In celebration of our Women's Writing Circle chapbook, we had a few poetry readings from the book and various other works of ours, in the City of Milwaukee this past Spring and Summer. Our book was on sale at each location.

From the July 1999 issue of Northshore LifeStyle:

The caption reads: Northshore poets - from left; Mary Crox, JoAnn Chang, Janessa Marie-Diego, Sandra Margulius, Janet Saenz, Faye Heimerl, Karen Haas-Howland, Diane Truswell, Cheryl Vaughn-Modjeska and Mary Khair.

The subjects and styles of their poetic works are as diverse as the women. One writes about a mother's daily experiences, another about growing old, another about breast cancer or recipes. They write in rhyme, out of rhyme and surrealistically; one, Janessa Marie-Diego, also writes in Spanish. One of them is a budding novelist, another a budding screenplay writer.

Don't expect, however, this Northshore group of women to resemble the popular image of what a poet looks like. You won't find any black berets, turtlenecks, beads and sandals among them. When they are not practicing their art, all the poets have busy lives. They are wives, mothers, students and professionals in the business and education worlds. They are tall, short, blond, brunette and ethnically diverse, from Anglo-Saxon to Chinese.

Poetry is alive and well along the Northshore. The recent small pulication of "Sparkle, Sizzle, Hiss," a joint production that grew out of the writing sessions of this group of women, is a prime example. Karen Howland, as East Side resident, is the catalyst behind this rather new endeavor.

Karen's professional education is as a nurse. In her practice, she often helped patients write poetry as part of their therapy. As she was in the process of completing a master's degree in Fine Arts, she concluded what she really wanted to do with her life was help women combine their creativity and intuition around the craft of poetry. Because as Howland says, "all our lives are poetry, songs, and dreams, and its all valuable."

Two years ago Howland ran a couple of newspaper advertisements inviting women interested in writing to come for a meeting. Obviously, she struck a chord. The group meets four times a month for an hour and a half hour sessions.

"Much of the time is spent in writing exercises usually on topics I have never thought about," says Faye Heimerl, whose day job is a company manger, "and they are very intellectually stimulating." Works in progress are brought to meetings for what Heimerl describes as "nurturing but not dishonest" critiques.

Recently, they have begun to make the rounds to poetry readings held in coffee houses and bookstores along the Northshore. Time and circumstance make membership in the group vary, so Howland says, "I am always interested in having new members."

I'm pleased to report that our book is already in it's second printing!

August 2000 - A book will be coming out soon, available on Amazon.com, an all new book with some of my writings in it. Please check back for more information!

I have recently published my own Year 2000 Poetry Diary. It is a 12 month calendar and datebook, with my writings beginning each month. You can purchase one of your own for $6.00, which includes shipping. It has a green cardstock cover embossed with gold, 26 pages.

Poetry Diary 2001 will be available very soon. Please email me if you are interested!

Excerpt is from April in the 2000 edition:

Misty rainy mornings Standing in a valley town Silently breathing in the air Eyes closed relishing the scent Green and stony hills Crossed by old rocky fences Gazing out at the skies behind them Such beauty one cannot measure Quiet, so peaceful The sound of rhythmic drops of rain A far and distant sheep is bleating Time has not moved here All is so familiar Centuries have waited My return here was apparent Celtic island of my soul I am home

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Most recent revision May 1st, 2001.