October NorthWords includes:
Notes from the Board Room
There is nothing like new blood to infuse an organization with fresh ideas and renewed energy. Last month we added two new board members, Konnie LeMay and Gail Trygstad, to our leadership team. I can already feel the shift as they inject new perspectives into the mix, and it is a welcome addition!
Your board of directors is made up of volunteers – members just like you who chose to give back to the organization. We are a team that works together to manage the work it takes to keep this vibrant organization running, and to plan ways to provide value to writers around the Lake Superior area and beyond. We meet monthly, now in a hybrid form with both in-person and Zoom in order to include willing participants who may not live locally or still chose to limit close contact with others.
We have a wide variety of jobs that need doing – something to suit everyone’s interest and capabilities. This includes planning and hosting our events and workshops, running the NEMBA awards, grant writing and management, social media and promotion, managing our website and the blog, running the annual Writing Contest, Treasurer and Secretary responsibilities and keeping in touch with our members through newsletters and surveys.
Do you have talents you would like to share? We continue to welcome new faces to our team. Are you interested in volunteering, but not ready for a board position yet? Many of our duties can be run by willing members, and we can always use one-time assistance, or committee members.
If you are interested or have questions, please contact us at writers@lakesuperiorwriters.org. We would love to add your face to this page about our Board Members!
Molly Hoeg
Board Chair
Lake Superior Writers Events
Virtual Writers’ Café
October 8, 2022 9:30 am to 11 am on Zoom
Registration required. Open to all. Free of cost.
Topic: Point-of-View (POV)
When we write, choosing the best POV from which to tell our stories is key. Learning about and trying out writing from different vantage points can often open up new possibilities in our writing. As Janet Burroway wrote, “Point-of-view ultimately concerns the relationship among writer, characters, and reader.” Writers Café is a casual, fun way to connect with writers at all levels from our region and beyond, and you don’t need to be a member of LSW to participate. If you’d like to join the discussion, register by sending an email to writers@lakesuperiorwriters.org.
Mark your calendar for November and December Virtual Writers’ Cafés!
Superior Shares – Open Mic Nights
October 12, 2022 6 pm to 7 pm on Zoom
Registration required. Open to all. Free of cost.
Lake Superior Writers presents Superior Shares, a monthly virtual open mic for local writers to share their work in progress, and for anyone else who appreciates the creative writing process. October’s theme will be “Haunted.”
Interested in getting feedback on a work in progress? Sign up to be a reader! There are 10 five-minute slots available on a first come first served basis. Time limits will be strictly enforced. Readers are asked to please limit adult content and language. Graphic content that is violent or sexual in nature is prohibited. Participants will be notified ahead of time if they have been selected to read.
To register, email writers@lakesuperiorwriters.org. Please indicate if you would like to read.
Book Club for Writers
Candace Simar — Shelterbelts
October 13, 2022 6:30 pm to 8 pm on Zoom
Registration required by Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at noon. Open to all. Free of cost.
Candace Simar likes to imagine how things might have been. A life-long Minnesotan, Candace draws on her love of history and Scandinavian roots to create historical fiction set in frontier Minnesota and North Dakota. Her prose and poetry have received awards from the Western Writers of America, Will Rogers Gold Medallion, Laura Awards, Western Fictioneers, Women Writing the West, League of Minnesota Poets, and the Midwest Book Awards. Candace lives in Pequot Lakes.
Tia Fiskum takes charge of the family farm when her brother goes to war. He returns from a German POW camp greatly changed. Tia must stem the gossip, improve the farm and keep going–even though her heart is aching. Shelterbelts is a novel of linked-short stories set in Tolga Township at the end of World War 2. Shelterbelts was a finalist for both the 2016 Willa Literary Award in Historical Fiction and the Midwest Book Awards.
To register, email writers@lakesuperiorwriters.org. You can find more information on where to purchase Shelterbelts, visit our event page.
Scene and Description Two-Part Workshop with Will Weaver
November 14 and 21, 2022 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm on Zoom
Registration required by Saturday, November 12 at 6 pm. $10 for Lake Superior Writers members and $20 for non-members.
Makin’ It Real: Description and Fiction
The best writing transports us into a new, particular world. And the vehicle for that is one of the most basic techniques of fiction: Description. But good description. Not too much, not too little. And blended into the ongoing story. Will Weaver will share tips on energizing and managing your descriptive writing, with the goal of making it stand out among the competition.
Don’t Make a Scene! (Actually, Please Do)
Good fiction proceeds scene by scene. Each scene moves the plot forward. If the structure of screenplays and scripts is explicitly organized by numbered scenes, fiction uses scene less obviously. So what is “scene?” It’s an action or incident set in a particular place, and which has its own dramatic shape. A good scene has tension, plus a beginning, middle, and end. Will Weaver will share his methods of writing strong scenes that will power your plot (and reader) forward through the story.
