Verse Wisconsin
Regular contributor Sarah Busse, together with co-editor Wendy Vardaman and advisory board members B. J. Best, Cathryn Cofell, Tom Erickson, David Graham and Angela Rydell, recently rolled out a print and online magazine, Verse Wisconsin.
Sarah and Wendy stepped in when Linda Aschenbrenner, a seemingly tireless supporter of Wisconsin poets, decided to retire and close up her magazine Free Verse. Verse Wisconsin is the new incarnation of the magazine, incorporating a compatible but distinct online edition.
Follow the link to the magazine’s website for information on everything from submission guidelines to themed issues (including an upcoming “Doors and Windows” theme, which is accepting submissions through November 1).
But if you’d like to meet Sarah and hear more about the decision to keep this small-press magazine alive (albeit in a new incarnation), you’ve got a chance to do just that this weekend. Sarah and other small-press publishers will hold a publishers roundtable, “Starting and Sustaining the Small Press,” 1:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday, October 10, at the main branch of the Madison Public Library.
The presentation is one of many this weekend, all part of the Wisconsin Book Festival. I can’t say enough good things about the Wisconsin Book Festival, but I’ll give a tip-of-the-iceberg heap-o’-praise on Thursday, as well as a preview of this year’s highlights.
Meantime, I want to wish Sarah and Wendy great good luck with Verse Wisconsin. I’ll be interviewing Sarah soon, and will post the interview here. If there’s anything you’d like me to ask Sarah about her new endeavor, send your question to comments.
Sarah Busse’s journal prompts are on hiatus as she and Wendy Vardaman participate in a series of speaking engagements for Verse Wisconsin. She’ll be back when her schedule permits.