VW 107 Available Online & In Print

Verse Wisconsin 107 includes "Earthworks" Poems, prose about ecopoetry from Patricia Monaghan, Jeff Poniewaz, Laura-Gray Street & Ann Fisher-Wirth, as well as an interview with Kimberly Blaeser, a selection of poems from Bruce Dethlefsen's Unexpected Shiny Things, book reviews, audio & news about Wisconsin poetry.

Verse Wisconsin is available as a print and an online magazine with compatible but different contents. Read, view, & listen to the online edition now. Subscribe to our print magazine for more poetry and prose!

Our current call for work is a special joint project with the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets (for poets currently living in Wisconsin, or with past residence) to be published on VWOnline in July, 2012, and in the 2013 Wisconsin Poets' Calendar. Reading period: November 1-January 15. Visit our Submissions page for details.

From September-May we accept print submissions of any style, subject and voice. We also welcome reviews (see books received) and queries for essays about poetry, including those about writing groups, interesting or innovative poetry programs, and the intersection of poetry and daily life; we invite you to send photos of readings and poetry events to consider posting on the website, as well as notices about Wisconsin poetry news.

Our Main Street Wisconsin issue, "Poems About Wisconsin Protests," is now closed. The editors of Verse Wisconsin invite you to continue to send poems about the protests, as well as other well-crafted political poetry, to our regular issues of VW. See the Submissions page for details, and watch for future Main Street Wisconsin calls. Please download a pdf of "14 Broadsides" selected from these poems in March, 2011. Broadsides were distributed at VW events through the spring, and you can print, copy, cut & pass these out at upcoming community & political events. Thanks for helping to put poems about the Wisconsin protests out into the world!

Please join us at an upcoming event, send us a link, and support Verse Wisconsin!

Jawbreaker Project Launch, Avol's Bookstore, April 1, 2011

Marilyn Annuci at the Jawbreaker Launch
Marilyn Annucci & the Verse-O-Matic poetry dispenser at the joint Verse Wisconsin/ Poetry Jumps Off the Shelf launch. Jawbreaker poems appeared in VW106. Interested in having the Verse-O-Matic travel to your library/school/business/community center? Contact sarah(at)versewisconsin(dot)org.

World Watching, by Matthew Stolte

visual poem

"World Watching" is part of the Main Street Wisconsin "Poems About Wisconsin Protests" special issue.

Council for Wisconsin Writers 2011 Awards

The Council for Wisconsin Writers is delighted to announce a new artist-residency program with Shake Rag Alley Center for Arts and Crafts and Maplewood Lodge in Mineral Point for week-long writing residencies for winners of its eight Wisconsin Writers Awards for work published in 2011, including the Posner Book-Length Poetry Award and the Lorine Niedecker Award for a group of five poems. Winners will also receive $500.

The Council contests opened November 1 and will close January 31, 2012 (postmark deadline). Authors who enter must be current Wisconsin residents. The entry fee is $20. Out-of-state judges will make the selections. Awards will be presented in a banquet at the Wisconsin Club in Milwaukee May 12, 2012.

Specific guidelines, entry forms, and important additional information for each award category are available on the website, www.wiswriters.org. CWW is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of published Wisconsin writers and encouraging an appreciation of Wisconsin writing.

More Upcoming Deadlines

Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Annual Poetry Contests:
February 1: Chapbook Contest, Muse Prize, Student Contest
August 1: Triad Contest

Newer Wisconsin Poetry Publishers

N.E.W. Voices, A Literary Platform for North-East Wisconsin, c/o Caravaggio Press, P.O. Box 41, Ellison Bay, WI 54210, or email Nancy Rafal, mrsticket(at)gmail(dot)com
Redzine, a literary magazine publishing poetry and fiction.
Stoneboat, a literary journal based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Poetry, short prose, and black-and-white art.
Rescue Press, publishes work by activists, artists, craftsmen, entrepreneurs, list-makers, philosophers, poets, scientists, writers, and creative thinkers of all kinds.
Devil's Lake, an online journal published twice a year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Poetry and fiction.
Otherwise, A Young Writers' Poetry Journal, a non-profit project launched by a Milwaukee school teacher/poet. Accepts submissions from young writers ages 5-17.