Sky-shooting photographer Mike Hollingshead visits Devils Tower

Sky-shooting and storm-chasing photographer Mike Hollingshead isn't from Wyoming, but he spends a lot of time in the High Plains photographing supercells in the Nebraska Sand Hills and night skies over Devils Tower. Here is a bucolic view of Devils Tower in late September among its fall foliage. See more at http://www.extremeinstability.com/2012-9-22.htm

John Frintzler and his Polka Band play in Pine Bluffs June 9 -- and on RFDTV tonight!

This comes from our very alert folk arts specialist Annie Hatch:

Wyoming favorite, John Fritzler and his Polka Band, perform tonight (June 6) on Mollie B Polka Party on RFDTV at 5:00 pm. John and his band play Dutch Hop, a traditional music for social dancing in the German Russian American community of the tri-state region of NE, CO and WY.

See John and his band live this Saturday, June 9, 6-10 p.m., in Pine Bluffs and the dinner dance held every year at the Pine Bluffs Heritage Center!

For information on additional show times see: http://schedule.rfdtv.com/?tz=2

For more on the band and Saturday's performance see: http://www.johnfritzlerpolkaband.com/

In the news: "Celebrating Dutch Hop"

Dutch Hop street dance. Photo by Ronna Lee Sharpe.

Last summer's "Celebrating Dutch Hop" event in Loveland, Colo., was featured in the Colorado Creative Industries newsletter. Similar gatherings were held in Wyoming and Nebraska. Organizers of the events featuring German Rusian Culture were Annie Hatch, Wyoming Arts Council folk and traditional arts specialist, and Georgia Wier, former CCI folklorist.

"On the road" with Nebraska writer Poe Ballantine

Attend a presentation by Nebraska writer Poe Ballantine on Monday, April 9, 7-9 p.m., at Recover Wyoming, 512 E. Lincolnway, Cheyenne. It's free and open to the public with refreshments provided. Poe will be at LCCC's Conferences and Institutes Building on Tuesday, April 10, for a writing workshop at 2 p.m. and a reading at 7 p.m. These events also are free and open to the public.

Share in the insights of Poe Ballantine, his writing life and the experiences he draws from decades of tramping about the country, taking odd jobs, living on $400 a month and failing spectacularly. Poe has been called “The Voice of the People” and the “The King of the Personal Essay.” You are invited to view into his writing life, how he got here, how he sustains, the imperative of virgins in volcanoes and the ghosts who watch over us, matters of process, magic, mechanics, flambéing with banana liqueur and whatever else you want to know.

In memoriam: Cheyenne writer Mary Hartman

Writer Mary Hartman passed away June 24 in Cheyenne. She was the author of "Texas Granite: Story of a World War II Hero," part-memoir and part-history about World War II Medal of Honor recipient Jack Lummus, and co-author (with historian Elmo Ingenthron) of “Bald Knobbers: Vigilantes on the Ozarks Frontier.”

Mary grew up in Nebraska, spent the World War II years in L.A., and later worked as a newspaper reporter. After moving to Cheyenne in the early 1990s, she co-founded Southeast Wyoming Writers and was a member of the Cheyenne Area Writers Group. She was the program chair for SEWW and brought a number of well-known poets and writers to Cheyenne for presentations and workshops. She was on a “memoir writing” panel at the Wyoming Book Festival in October 2001 in Cheyenne.

Mary was producer for a World War II oral history video sponsored by the Cheyenne Family YMCA’s Writer’s Voice Project. This video is now part of the U.S. Library of Congress’s World War II oral history collection. 

Opening reception for Jamie Burmeister's "Shooting Gallery" May 20 at the NIC

Jamie Burmeister, "Funky Junk"

The Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper invites you to the opening reception to "Shooting Gallery," an exhibition by Jamie Burmeister, on Friday, May 20. The museum members' preview begins at 5 p.m. and includes a lecture by the artist. The free public opening begins at 6 p.m.

