Category: Julie Ann Baker Brin

2023 Poet & Prose Writer of the Year

10/14/2023

Each year we name a Poet a Prose Writer of the Year, based on placings in our annual literary contest. Congratulations to Julie Ann Baker Brin, 2023 Poet of the Year, and Julie A. Sellers, 2023 Prose Writer of the year.

Julie Ann Baker Brin placed in the following poetry categories:

1st place, Whimsy - "Renaming Yoga Poses for Greater Accuracy"
2nd place, Japanese forms - "Railroaded"
2nd place, Whimsy - "What am I made of?"
Honorable Mention, Whimsy - "Prescribe"

Julie A. Sellers placed in the following prose categories:

1st place, Theme contest - "A Lazy Sunday Morning"
1st place, Flash Fiction - "Doubt Thou The Stars are Fire"
2nd place, Playwriting - "Murder by the Books"
2nd place, Rural Voices - "Laneway Landmarks"
2nd place, First Chapter of a Book - The Penny Paige Shannon Home for Unwanted Books
3rd place, Stories for Young Readers - "The Singer and the Storyteller"
Honorable Mention, Flash Fiction - "The Wish"
Honorable Mention, Memoir - "Chien for the Win"
Honorable Mention, Short Story - "Empty"
Honorable Mention, Craft Chapbook - Skysong

Kansas Authors Club Literary Contest Winners 2023: Poetry

10/10/2023

Theme Contest - 27 entries
Judge: Amy Sage Webb Baza

1st - [there she is], by Ashley Clayton Kay
2nd - How to Write a Poem, by Arlice W. Davenport
3rd - Once You Have Rounded the Sun, by Arlice W. Davenport
HM - To Tim, by Brenda White
HM - Aubade: Trying to Decide the Kind of Poet She'll Become, by Laura Lee Washburn

Free Verse - 68 entries
Judge: George Franklin

1st - Why Blue Eyes Cry, by Janice Northerns
2nd - Ever Topeka, by Ruth Maus
3rd - The Wilding of Cynthia Ann Parker, by Janice Northerns
HM - Mike London's, by Janice Lee McClure
HM - You Are Not Diminished, by Janice Northerns

Classical Poetry - 15 entries
Judge: Jeanine Hathaway

1st - Some Things Can't Be Taken Back, by Kristine A. Polansky
2nd - Great-Great-Grandma and the Kitchen Wall, by Kristine A. Polansky
3rd - To the Stars, by Janice Lee McClure

Japanese Forms - 14 entries
Judge: David Romanda

1st - Cottonwood Seeds Land, by Ashley Clayton Kay
2nd - Railroaded, by Julie Ann Baker Brin
3rd - Pick-Up Sticks, by Iris E. Craver
HM - Prairie Wind, by Perry L. Shepard
HM - lavender splashes, by Duane R. Johnson

Narrative Poetry - 29 entries
Judge: Aida Dziho-Sator

1st - Trout Valley, W.Va., March 31, 1886, a found poem from family letters, by Roland Sodowsky
2nd - His Gentle Hands, by Cynthia J. Ross
3rd - Prairie Return, by Linda Beth Wilson

Whimsy - 26 entries
Judge: David Romanda

1st - Renaming Yoga Poses for Greater Accuracy, by Julie Ann Baker Brin
2nd - What am I made of? by Julie Ann Baker Brin
3rd - Slicing a Cantaloupe, by Janice Northerns
HM - Prescribe, by Julie Ann Baker Brin
HM - Manypaws, by Janice Lee McClure

Performance Poetry - 8 entries
Judge: Avery A. Marshall

1st - The Music of You, by Ronda Miller
2nd - Money, Money, Money, by Amanda Little
3rd - Prairie Song, by Mary Powell
HM - Full Moon at Noon, by Mary Powell
HM - Reason to Call, by Duane R. Johnson

New Poets
Judge: Ed Harkness

1st - Death, by Madison Morrill
2nd - The Laundry Brigade Marches On, by Heather G. Taylor
3rd - Death Warps Time, by S.L. Brown

Rural Voices - 30 entries
Judge: Sam Jack

1st - April 11, Again, by Laura Lee Washburn
2nd - Redneck Tornado, by Kelly Johnston
3rd - Wash House Memories, by Aimee L. Gross
HM - Mesquite and God, by Roland Sodowsky
HM - Landmarks, by Linda Ahrens-Brower

Chapbooks - 11 entries
Judge: Sam Jack

Published Chapbooks
1st - Since Corona Ruined Our Trip to the Library, by Beth Gulley
2nd - Nurdles and Other Poems, by Allison deFreese

Craft Chapbooks
1st - Neighborhood Crazies, by Martha Wherry
2nd - A Common Yearning, by Cammie Funston
3rd - Skysong, by Julie A. Sellers
HM - Unfolding, by Iris E. Craver

Congratulations to the Kansas Authors Club Members Published in 105 Meadowlark Reader, the Animal Issue

5/29/2023

The spring 2023 issue of 105 Meadowlark Reader features the following essays by Kansas Authors Club members:

A Cryptid Sighting in Kansas
by Denise Low (D2)

Love Bears All Things
by Amy D. Kliewer (D5)

Nocturnal Nuisance
by Elizabeth R. Schmidt (D5)

The Right Man for the Job
by Brenda L. White (D2)

Little Owl
by Lindsey Bartlett (D2)

My Heron
by Michael D. Graves (D2)

You Dirty Bird
by Jerilynn Jones Henrikson (D2)

Blessed is the Peacemaker
by Cheryl Suzanne Heide (D2)

