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If you move or change your e-mail address, please notify the Museletter editor. Bulk mail is not forwarded, so you will not receive your Museletters. E-mail is the only way members are notified of Museletter deadlines.

Welcome
to the following new members who have joined since the last Museletter issue.

New member inquiries should be directed to Peter Piaskoski,the credentials chair. Join us!

Conference Info & Rotation Schedule

In Memoriam

Bud Johnson, Long-Time Fellowship Member/Supporter, Dies
     We recently learned of the passing of Bud Johnson. He was a member of the Fellowship, and a regular contributor to the Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar. He was a reporter, columnist, editor, and a speechwriter for the mayor of Milwaukee.
     His poem, “dashing through the snow,” appears on page 6 of the Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar: 2006. It has the distinction of being the only poem in this year’s Calendar whose title contains more words than the body of the poem. He will be missed.

Keep Your Dues Current
      Please remember that membership dues are payable January first of every year. We no longer offer a "grace period" after nonpayment of dues. Members must be current with their dues to enjoy membership benefits such as:

• the opportunity to be published in the Museletter's "Poetry Page"
• listing of recent publications in the Museletter
• free "chapbook" ad, and reduced advertising rates for other ads in the Museletter
• eligibility to enter the "Triad" poetry contest
• reduced entry fee for the "Muse" contest
• free "member" web page on the Fellowship's web site
• and, of course, the Museletter itself.

Don’t Forget the New Dues Option
As of 1/1/2006, members may pay $100 for a five-year membership. That’s five years worth of membership for four years’ dues. Please take advantage of this savings. The Fellowship also saves money by reduced mailing cost for all those payment reminders and lapsed memberships.

Meet Your Webmaster:

Jeannie Bergmann
     I was actually born in Wisconsin, and have lived in or near Madison on at least five separate occasions. I lived in France for two years as a child, and worked with horses on the East coast for 15 years. I wrote poems in high school, took one college poetry class, and then stopped writing until August 1998, when I joined a poetry workshop group in Maryland, of which I am still an e-member.
     Although I claim to have an MFA from the School of the Americas, in reality I have a B.S. in psychology from UW-Madison, as well as a second major in biochemistry, which explains a lot. I also took many studio art classes—poetry is easier. Unrewarding (in a multitude of senses) employment outside the horse industry includes stints with Kinko’s, the Post Office, the U.S. Geological Survey, American Girl, and substitute-teaching high-school chemistry and physics. But now I work at Avol’s Bookstore, which is a sort of spiritual ideal, except that teleport service from Poynette is not yet available, and I come home with way too many books. I still train horses and give riding lessons occasionally.
     In 2000, I began taking web design classes at Madison Area Technical College for reasons that escape me, but my instant reaction was “Where has this been all my life?” I’ve since completed their Web Design Certification program, taken far too few internet programming classes, and now design and maintain websites for fun and profit, among which are this one here, madpoetry.org, bookthatpoet.com, avolsbooks.com, and my own site, fibitz.com or, as it is also known, fjbergmann.com. If I had an extra 24 hours a day, I’d spend 20 of them on the computer.
     My husband, Fred, translates poetry when the spirit moves him (see hesswiscwriter.org). Our three daughters, 14, 16, and 21, sometimes write poetry. We go to a lot of Madison-area spoken-word events (another plug for federal teleportation research here), where the extremely high quality of the poems provides a major stimulus for my own work. In our copious spare time, we are rebuilding our house from within (helpful hint for dog owners: let them outside to pee), organic-gardening, and spending too much time playing with computers. Or swearing at them, especially when political websites are involved.
      I’ve had good luck getting my poetry published in the last few years, which, while no proof of expertise, led me to start a poetry submission service, PoemFactotum.com. I think that many poets who would like to be published procrastinate out of lack of confidence, laziness, or insufficient time; are unfamiliar with receptive journals; or dither endlessly about which poems to submit. Which is where I come in. It’s much easier to make objective decisions about poems that are not your own, and so far, the results have been very encouraging. I have also been publishing chapbooks for local poets, and did most of the layout for the 2006 Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar.
      Publication credits include the Beloit Poetry Journal, Margie, the North American Review, nth position, Wind, words & images, Blue Fifth Review, Tattoo Highway, Rosebud, Southern Poetry Review, as well as asininepoetry.com (under the pseudonym Easter Cathay). My Flash translation, “Lace,” fibitz.com/dentelle/ lace.html, was selected for the 2002 Electronic Literature Symposium. In 2003, I received the Rinehart National Poetry Award and my chapbook Sauce Robert was a co-winner in the Pavement Saw Press competition. I was a finalist for the 2003 Joy Bale Boone and James Hearst poetry prizes. In 2004 I got second place in the Muse contest, was a finalist for the Violet Reed Haas Book Prize and the Winnow Press Open Book Award, runner-up for the Stephen Dunn Poetry Award and the winner of the Pauline Ellis Prose Poem Prize with “Wall” and in 2005 received third place awards in The Writer “Discovery” contest and the Lumina flash fiction contest. My poem “An Apology” was included by Billy Collins in 180 More (Random House, 2005). In my spare time, I read a lot, especially science fiction. Oh, and eat, sleep, that sort of thing.