Through experiments with sculpture, installation, mechanics, electronics, everyday materials, the Internet, interactivity, and sound and video, Jamie Burmeister has put together a diverse body of work that revolves around his conscious experience of the world. Many of his artworks have elements of humor, absurdity and the mundane. Many of the pieces are also interactive, creating situations where the viewer becomes a part of the piece. The experience of the work is unique depending upon how the viewers choose to interact with it.

The exhibit will be on display May 20-Aug. 7.

Russell Schnitzer illuminates sandhill crane migration

Brighten up your Monday with a look at the photography of Wyoming's Russell Schnitzer in a blog post entitled "Of Cranes, Migrations and Spring." The photos document the annual sandhill crane migration in Nebraska. Go to http://schnitzerphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/of-cranes-migrations-and-spring.html?spref=tw

Call for entries: 11th annual Veterans Creative Arts Festival

From a press release:

The Cheyenne Veterans Administration Medical center Recreation Therapy Department is currently accepting visual and performing art entries for the 11th Annual Veterans Creative Arts Festival.

This event is open to all Veterans who have received care or services from the Cheyenne VAMC or any of the other VA clinics in southeastern Wyoming, northern Colorado and western Nebraska. Entry Forms are due by Feb 18, 2011 and may be picked up at the Laramie County Library, VA Medical Center 2360 E. Pershing Blvd or by contacting Kristi Ruben, local coordinator at 307-778-7550x7240.

There is no cost to enter the festival. Winners from each category will advance to a regional competition with the chance to advance to the 2011 VA National Creative Arts Festival. The VA Art Competition and Show provides our Veterans with an opportunity to showcase their artistic talents and skill and recognizes the value of the arts in the healing process.

This year's local art will be showcased February 24-27 at the Laramie County Public Library with an artists' reception at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 26.

All art must have been created after April 1, 2010, except for the Military Combat Experience entries. For a complete list of the nearly 60 categories of acceptable art and an information packet, contact the Cheyenne VA Creative Arts Festival Coordinator: Kristi Ruben at 307-778-7550 x7240 or kristi.ruben@va.gov.

Call for entries: U of Nebraska public art project

From a UNL press release:

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Nebraska Arts Council are pleased to announce the UNL Physics II Direct Purchase Project. Artists working in black and white photography who reside in Nebraska and its border states of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota and Wyoming are eligible for this project.

This call is exclusively for the purchase of 2D artworks in the photographic medium (black and white silver prints only). The photographs selected from the application process will be placed on display at selected sites throughout the interior of the new UNL Physics building on city campus.

ONLINE APPLICATION PROCESS: The Nebraska 1% for Art projects program uses the online service, SlideRoom, to process applications. Detailed information on the SlideRoom application process is available on the RFQ prospectus and on the SlideRoom site.

There is a nominal $5 service fee to complete the online process. However, no physical materials will be required from applicants, which will eliminate the burdens of CD and document creation and mailing costs.

Contact J.D. Hutton , Nebraska 1% for Art Manager, for more information about this project, or view our Current 1% Projects page on our website.

View and download the project prospectus:
NNL Physics II Direct Purchase Prospectus
Direct link to the NAC SlideRoom application portal

Application deadline: July 21, 2010

Budget: $5,000 (for purchase of a selection of works)

Ji Eun Kim transforms snow fences, grain elevators and cabins into 2-D artworks

Cheyenne artist (and 2009 Wyoming Arts Council intern) Ji Eun Kim is at the Jentel Artist Residency Program through June 13. She is at work on mural-size depictions of snow fences. She installed one of these during her spring residency in Nebraska City, Neb (shown in photo above). She is looking for a place to install a similar one in a Cheyenne storefront. The piece is 11 feet high and 24 feet long. If you know of a spot, contact Ji Eun through her blog at http://jieunkim25.blogspot.com/

Ji Eun will be one of the artists featured at "Jentel Presents" this evening (June 1), 5:30-7 p.m. at the Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library. Other presenters include Tom Sleigh (poet), Blas Falconer (poet), Ken Kelly (visual artist), Anne McCauley (visual artist) and Christine Gray (visual artist). The event is free and open to the public.