Learn more and register today on the event’s page. Not a Lake Superior Writers member? Become a member for as little as $35 and save on this and future events!
Literary events
Minnesota Writing Workshop: How to Get Published
October 7-8, 2022 on Zoom
This is a special two-day “How to Get Published” writing workshop on October 7-8, 2022. It’s two days full of classes and advice designed to give you the best instruction concerning how to get your writing & books published. Participants will discuss your publishing opportunities today, how to write queries & pitches, how to market yourself and your books, what makes an agent/editor stop reading your manuscript, and more. Pricing and registration information is available online: https://minnesotawritingworkshop.com/registration/
Book Launch: Alice Marks for RV Murder
October 9, 2022 4 pm at Zenith Bookstore, 318 N Central Ave, Duluth
Join with Duluth author Alice Marks to celebrate the launch of her new book RV Murder, the third book in the Corpus Christi Mysteries series, after Missing and Breaks.
Proof of Covid vaccination and masking are required. More at zenithbookstore.com/events.
Author Reading: Phong Nguyen for Bronze Drum
October 11, 2022 4 pm at UW-Superior Jim Dan Hill Library, 907 N 19th St, Superior
Author Phong Nguyen will be reading from his recently acclaimed novel Bronze Drum, about warrior-sisters who once ruled Vietnam, at 4pm on Tuesday, October 11th, in the Fireside Lounge of the UWS Jim Dan Hill Library. A Q&A session will follow the reading, and light refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.
Poetry Slam
October 20, 2022 7 pm at Fozzie’s Smokin’ Bar-B-Q at 114 3rd St NW, Bemidji
Fozzie’s Smokin Bar-B-Q will hold a poetry slam on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022, at 7 PM. Free admission, cash prizes.
Performers call Watermark Art Center at 218-444-7570 to pre-register. Same day signups at 6:30 PM, available based on space. More info at www.watermarkartcenter.org.
Book Signing: Jeffrey Sauve for Murder at Minnesota Point
October 22, 2022 12 pm to 2 pm at Zenith Bookstore, 318 N Central Ave, Duluth
Meet and greet Minnesota author Jeffrey M. Sauve. In his new book Murder at Minnesota Point, Sauve, a Northfield, MN historian and writer, tells the true-crime narrative of a two-year nationwide manhunt for a woman’s murder in the late 19th century on the isolated sandy shores of Minnesota Point (Park Point) in Duluth.
Book Launch: Linda LeGarde Grover Presents The Sky Watched
October 25, 2022 7 pm at Duluth Folk School/Dovetail Cafe, 1917 West Superior St., Duluth
Join Linda LeGarde Grover for the launch of the new edition of her poetry collection The Sky Watched: Poems of Ojibwe Lives. Linda will be joined by writers from The Thunderbird Review, the literary and arts journal of Fond Du Lac Tribal and Community College.
Event is free and open to the public. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test result in the past 72 hours, along with masking are required.
Book Reading: Jeannine Ouellette for The Part That Burns
October 26, 2022 6 pm at the Kathryn A. Martin Library Rotunda, 416 Library Drive, Duluth
Jeannine Ouellette will read from her memoir, The Part That Burns, on the campus of the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Ouellette will share the stage with Tim Moder, an Indigenous poet from northern Wisconsin. The event is sponsored by the Department of English, Linguistic and Writing Studies at UMD and it is free and open to the public.
Poetry Collection Readings with Jazz Piano
October 27, 2022 7 pm at the Quaker Meeting House, 1802 East 1st Street, Duluth
Double publication reading by Sheila Packa and Bart Sutter to launch Sheila’s poetry collection “Surface Displacements” and Bart’s “So Surprised to Find You Here.” The event will also feature jazz piano by David From. Free admission. The poets will be pleased to sign books. Refreshments will be served.
Book Signing: Jeannine Ouellette for The Part That Burns
October 28, 2022 11 am to 1 pm at Zenith Bookstore, 318 N Central Ave, Duluth
Meet Jeannine Ouellettee, who will be at Zenith Bookstore to sign copies of her new book, The Part That Burns. The memoir is a story about the tenacity of family roots, the formidable undertow of trauma, and the rebellious and persistent yearning of human beings for love from each other.
Event is free and open to the public. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test result in the past 72 hours, along with masking are required.
Book Signing: Marcie Rendon for Sinister Graves
October 28, 2022 1 pm to 3 pm at Zenith Bookstore, 318 N Central Ave, Duluth
Meet Marice R. Rendon, who will be at Zenith Bookstore to sign copies of her new book Sinister Graves. Set in 1970s Minnesota on the White Earth Reservation, Pinckley Prize–winner Rendon’s gripping new mystery follows Cash Blackbear, a young Ojibwe woman, as she attempts to discover the truth about the disappearances of Native girls and their newborns.