Planning and Promoting a Poetry Reading by Diana Randolph

Have you ever driven fifty miles to a poetry reading because there aren’t any in your community? Have you attended readings in your community but have some ideas on how to run them differently? Try organizing one yourself.

Planning a Reading with Friends
By planning a reading with others you’ll brainstorm ideas and share numerous tasks. If you don’t know anyone to help, search for someone. Many libraries have a Friends of the Library group who plan events. Perhaps a local arts organization has board members who may be interested in helping. Ask to be included on the agenda for their next meeting.

Where will you hold the reading?
Make a list of locations that may be great settings for poetry readings. Since I love being surrounded by books, libraries are my favorite locations. Other possibilities may include bookstores, community centers, art galleries, colleges, schools, bed and breakfasts, and conference rooms at resorts or motels. I’ve attended readings at coffee houses and bars but these tend to have distractions during regular operating hours. Be sure to contact the person in charge of the facility several months ahead of time to book the event. If you have a spacious home you may like to host a poetry/ potluck party inviting WFOP members from your region or community to bring poems and a food item to share.

Finding Funds for Expenses
Estimate the costs before seeking funds. These may include renting a facility (try to find a free-of-charge location), a fee for the featured reader/s, printing costs for a poster, stamps, and refreshments.

If you work with an organization such as a local arts council or library they may have a budget for programs and special events. You may have to fill out an application and apply for funds. If you tie in a poetry reading to a festival in your community your Chamber of Commerce may have money budgeted for featured readers. Contact your WFOP regional vice president to see if there are any funds available to cover posters and mailing.

Who Will Be Your Featured Poet?
If this is your first attempt at organizing a reading, select a local poet as a guest reader. Perhaps you and a couple of poets in your community would like to be featured readers. Pick a theme if you’d like. Or take a look at the website: www.bookthatpoet.com to find poets willing to travel. Tell the featured poet how long he or she should plan to read and if this will be an open reading. Ask for a short bio and photo. If you receive a photo instead of a digital image be sure to return it to the poet at the reading.

Publicizing Your Reading
Try to reach as wide an audience as possible. When designing a poster/flyer include the event in large letters, the poet’s name, date, time, place and photo. List the event sponsors and the facility’s street address. At the bottom of a recent poster I designed it reads: “Prior to the featured poets, audience members are invited to read one or two pages of poetry. Refreshments will be served. This event is sponsored by Drummond Public Library, CHARAC (Cable/Hayward Area Arts Council) and WFOP (Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets). For more information or to be included on our mailing list please contact janchronister@yahoo.com” You may also include a phone number.

Perhaps there’s a copier at the facility where your reading will be held. Our local library allows me to copy poetry posters free of charge. Sometimes I print smaller posters— four on an eight and a half by eleven inch piece of paper to pass out to anyone who may be interested.

Mail posters to area poets and community members. I give several posters to the middle school/high school English teachers in my community after getting permission from the school office. If you don’t have a mailing list of poets, the Museletter supplies information of how to obtain a list of WFOP members. Send the featured poet a dozen posters to help promote the event. Hang posters in libraries, chamber of commerces, banks, churches, coffeehouses, bulletin boards, laundromats, etc.

Write a news release containing all the information that’s on the poster and include a couple quotes by the featured reader(s). Send it and a photo of the poet to area newspapers and radio stations. Invite someone from a local paper to write a review or plan to write one yourself.