During her Nebraska residency at the Kimball Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, she was featured in the local paper. Here's the article:

By Grace Johnson
Nebraska City News Press

Some of Nebraska City’s most familiar structures provided inspiration for artist Ji Eun Kim as she completed her residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. Kim created giant renderings of both the Mayhew Cabin and the grain storage at DeBruce during her four-week stay which ended March 26.

“I love old structures,” Kim said. The Mayhew Cabin piece was created at the art center, while the mural depicting the grain storage appears on a storefront window across from the Courthouse to the north. Contact paper was applied to create the illustrations.

Kim, a painter and visual artist who was born in Seoul, South Korea, said she didn’t know anything about the Mayhew Cabin before she came to Nebraska City, but once she learned about its significance, she found parallels between the slaves escaping on the Underground Railroad in the 1850s and the North Korean refugees of today.

“When I see something, I automatically think of my own country and its history,” she said.
While at KHN, Kim created a large map of the route the slaves took, as well as a 3-dimensional map representing the travels of the North Korean refugees.

Kim met with Mayhew Cabin Director Bill Hayes as part of her research for the project.

“It is incredible to see how an artist can transform raw material into a piece of art, and that one of those things was inspired by a visit to the Mayhew Cabin,” Hayes said. “It is great to see an artist inspired by a simple log cabin. The very simple structure tells a very important story of how people escaped from slavery. People are still trying to escape injustice and oppression, like the refugees.”

As for the grain storage, Kim said she was initially fascinated by the structural aspect. “I just fell in love with the structure,” she said. “I was amazed by it.”

She said it’s also a “landmark” in Nebraska City that represents the local economy.

Kim has completed other residencies in small communities and enjoys making art from the structures that symbolize daily life in the area where she stays While in Vermont, for example, Kim created a piece based on a covered bridge.

“I want to take advantage of living in a rural place,” she said. “I’m inspired by the local area.”

Kim hopes the residents of Nebraska City will think more about the meaning behind the structures that have been fixtures in the town for many years.

“I want to get people here to see with fresh vision,” she said.

Copyright 2010 Nebraska City News-Press. Some rights reserved.

Artist Ji Eun Kim wins first prize in competition sponsored by AHL Foundation

2009 Wyoming Arts Council intern Ji Eun Kim reports that she has won first prize in a competition sponsored by the AHL Foundation. The foundation supports Korean artists in the U.S. She wins a cash prize and will be part of a group show at the Gana Gallery in New York City's Chelsea District in January 2011.

Ji Eun is from Seoul, South Korea, and now lives in Cheyenne. She's currently in residence at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center in Nebraska City, Neb. She just received a residency at the Santa Fe Art Institute in Santa Fe, N.M. for November and December of this year.

Congrats to Ji Eun. To see samples of her work, go to her blog at http://jieunkim25.blogspot.com/

Now you can be a "Ted Head" too

Little did we know when Ted Kooser was a presenter at June's Wyoming Writers, Inc. conference in Casper...

Kooser is a celeb in Nebraska. This native son and one-time U.S. Poet Laureate is now featured on a T-shirt from his publisher, University of Nebraska Press.

The colorful "Ted Head" T-shirt is "back by popular demand," reads a blurb on the press's web site. "Hanes Beefy, 100% pre-shrunk cotton, white, short-sleeved t-shirt with "Ted Head" graphic on front. Quantities are limited."

Get one before they're all gone!

Kooser a national literary treasure

My sketch of Kooser, and notes from the workshop

Had the chance to sit in on Ted Kooser's final session at the Wyoming Writer's annual conference this past weekend in Casper. I regretted missing the opening readings and Saturday sessions, but I took notes and even tried to sketch him as he stood at the podium...my sketches seem to turn out caricature-like, although that isn't the view I'm going for.

