Past Events

Registration is limited. To register, click here.

The Driftless Writing Center is delighted to host an in-person workshop led by lauded poet, editor, and publisher Richard Vargas. His workshop—titled “Dia de los Muertos: Honoring the Dead with Poetry”—will include resources, writing opportunities, and lively group discussion held at the Vernon County Historical Society.

About our featured instructor:

Richard Vargas was born in Compton, California, and earned his BA at Cal State University, Long Beach, where he studied under Gerald Locklin. Vargas received his MFA from the University of New Mexico, where he workshopped his poetry with Joy Harjo. He has edited/published five issues of The Tequila Review—highlighting early works by Jimmy Santiago Baca, Alberto Rios, Nila Northsun, and many more—and also edited/published The Más Tequila Review from 2009-2015, featuring poets from across the country. He has had four books of his poetry published: McLife (Main Street Rag), which was featured twice on Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac; American Jesus (Tia Chucha Press); Guernica, revisited (Press 53), also featured on the Writer's Almanac; and How A Civilization Begins (Mouthfeel Press), released on September 8 of this year. Vargas has been the recipient of the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference’s Hispanic Writer Award, served on the faculty of the National Latino Writers Conference, and facilitated a workshop at the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference. His poetry continues to appear in poetry journals and anthologies. Currently, he resides in Wisconsin, near the lake where Otis Redding’s plane crashed.

Date:

Saturday, October 8, 2022, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm (CT)

Location:

Vernon County Historical Society Museum

410 S. Center Avenue, Viroqua, WI

Cost:

Workshop cost: $20-$50 sliding scale.

(Scholarships are available. Email us at driftlesswritingcenter@gmail.com.)

Richard Vargas will give a free, in-person reading of his work followed by a community open mic and a brief Q&A session with Vargas. If you would like to read during the open mic portion, please email the Driftless Writing Center at driftlesswritingcenter@gmail.com with the subject line “open mic” to sign up for a 5-minute slot. The open mic is limited to 10 participants, so email now to claim your spot.

About the featured guest:

Richard Vargas was born in Compton, California, and earned his BA at Cal State University, Long Beach, where he studied under Gerald Locklin. Vargas received his MFA from the University of New Mexico, where he workshopped his poetry with Joy Harjo. He has edited/published five issues of The Tequila Review—highlighting early works by Jimmy Santiago Baca, Alberto Rios, Nila Northsun, and many more—and also edited/published The Más Tequila Review from 2009-2015, featuring poets from across the country. He has had four books of his poetry published: McLife (Main Street Rag), which was featured twice on Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac; American Jesus (Tia Chucha Press); Guernica, revisited (Press 53), also featured on the Writer's Almanac; and How A Civilization Begins (Mouthfeel Press), released on September 8 of this year. Vargas has been the recipient of the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference’s Hispanic Writer Award, served on the faculty of the National Latino Writers Conference, and facilitated a workshop at the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference. His poetry continues to appear in poetry journals and anthologies. Currently, he resides in Wisconsin, near the lake where Otis Redding’s plane crashed.

Date: Friday, October 7th, 2022
Time: 7:00 pm (CST)
Location: Metaphysical Graffiti Bookstore - 119 W. Court Street, Viroqua, WI

Kimberly Lee will give a free virtual reading of her work followed by a community open mic and a brief Q&A session with Lee. If you would like to join the open mic portion, please email the Driftless Writing Center at driftlesswritingcenter@gmail.com with the subject line “open mic” to sign up for a 5-minute slot. The open mic is limited to 10 participants, so email now to claim your spot.

Follow this Zoom link to join the open mic. 

About the featured guest:

Kimberly Lee left the practice of law some years ago to focus on motherhood, community work, and creative pursuits. A graduate of Stanford University and UC Davis School of Law, she worked as a public defender in Los Angeles. Kimberly is a SoulCollage®, Journal to the Self®, and Amherst Writers and Artists facilitator, and a teaching artist with The Loft Literary Center, Hugo House, and San Diego Writers Ink. She has served on the staff of Carve and F(r)iction magazines and is currently an editor and contributor at Literary Mama. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications and anthologies. For more on Kimberly, visit her website (www.kimberlylee.me) or find her on Instagram (@klcreatrix).

Registration is limited. To register, click here.

Workshop cost: $30-75 sliding scale. 

(Scholarships are available. Email us at driftlesswritingcenter@gmail.com.)

The Driftless Writing Center is delighted to launch the month of April by hosting a workshop led by literary magazine editor and writer Kimberly Lee. Her workshop—titled “Writing Parenthood”—aims to help participants mine their parenting experiences for writing inspiration while they celebrate the roles they play in other’s lives.

This will be a generative workshop, perfect for all skill levels, and will include imaginative prompts, short readings, a discussion of craft, and other exercises that will serve as catalysts for creativity. Participants will learn fresh perspectives and new approaches for developing material on this rich topic, with the option of sharing their work and receiving encouraging feedback. Join us for the opportunity to engage in community with other parent-writers during this motivating session.

Kimberly Lee left the practice of law some years ago to focus on motherhood, community work, and creative pursuits. A graduate of Stanford University and UC Davis School of Law, she worked as a public defender in Los Angeles. Kimberly is a SoulCollage®, Journal to the Self®, and Amherst Writers and Artists facilitator, and a teaching artist with The Loft Literary Center, Hugo House, and San Diego Writers Ink. She has served on the staff of Carve and F(r)iction magazines and is currently an editor and contributor at Literary Mama. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications and anthologies. For more on Kimberly, visit her website (www.kimberlylee.me) or find her on Instagram (@klcreatrix).

To join this open mic, click here. 

Richard Hedderman is a multi Pushcart Prize nominee and author of two collections of poetry including, most recently, Choosing a Stone, from Finishing Line Press, which was shortlisted for the Ashland Poetry Press Richard Snyder Award and the Codhill Press Poetry Award. His writing has appeared in dozens of publications both in the U.S. and abroad, as well as in several anthologies including In a Fine Frenzy: Poets Respond to Shakespeare (University of Iowa Press). More of his work can be found at richardheddermanpoetry.com.

Sign up for this workshop here. 

The Driftless Writing Center is delighted to host a workshop by Pushcart-nominated, Milwaukee-area poet and essayist Richard Hedderman this month. Hedderman’s workshop—titled “The Words You Choose: Poetry Demystified”—will not only demystify poetry for writers but also open their creative imaginations and help bring the essential tools of intuition, language, and poetic structure into practice.  

In his workshop, Hedderman aims to help writers troll for vocabulary as they vanquish their fears of the blank page. Above all, participants will absorb Hedderman’s chief lesson: they do not need to be poets to write poetry. This interactive workshop will begin with an informal discussion on one’s connection to poetry, followed by structured writing exercises and the option to share one’s new, demystified poems.  

Richard Hedderman is a multi Pushcart Prize nominee and author of two collections of poetry including, most recently, Choosing a Stone, from Finishing Line Press, which was shortlisted for the Ashland Poetry Press Richard Snyder Award and the Codhill Press Poetry Award. His writing has appeared in dozens of publications both in the U.S. and abroad, as well as in several anthologies including In a Fine Frenzy: Poets Respond to Shakespeare (University of Iowa Press). More of his work can be found at richardheddermanpoetry.com.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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