Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - The second annual University of Wisconsin-Platteville Creative Writing Festival will take place on Tuesday, April 21 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the University North Room of the Pioneer Student Center on the UWP campus. The humanities department is sponsoring the event. It is free and open to all students and the community.

The night will feature a guest poet, Amaud Jamaul Johnson, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who will read from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Johnson is a former Wallace E. Stegner Fellow in Poetry at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and the author of the poetry collection, "Red Summer," which received the Dorsett Prize. His poems have appeared in publications such as "The Cave Canem Anthology," "The New England Review," "The Virginia Quarterly Review" and "Poetry Daily." Stormy Stipe, assistant professor for the UWP English Department, met the poet several years ago at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference in Vermont, and is excited to have him reading at UWP.

"It's very important to give students the opportunity to see an actively publishing poet give a professional reading," said Stipe. "It is especially rewarding because Amaud is an African American poet who addresses issues concerning African Americans in his poetry."

Johnson will be bringing his own books and other works to show interested students.

Deborah Lewis, associate professor for the UWP English Department, will give a short reading after Johnson. "I will be reading a few poems from my new book, "Trouble's Achaeology," which was made possible by a Scholarly Activity Improvement Grant and sabbatical leave," said Lewis.

Winners of the annual Creative Writing Contest will then take the mic to read their pieces. Laura Becherer, a UWP English major, who won first place for her poem, "Dear Angela," and Barbara Weinbrenner, a senior majoring in professional writing, who took second for her poem, "Little Plastic Man," will be presenting their poems at the festival. A. J. Kuenzi, a third year criminal justice major, who won first place for his short story, "The Sound Life Makes," and Brice Lory, a senior majoring in music performance, who won second place for his story, "Sunshine People," will be presenting sections from their pieces as well. Ann Potter, who is auditing a writing class at UWP; Katie Binning, a freshman art education major; and Chelsea White, a junior majoring in English education and German, all placed in the creative non-fiction section and will be reading from their essays. Potter, with her essay, "On the Business of Growing Up," and Binning, with her essay, "Fast-Food," shared first place. White took second for her essay, "Dear Daddy."

Following the contest winners, there will be an open mic from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. for anyone interested in reading their work. Stipe invites all students to come to the festival and read their pieces.

"The open mic section of the festival is really fun," said Stipe. "Last year we had students, faculty and even alumni read. I am very thankful for the support of the Humanities Department and all of the work that people have done to allow us to celebrate students' work with this festival. "

A donation towards the festival was also made by Carole Lange through the Olga and Ray Guest Lecture Fund, in memory of her parents.

Refreshments will also be served.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Creative Writing Festival or the Creative Writing Contest may contact Stipe at (608) 342-1921 or stipes@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Stormy Stipe, assistant professor, UWP English Department (608) 342-1921, stipes@uwplatt.edu Written by: Morgan Spitzer, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, spitzerm@uwplatt.edu