A copy of his poem "Etude" was handed out, but he began with a reading of an essay he'd written about a house he had once lived in with his wife and children, and where he'd read in the paper that a 15-year-old boy had recently (in relation to when he'd written the essay) been murdered there and two other people wounded in a robbery attempt over cocaine. He was building a scale model of his wife's childhood home, and while he wallpapered the walls and painted, his imagination would fit into the rooms. He imagined himself living there, though he never had, and how the death of the boy had made his heart drop at the thought of he and his family living in that house and feeling safe while there.

The example was about metaphor and how one thing becomes something else, and something else, but has to become, to come back to, that thing again. Kooser specialty is metaphor. We lowly poets tend to say things like "The clouds in the sky were the color of gun metal gray as they pelted the ground with hail." A prosaic example, but Kooser helped diagram what metaphor can and should do. He had some great stories throughout -- like meeting the national horse-shoe-throwing champion. He asked him how he got so good and he said, "I threw 100 shoes a day." Kooser's poetry students were assinged to read 100 poems before they attempted to write one.

Think of metaphor as an imaginary equation, where one side must equal the other. Here's the poem so you can have the example that he gave to us:

Etude

I have been watching a Great Blue Heron

fish in the cattails, easing ahead

with the stealth of a lover composing a letter,

the hungry words looping and blue

as they coil and uncoil, as they kiss and sting.

Let's say that he holds down an everyday job

in an office. His blue suit blends in.

Long days swim beneath the glass top

of his desk, each one alike. On the lip

of each morning, a bubble trembles.

No one has seen him there, writing a letter

to a woman he loves. His pencil is poised

in the air like the beak of a bird.

He would spear the whole world if he could,

toss it and swallow it live.

Pretty spectacular stuff for the seeming simplicity of the image, yet Kooser led us on a journey of how he crafts his metaphors. Tenor and vehicle are the two sides of the equation -- tenor is the real thing, the blue heron; vehicle is the imaginative thing, in this case, the lover composing a letter. Remember, he said, "comparisons are most effective when they are the most disparate or widely divergent." Kooser stays in the imaginative realm with the lover who "holds down an every day job, in a blue suit that blends in." The blue refers back to the blue heron, a blending in to their environments, the heron tall and thin like the cattails he is walking in, the man blending in the shades of suits. The heron moves slowly, so as not to disturb the water and scaring the fish. The man wants to write a love letter at his job, and "No one has seen him there, writing a letter/to a woman he loves." His, and the heron's, inconspicuousness are their own reward. "The long days swim beneath the glass top," the days are like the heron looking for fish, waiting for the opportunity to spear one. The man's "pencil is poised in the air like the beak of a bird," and the stealth of the man "would spear the whole world if he could, toss it and swallow it live." The man would take in the whole world if he could by writing the love letter, that kisses and stings.

Kooser points out that only those things that have something in common to the tenor and the vehicle make sense and hold the poem together. These things can be related on each side of the equation. When metaphor is thought of in this way, then one can begin to fine tune a metaphor.

He read another poem about an aluminum boat floating on a pond. The imaginative part of the poem involved a fat man who becomes like the boat, precariously tethered to life because he hasn't taken care of himself, but also because we are all lightly tethered to life; the temporal nature of man.

Kooser mentioned a Swedish author, Tomas Transtromer, whom he especially admires for his metaphoric talent, such as "turning out the light, it was a tablet dissolving in a glass of darkenss." Kooser is a student of simplicity and clarity. He is devotee of E.B White, and he favors gramatically correct writing and punctuation. He thinks writing should be clear and transparent. He doesn't like the small "i" and thinks sentences should begin with a capital. He said, "the minute the reader's attention is called to the surface of the page is when the writing becomes weak." He also said that nothing kills a poem faster than a lot of exposition--this extra information should become the title.

He also feels that many of the performance poets depend on their performance of their work. When these poets die, their poetry will die with them. Most of these poems don't hold up without the performance. He also cited Dylan Thomas, who had a wonderful and melodic voice in the reading of his poems. When he died, people stopped reading him. My thought: it is interesting that performance poetry is not just a phenomenon of the younger generation, but has some bit of a cultural history link.

