By The Shawano Area Writers held the regular monthly meeting on Aug. 15 at the Shawano City-County Library, with a variety of writing shared.
Writers president Wendy Goerl reported that she took the 45th anniversary anthology to Christensen Publishing. She said the anthology originally was supposed to be available for the group to see for the meeting, but the printing has not yet been completed.
Marcie Leitzke took a break from the usual essays she reads and recited a poem entitled “Holy Hell.” She noted that she has sent off three poems to contests, even though the latest poem was the first she had written in a couple of years.
Todd read from a community college poetry anthology, “Willow Review,” where he had two poems published. He read “A Party Hat at New Year’s” and “Poem Against the Phoenix.”
Lee Pulaski read an excerpt from the mystery novel he is working on. In the excerpt, his protagonist is trying to determine who the killer is while watching people outside escape a sudden rain storm.
Carol Schlehlein read an essay from a project she is putting together called “The Tablecloth: A Gathering of Legends,” which chronicle’s a tablecloth a friend had taken around in the 1980s and had signed by presidents, first ladies, country music stars and other famous figures. She read her friend’s interview with former First Lady Betty Ford.
Barb King read part of the fourth chapter of his book, “Tug Lake Tales,” about another of the students in the one-room schoolhouse named “Ned.” He was described as a thin, lanky boy going into the seventh grade with red hair and a Southern drawl. He was also described as someone the girls at the school fawned over.
Dolores Kaliebe did an essay about sewing for fun. She recounted how she used to sew dresses and other outfits for the dolls. She also passed around photos of some of the sewing she did.
Lois Smith said her kids have been encouraging her to write a book about her life, and she has written a little bit every day. She read a piece from the beginning about being born in 1933 in Gillett and some of the early years of her life.
Wendy read a revised version of her story, “Bag Lady’s Beauty.” The story addresses the narrator’s encounter with a bag lady who was dumpster diving for picture frames and recounted the haggling for a painting.
The next meeting is planned for 10 a.m. on Sept. 19, the third Thursday of the month, in the Elsie Engel Reading Room at the Shawano City-County Library. All writers are invited to attend and are strongly encouraged to bring something to read in front of the group.
