will meet for an invitation-only discussion with UW-L Native American students and other Native youth, UW-L creative writing students, and other students interested in her work as a writer, musician, and activist.

These events are co-sponsored by Driftless Writing Center, UW-La Crosse English Department, UW-La Crosse College of Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the UW-La Crosse Provost’s Office.

Meet Wisconsin Mystery Author Victoria Houston

Date:

Thursday, October 7, 2021

As part of the Vernon County Reads program, the Driftless Writing Center is partnering with the Vernon County libraries to sponsor a personal appearance and book signing by Wisconsin mystery author Victoria Houston, the author of the Loon Lake Mystery Series.

Ms. Houston lives in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, in the heart of the fishing culture that backgrounds her mysteries. She enjoys hunting and fishing and writing, and her books have been featured in the Wall Street Journal and on NPR.

Admission to this event is free of charge, refreshments will be served, and copies of the author’s books will be available for purchase at the book signing immediately following the program.

Please note that masks and social distancing are required for this public, in-person event.

For more information on Victoria Houston and her books, visit www.victoriahouston.com.

Are You Prepared to Publish?

Date:

Saturday, June 5

Writers who have a great book idea or a completed manuscript often struggle with how to take the next step. Join award-winning author and publisher KaNikki Jakarta as she leads “Prep to Publish.” This workshop will provide tips on navigating the publishing process and bring you closer to your dream of becoming a published author.

Hear Award-Winning Poet KaNikki Jakarta Read from Her Work, Then Share Your Own

Date:

Friday, June 4

The Driftless Writing Center is delighted to sponsor a reading by award-winning author KaNikki Jakarta, the Poet Laureate of Alexandria, Virginia. A community open mic will follow Jakarta’s program. Those who wish to read during the open mic should bring a maximum of five minutes of writing to share.

KaNikki Jakarta is the author of three novels, In Real Life, The Color Blue, and The Other Side of Pretty, as well as the memoir How to Be the Wife of an Epileptic, Honor Your Vows and Honor Yourselfand a collection of poems and short stories, Alabama Girl, Virginia Woman.

Named the Poet Laureate of Alexandria in 2019, Jakarta was introduced to poetry in the womb by her mother who read Nikki Giovanni when she was pregnant. After hearing her father quote Maya Angelou’s work, Jakarta began writing her own poetry in third grade.

Explore Truth in Poetry in a Guided Conversation Led by Dasha Kelly Hamilton

Date:

Saturday, May 15, 2021

“Truth Evolution” offers a guided conversation into reading and crafting poems about our truths led by Wisconsin and Milwaukee Poet Laureate Dasha Kelly Hamilton.

Enjoy a Reading by Wisconsin & Milwaukee Poet Laureate Dasha Kelly Hamilton, Then Step Up to the Mic

Date:

Friday, May 14, 2021

The Driftless Writing Center is honored to host a public reading by Wisconsin and Milwaukee Poet Laureate Dasha Kelly Hamilton, which will be followed by an open mic. Those who wish to read during the open mic should bring a maximum of five minutes of writing to share.

Dasha Kelly Hamilton is a writer, performance artist and creative change agent, applying the creative process to facilitate dialogues around human and social wellness. She is the author of two novels, three poetry collections, four spoken word albums and one collection of personal vignettes. She has taught at colleges, conferences and classrooms and curated fellowships for emerging leaders. An arts envoy for the U.S. Embassy, Hamilton has facilitated community building initiatives in Botswana, Toronto, Mauritius and Beirut. Her touring production, Makin’ Cake, uniquely engages communities in a forward dialogue on race, class and equity. Hamilton is a national Rubinger Fellow and, concurrently, Poet Laureate for the City of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin.

Demystifying the Submissions Process

Date:

Saturday, April 17 and 24

Author, translator, and professor Jesse Lee Kercheval presents two informal workshops that will help writers submit their work to a broad range of publications. On Saturday, April, 17, the Submission 101 workshop will provide tips on submitting work and will walk participants through using the Submittable software program. On the following Saturday, April 24, participants will gather for coffee and submit their work.

The DWC would like to thank Ms. Kercheval for donating her time and expertise to present these free and informal workshops to the DWC’s supporters and friends.

Jesse Lee Kercheval is the Marjorie and Lorin Tiefenthaler Professor of English at UW-Madison and the award-winning author of eighteen books, including the short story collection Underground Women, the memoir Space, and the poetry collection America that island off the coast of France.

Harness the Power of Place in Your Writing in a Workshop Led by Joe Wilkins

Date:

Saturday, April 10, 2021

“Layers of Landscape: Harnessing the Power of Place” recognizes that place is an active force in all of our lives and that we ignore its power at our own psychological and physical peril. Place shapes and reshapes us, offers foundation and refuge, and challenges us to be good citizens of all our communities. In life and in writing, we ought to try to understand and harness the power of place. This workshop led by Joe Wilkins offers writers four ways they might begin to do just that.

Hear Joe Wilkins Read from his Award-Winning Fiction and Poetry, and Share Your Own Work During the Open Mic

Date:

Friday, April 9, 2021

The Driftless Writing Center is thrilled to host a public reading by Joe Wilkins, which will be followed by an open mic. Those who wish to read during the open mic should bring a maximum of five minutes of writing to share.

Joe Wilkins is the author of a novel, Fall Back Down When I Die, praised as “remarkable and unforgettable” in a starred Booklist review. A finalist for the First Novel Award from the Center for Fiction and the Pacific Northwest Book Award, Fall Back Down When I Die won the 2020 High Plains Book Award and has been translated into French, Spanish, and Italian. Wilkins is also the author of a memoir, The Mountain and the Fathers, the winner of a 2014 GLCA New Writers Award—an honor that has previously recognized early work by the likes of Richard Ford, Louise Erdrich, and Alice Munro—and four collections of poetry, including most recently Thieve and When We Were Birds, winner of the 2017 Oregon Book Award in Poetry.

Wilkins lives with his family in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, where he directs the creative writing program at Linfield University and is a member of the low-residency MFA faculty at Eastern Oregon University.

Transcend Genre Boundaries and Be Inspired in Freesia McKee’s Workshop

Date:

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Freesia McKee’s workshop “Spinnerbaits, Jigs, and Spoons: Writing Haibun and Zuihitsu Poetry” introduces writers to two genre-bending forms that spark surprising associations through juxtaposition. Participants will consider classic and contemporary examples of these capacious, lightweight forms, and then cast their lines to write their own. This workshop is suitable for writers of poetry, writers of prose, and the genre-curious. Register early for this limited-enrollment generative workshop that will inform and inspire all writers.

Genre-bending Writer Freesia McKee Reads from Her Work Followed by an Open Mic

Date:

Friday, March 26, 2021

The Driftless Writing Center is delighted to sponsor a public reading by Freesia McKee, which will be followed by an open mic. Participants who want to read during the open mic should bring a maximum of five minutes of writing to share.

Freesia McKee writes poetry, prose, and the genres in-between. She’s the author of How Distant the City, the essays editor at South Florida Poetry Journal, and a book reviewer at large. Freesia’s work has appeared in Flyway, Bone Bouquet, So to Speak, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Painted Bride Quarterly, CALYX, About Place Journal, and the Ms. Magazine Blog. Originally from Milwaukee, she’s been teaching hybrid forms, micro-memoir, and poetry classes remotely from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Freesia welcomes you to connect with her online at freesiamckee.com or through Twitter at @freesiamckee.