--Linda Coatney

Fiber artist Phillippa Lack plans busy summer

Wyomingingarts ran into Cheyenne fabric artist Phillippa Lack this week. She's been busy -- and that will continue through the summer. Here are some highlights:

She was an invited artist at the Billings, Mont., quilt festival earlier this year.

One art quilt, "Somewhat Off Kilter" was accepted into Studio Art Quilt Associates' "Points of View" national show, debuting at the Long Beach Quilt Festival in July.

Her art quilt "Botanica II" accepted into Front Range Contemporary Quilters' "Colors of Life"
national show, Carnegie Arts Center, Alliance, Nebraska, May 19 through June 29, 2009.

Two fiber art pieces, "Chrysalis" and "Blue Mountain, Black River" accepted into Front Range Contemporary Quilters show "Connecting Threads" at the Longmont Museum, Colo., in
the fall. More later on this exhibit.

Planning a fiber show at Glen Garrett's Atelier in Cheyenne in early July.

To see Phillippa's work, go to her web site at www.pkldesigns.com.

Cheyenne sculptor Gail Sundell receives Great Plains Art Museum residency

In its April issue, Prairie Fire: The Progressive Voice of the Great Plains, features an article by Amber Mohr about Cheyenne sculptor Gail Sundell:

Art is process, and art is best viewed with knowledge of that process. This is the theory behind the Elizabeth Rubendall Artist-In-Residence program at the Great Plains Art Museum. Each year, an artist from the Great Plains region is selected to create a commissioned artwork for the Great Plains Art Museum’s permanent collection. The interactive residency prescribes that the artwork is created live in the Great Plains Art Museum lobby. Gail Sundell, a stone sculptor from Cheyenne, Wyo., will be creating an original figure grouping of Plains Tribe natives titled “Women of the Plains,” in alabaster. She will be working April 21–26, sculpting from 10 a.m.-noon and from 2-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and from 1:30-5 p.m. on Sunday. The public is invited to observe and interact with the artist while she works.

Gail Sundell has been sculpting in alabaster since she was a child, cutting and sanding paperweights for her family’s quarry just outside of Fort Collins, and eventually moving on to lathe-turned utilitarian art such as vases, lamps and bowls. Her work as an adult artist focuses on the legends, spiritual life and family connections of Native Americans. She draws from intensive research, her father’s stories from his early life among the Cheyenne/Arapahoe Indians in Oklahoma, and the “special advantage to being a woman sculptor.”

“The hours that I have spent caring for and nurturing my family and friends has enabled me to relay a depth of feeling to my work that speaks to those who view my creations and leads them to share in the wonder of life created from stone,” said Sundell.

To continue reading, go here: http://www.prairiefirenewspaper.com/2009/04/sculptor-gail-sundell

"New Horizons Clarinet Tour" in Wyoming

In April, U.S. Air Force musicians from Offutt AFB in Omaha, Nebraska, will travel to Wyoming for the “New Horizons Clarinet Tour.”

On Sunday, April 5, 3 p.m., the group will perform at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. This event is being arranged by UW music professor Jerome Fleg. On Monday, April 6, 7 p.m., the tour moves to the Platte Valley Community Center in Saratoga. Both concerts are free and open to the public. Tickets in Saratoga are on a first-come basis, and available from Stephanie Jeffers at 307-326-7822.

FMI: SSGT Crystal L. Proper at Crystal.Proper@offutt.af.mil

Call for entries: CLTP New Play Project

March 31, 2009 is the deadline for Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska and Utah playwrights to enter their work to the New Play Project, a program created by the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players (CLTP) to encourage, recognize and support playwrights in the five-state region. Entries must be full-length plays that have not been performed previously; no film scripts or musicals are allowed. The winning stage play will be produced as a Readers' Theatre by the CLTP during its 2009-2010 season. The winning playwright will receive a $500 cash award and an all-expenses paid trip to Cheyenne to attend production meetings, auditions, rehearsals, and performances of the work. The competition entry fee is $20 per play submitted.