Event is free and open to the public. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test result in the past 72 hours, along with masking are required.
Book Reading and Tarot Workshop
October 29, 2022 7 pm at Zenith Bookstore, 318 N Central Ave, Duluth
The perfect happening for Halloween weekend! Join us for a Tarot-infused event with authors Cassandra Snow and Siri Vincent Plouff, together with local witch Carolyn Kerns. Snow and Plouff will present their new book Lessons From the Empress: A Tarot Workbook for Self-Care and Creative Growth. They will then be joined with Kerns to lead a tarot workshop. More at zenithbookstore.com/events.
Opportunities
Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Annual Poetry Chapbook Contest
Postmark deadline: February 1, 2023
The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets announces its annual Poetry Chapbook Contest. The contest is open to any Wisconsin writer who has published a poetry chapbook during 2022. Prizes are $200, $100 and $50. The postmark deadline is February 1, 2023. The judge is Joe Cottonwood of La Honda, CA. Go to https://www.wfop.org and click on “contests” for full rules and entry form. For questions, contact coordinator Shoshauna Shy at shoshaunashy@gmail.com
KUDOS – News about our members
Thomas Wayne King was interviewed by host Robin Washington on Wisconsin Public Radio program Simply Superior, KUWS, 91.3 FM, Friday, August 12, 2022. Featured were Tom and Debbi’s newest original vocal and instrumental music with their folk band Hallbjorn, plus some of their raps and rhymes of Lake Superior and our Northland.
Tom and Debbi King, founder-members of the folk band, Hallbjorn, presented some of their newest original Northland vocal and instrumental music, plus poems, and raps at the 3rd annual Lucius Woods Performing Arts Center “Music on the Docks” concert, Saturday evening, August 13, 2022. During the event, several bands performed simultaneously from different boat docks for their water-borne audiences cruising Upper St. Croix Lake, Solon Springs, WI.
Alice Marks‘s third book, RV Murder, will be available in October as an audio book through Amazon. The narrator of this book is Neal Oskerka of Narrators of Chicago. As the book has a different point of view in each chapter, Mr. Oskerka had the task of making subtle changes in the voice of each character. This narrator also made possible the other two audio books Missing and Breaks in this three book series.
Jim Perlman, of Holy Cow! Press, is pleased to announce the publication of “Essentially,” a collection of essays by Minneapolis poet and author Richard Terrill. $19.95, 200-page paperback, available at local bookstores, amazon.com, and through http://www.holycowpress.org. “Richard Terrill writes out of what he calls his ‘dark attitude.’ But he also sees the beauty in our daily lives, and, despite his pessimism about the future of humanity, believes it’s worth sticking around just to see what happens next. Like his worldview, his writing is jazzlike, nuanced, unexpected, arresting, and, yes, essential.”–The Minneapolis Star Tribune
Victoria Lynn Smith‘s short story “Not Once” was published in the summer issue of the 45th Parallel. https://45thparallellitmag.com/
Anne Stewart’s poem “Inheritance” is published in The Poet anthology Family v.2, July 2022.
Several stories from Marie Zhuikov‘s upcoming blog-memoir from Nodin Press, “Meander North,” have been published in northland news outlets. “Kissing in the first-grade coatroom,” (https://www.hometownfocus.us/articles/kissing-in-the-first-grade-coatroom/) and “Exciting, a bit dangerous, and sometimes even fun,” (https://www.hometownfocus.us/articles/exciting-a-bit-dangerous-and-sometimes-even-fun/) were published in the Hometown Focus in August and September. “Lean into your fear,” (https://www.perfectduluthday.com/2022/09/10/lean-into-your-fear-whitewater-rafting-on-the-st-louis-river/) and “Nantucket Sleigh Ride via Loon,” (https://www.perfectduluthday.com/2022/07/16/nantucket-sleigh-ride-via-loon/) were Saturday Essays for Perfect Duluth Day, in July and September. She also began a monthly “Meander North” column in the Cotton Chronicle newspaper.
Bart Sutter‘s eighth collection of poems, “So Surprised to Find You Here,” has recently been released by Nodin Press. James P. Lenfestey, author of “A Marriage Book: 50 Years of Poems from a Marriage,” writes that “Sutter is a reserved Swede canoeist grandfather from Duluth, yet his canny rhythms, rhymes, slant rhymes–music really!–move like some excitable dancer from Bulgaria through stories of the Canadian borderlands, Sweden, Ireland, Spain, the woods, and home.”
Lake Superior Writers Blog
Lake Superior Writers invites members to submit guest posts for possible inclusion on our blog. Please visit our blog information page for more details: https://lakesuperiorwriters.org/blog/blog-submission-guidelines/
Our blog currently features Moving from Mess to Message by Dawn M. Johnson
Lake Superior Writers 