Fine-tuning Other Details
If this event will be an ongoing series you may consider starting a scrapbook. Use a three-ring binder and clear plastic pages and include all news releases and poster samples. Take photos of all the readers (if they give you permission) to include in the scrapbook.

Will you serve refreshments? When refreshments are available after the reading, poets will often linger and mingle with one another. The conversations after the reading are a nice wind-down for the event. Try to find folks who would donate beverages and snack items. Don’t forget to provide napkins, paper plates and cups. You may consider bringing a table cloth and centerpiece for the snack table.

Invite the featured reader and people in charge of refreshments to arrive at least half an hour before the starting time. They can set up and relax before the event begins. If the reading takes place at a cafe or other establishment that sells food, individuals may purchase their own snacks.

Arrange with the person in charge of the facility for the number of chairs and tables you’ll need. Will one table for refreshments and one for books for sale be enough? Who will set them up?

The Day of the Reading
Bring a camera, notebook, pens and a couple of poems to read if it’s an open reading. Also bring the items for the snack table. If you have a scrapbook, display it on a tables. Give someone the task of collecting names of poets for the open reading. Ask permission to take their photo. Sometimes I’m so enchanted in the midst of the reading I’ll forget to take a photo. Then I’ll take it after the reading.

At the start of the reading, give an introduction. If you have an open reading first, call up the readers one at a time. After the open reading, introduce the featured reader by sharing some of their bio. At the end of the reading be sure to thank the poets who read, the volunteers and event sponsors. Invite everyone to stick around for snacks.

At our readings we set a donation basket on the snack table. We keep this petty cash in an envelope for odds and ends for each reading. Bring a guest book or notebook for collecting names and addresses.

Follow-ups
Write thank you notes to the featured reader and to the volunteers. Be sure to include the person in charge of the facility.

Sit back and give yourself a pat on the back for a successful reading. A well-planned event will be long remembered by the kindred spirits you brought together.

Diana Randolph lives in rural Drummond and is author of In the Heart of the Forest (Savage Press), a chapbook of her poetry and landscape paintings. Her paintings are included on the on-line gallery www.portalwisconsin.org. This is the fifth and final column in her “The Nuts and Bolts of Poetry” series. You may contact Diana at oiabms@cheqnet.net.

Marilyn Taylor to Teach Workshop in Door County—April ‘06
      Marilyn Taylor will be teaching a five-day poetry seminar/ workshop—tentatively titled “THE MATTER OF METER”— at Lawrence University’s Bjorklunden Seminar Center at Baileys Harbor this April, beginning on April 24th, which is the Monday immediately following the WFOP conference! Members will already be in beautiful Door County—and might very well be interested in signing up for the seminar, staying an extra week, and coming home with a solid grip on poetic meter. The workshop is for poets at all levels of experience who are looking to get a better handle on poetry’s traditional metrical rhythms. Even if you’re already successfully writing free verse, a hands-on understanding of meter will add much to your mastery of the rhythms of English, and bring some variety to the supply of options at your disposal when you sit down to write a new poem. Just bring along the good poet’s ear you were born with, and prepare to get the beat! The workshop will meet every day, Monday the 24th through Friday the 28th, from nine in the morning with a break for lunch, until about two in the afternoon—after which everyone is free to write, sleep, shop, or explore all the wonders, natural and otherwise, of Door County. The time of year ensures that the peninsula will be peaceful, uncrowded, and bursting with signs of spring. The venue itself is Bjorklunden’s Seminar Center—a spacious and lovely lakefront lodge just south of Baileys Harbor, which was built in traditional Scandinavian style in the early 1990s. Many participants opt to stay right there at the lodge for the five days; it offers are sixteen very comfortable “dorm” rooms, all carpeted, all with private baths and stunning lake views. All meals are included, the food is fresh and fabulous, and it’s very reasonably priced. (Commuters are also more than welcome!) For more information and a brochure (which will be mailed in January), please e-mail the Director of the Bjorklunden Seminars, Mark Breseman: Mark.D.Breseman@lawrence.edu or you can reach him at: PO Box 10, 7603 Chapel Lane, Baileys Harbor, WI 54202, 920-839-2216.