Submission guidelines, a proposal form, and an application package are available on the CLTP’s website at www.cheyennelittletheatre.org.

Questions should be emailed to rbernhard@cheyennelittletheatre.org.

Call for entries: CLTP New Play Project

March 31, 2009 is the deadline for Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska and Utah playwrights to enter their work to the New Play Project, a program created by the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players (CLTP) in Cheyenne to encourage, recognize and support playwrights in the five-state region.

Entries must be full-length plays that have not been performed previously; no film scripts or musicals are allowed. The winning stage play will be produced as a Readers Theatre by the CLTP during its 2009-2010 season. The winning playwright will receive a $500 cash award and an all-expenses paid trip to Cheyenne, WY to attend production meetings, auditions, rehearsals, and performances of the work. The competition entry fee is $20 per play submitted.

Submission guidelines, a proposal form, and an application package are available on the CLTP’s website at www.cheyennelittletheatre.org. Questions should be emailed to rbernhard@cheyennelittletheatre.org.

High school string players gather in Greeley

This comes from a University of Northern Colorado press release:

The University of Northern Colorado School of Music is proud to announce the 25th Annual Western States Honor Orchestra Festival (WSHOF) will be held November 6-8.

Established at UNC in 1983, this annual "Weekend for Strings" provides three days of intense musical training to advanced high school string players. Musicians are nominated by their directors and private teachers, then selected for the event through a rigorous audition process. Festival participants come from all states in the Rocky Mountain West – Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

This year’s festival will feature guest artists RACHEL LEE and WILLIAM PREUCIL. Other guest artists and clinicians include Doug Kershaw, "The Ragin’ Cajun;" conductors Sergio Espinosa and Russell Guyver; alternative music/improvisation specialist Julie Lyonn Lieberman; and UNC string faculty members Richard Fuchs, Juliet White-Smith, David Chew, Jim Vaughn and Kathy Moore.

The three-day event opens Thursday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m., with a concert by the UNC Symphony Orchestra. Soloist Rachel Lee will perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Ms. Lee will also perform the "Bach Double," more formally known as the "Concerto for Two Violins," by J.S. Bach with UNC violin professor RICHARD FUCHS. The program will also feature "Capriccio Espagnol" by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, "An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise" by Peter Maxwell Davies and the "Mamou Two-Step" by Doug Kershaw.

The festival concludes with a concert by Western States Honor Orchestra Festival participants on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 4 p.m.

Led by Sergio Espinosa, the WSHOF Symphony will perform "Sinfonia #2 in D" by Felix Mendelssohn and "March and Scherzo" from "Love of Three Oranges" by Sergei Prokofiev. Following the Symphony’s performance, Russell Guyver, UNC’s resident orchestra conductor, will lead the WSHOF Chamber Orchestra in a performance of "Introduction and Allegro" by Edward Elgar and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with William Preucil, soloist.

Tickets for the 25th Annual Western States Honor Orchestra are now on sale.

Tickets for Rachel Lee’s concert with the UNC Symphony Orchestra on Thurs., Nov. 6 are $12 (adults) and $5 (students).

Tickets for William Preucil’s Saturday concert with the Western States Honor Orchestra are $15 (adults) and $10 (students).

FMI: 970-351-2200, 970-356-5000 or 800-315-ARTS. Online at http://arts.unco.edu/music/strings/weekendforstrings/default.html.

Out of Nebraska... Literary news

The Nebraska Arts Council is partnering with The Backwaters Press, a Nebraska publishing company, to honor Nebraska writers awarded with the NAC's Individual Artist Fellowships. Greg Kosmicki, editor and publisher of The Backwaters Press, and J.D. Hutton, NAC's Individual Artist Fellowship Program manager, have collaborated on a new writers reading series which features past IAF Literature winners.

"This will be a smorgasbord for Omahans to get a taste of the richness and variety of writing that is part of our current literary scene in Nebraska," Kosmicki says. "These writers have all been recognized by the Nebraska Arts Council as outstanding poets and writers in a State filled with outstanding poets and writers."

The series, entitled "Wednesday Words," will be held the second Wednesday of each month, during the noon hour, from 11:45 a.m to 1:00 p.m.. The series will be held at the Nebraska Arts Council offices at the historic Burlington Place building, 1004 Farnam Street, in Omaha's Old Market District. The readings are free and open to the public.

"The lunch hour reading series is a great opportunity to see and hear some of Nebraska's great writers," said Hutton. "It also offers people who are in the Old Market a refreshing alternative to the typical lunch break. Greg and I hope to attract not only those who are familiar with our writers and enjoy their work, but also provide folks in the Old Market who may not be acquainted with Nebraska arts and culture a chance to experience the talents of the Nebraska writing community."

The series begins on October 8th with featured Omaha-based writer, Susan Aizenberg. Ms. Aizenberg will be reading from her most recent published collection, Muse, which won the Nebraska Book Award for Poetry, and the Larry Levis Prize for 2003. She will also read from other recent work.

The series will also feature writers Rich Wyatt, Karen Gettert Shoemaker, Kelly Madigan Erlandson, Mary K. Stillwell, Jonis Agee, Michael Catherwood, Grace Bauer, Anna Monardo, Steve Langan, and others. Greg Kosmicki notes, "This group of poets, fiction writers, and creative non-fiction writers is testament to the quality of writers we are blessed to have in Nebraska-not only have these writers all won Individual Artist Fellowships from the Nebraska Arts Council, each one of them has published widely in literary magazines, and many have won prestigious prizes for their writing."

The ongoing series will continue to be held monthly and feature a new writer each month. A schedule below details the upcoming featured writers. Further dates can be checked on the NAC website and at The Backwaters Press website. Link for both websites is listed below.

For more information on the "Wednesday Words" reading series, please contact J.D. Hutton at jayne.hutton@nebraska.gov or (402) 595-2142.

FEATURED WRITERS:
Oct. 8: Susan Aizenberg
Nov. 12: Richard David Wyatt
Dec. 10: Karen Gettert Shoemaker
Jan. 14: Kelly Madigan Erlandson

Susan Aizenberg is the winner of the 2003 Distinguished Artist Award from the Nebraska Arts Council. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in many journals, including Prairie Schooner, AGNI, Blackbird, The Journal, Laurel Review, Passages North, Third Coast, Chelsea, ONTHEBUS, and the Prague Review. Her first collection, Peru, appeared in Graywolf's Take Three: AGNI New Poets Series, which was chosen as a "Recommended Book" by both the Poetry and Small Press editors of Amazon.com, and as a "Noted Book" by American Poet. She is the author more recently of Muse (Southern Illinois UP), a book-length collection that won the Nebraska Book Award for Poetry and the VCU Larry Levis Prize for 2003. In addition to these accomplishments, Ms. Aizenberg previously was awarded Individual Artist Fellowships in Literature from the Nebraska Arts Council in 1997 and 2000. Ms. Aizenberg holds the MFA in creative writing from Vermont College and has taught at the University of Nebraska - Omaha. She served as Poetry Editor of The Nebraska Review for ten years and later as Contributing Editor. She is an associate professor of English and Creative Writing at Creighton University, where she directs the Creative Writing Program. With Erin Belieu, she is the editor of The Extraordinary Tide: New Poetry by American Women (Columbia University Press, 2001).

The Nebraska Arts Council, a state agency, provides numerous grants, services and special initiatives that help sustain and promote the arts throughout Nebraska. The NAC is supported by the Nebraska Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. FMI: http://nebraskaartscouncil.org/

The Backwaters Press is a non-profit literary press that seeks to publish the best poetry that can be found today, with an emphasis on Nebraska and Great Plains poets. FMI: http://www.thebackwaterspress.com/

Nebraska Arts Council
1004 Farnam Street - Plaza Level,
Omaha, NE 68102
(402)595-2122 or 800-341-4067