Introducing the Black Tornado
by Cynthia Schaker (D5)

Buddy the Bookstore Beagle
by Linda Crowder (D6)

Princess With an Attitude
by Thomas N. Holmquist (D4)

Skiing in Kansas
by Boyd Bauman (D2)

Not a Playmate
by Carolyn Hall (D2)

Broken Heart
by Ann Vigola Anderson (D2)

I Did. I Saw a Camel!
by Marilyn Hope Lake (D2)

Invaders Via My Pre-vet Roommate
by Annabelle Corrick (D2)

Somewhere Over the Rainbow
by Pamela Yenser (D7)

This Is Not About Dogs
by Julie Ann Baker Brin (D5)

Congratulations to our members! 105 Meadowlark Reader is currently (through June 30, 2023) taking submissions on the theme of Landmarks.

Submission Guidelines

Subscribe to 105 Meadowlark Reader

Member Published in Night Forest: Folk Poetry & Story anthology by Flying Ketchup Press

1/27/2023

Julie Ann Baker Brin is thrilled to have three pieces published in the Flying Ketchup Press Night Forest: Folk Poetry & Story anthology, launched January 21, 2023 after a long wait (submitted in February, 2020 and accepted in April, 2020 … take a wild guess at what caused the publication delay)! Excerpts and purchasing info are in the “lament” section of Julie's portfolio site (link below). For lack of a better category—they were actually submitted for a “love” theme call for entries, but fall lopsidedly toward the unrequited and/or imperfect side of that topic.

Excerpts at JulieBrin.org

Visit Flying Ketchup Press for More Info

Julie is a member from Park City.

If you have news of writing events that would be of interest to all Kansas Authors Club members, or if you are a member (dues current) who would like to announce an achievement, please submit your news via this form.

Julie Ann Baker Brin Published in Mikrokosmos #68

5/17/2022

Julie Ann Baker Brin, District 5 member since 2020, has three poems published in Mikrokosmos issue #68. This Thursday, May 19th, she will join Rob Yates, Nancy "Blue" Preston-Ast, Tom Tanguma, and Ethan Mershon in presenting selected readings from the volume during the release party. Reception begins at 5 p.m. with readings at 5:30 at WSU’s Ulrich Museum of Art, McKnight Atrium, 1845 Fairmount, Wichita, KS 67260. More info:

http://mikrokosmosjournal.com/
https://ulrich.wichita.edu/

The Bicycle Issue of 105 Meadowlark Reader: A Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction

4/25/2022

105 Issue #3 Cover Photo by Scott Branine, flickr.com/photos/scott_branine/

Congratulations to Kansas Authors Club members with essays in the “True Bicycle Stories” issue (#3) of 105 Meadowlark Reader.

(D2) Bicycles: A Love Story by Boyd Bauman

(D5) Where I Like by Julie Ann Baker Brin

(D1) BlueBoy by Annabelle Corrick

(D2) A Green Bike by Monica Graves

(D2) The Bucket List by Beth Gulley

(D2) Going to C’ago by Carolyn Hall

(D2) Whoa by Jerilynn Henrikson,

(D2) Blue English Racer by Deb Irsik

(D2) My First, Last, and Only Bike by Sally Jadlow

(D5) What I Learned from Riding the Bicycle by Amy Deckert Kliewer

(D5) Bicycles in Kansas Yards by Sandee Lee

(D2) Dust on My Shoulders by Kerry Moyer

(D2) A Rolling Start by Peg Nichols

(D6) I Didn’t Have a Bicycle but I had a Paper Route by Jim Potter

(D5) Country Biking in Kansas by Cynthia C. Schaker

(D1) They Traded My Horse for a Bicycle by Anne Spry

(D1) The Race by Barbara Waterman-Peters

(D2) Bicycles: Bane or Boon by Brenda White

(D2) On Shaky Wheels by Mary Kate Wilcox

(D7) Bike Ride by Sheree Wingo

The Bicycle Issue will be delivered to Partner Bookstores and Subscribers beginning in May.

The submission period for the Fall 2022 issue is May 1-June 30. The theme is (True) Food Stories.
Learn more at 105MeadowlarkReader.com

About 105 Meadowlark Reader

Our Mission
To create a forum for sharing the work of Kansas writers.
To build and uplift the community of Kansas writers.
To share and promote resources for Kansas writers.

105 Meadowlark Reader will strive to represent the diversity of writers in Kansas.

105 Meadowlark Reader is a journal of creative nonfiction by and for writers who live or have lived in Kansas.

Each issue will contain a directory of area resources for writers. Publishers, printers, editors, book designers, cover/interior artists, bookstores, writing clubs, and anyone who provides services to writers is invited to submit details for our directory at no charge.

Welcome new member Julie Ann BAKER BRIN

9/23/2020

We are excited to introduce our newest KAC member: Julie Ann Baker Brin! She joins us from Park City, District 5.

We asked Julie a few questions so we could learn a bit about her.

Name:
Julie Ann Baker Brin (or Julie Brin … but NOT Julie Baker Brin, because my maiden name became my second middle name, just to confuse anyone with a database … or really anyone).

Town:
Wichita (technically: Park City, but USPS’s zip code lookup stubbornly insists it’s Wichita).

What kind of writing do you do?
Poetry-like substances, lyrics, and micro-stories for fun. (Meeting minutes for work … and for anyone with insomnia.)

If you would like to, please share information about writing projects you’ve completed or are currently working on.
I am honored to be amongst so many talented and experienced writers featured in Gretchen Eick and Cora Poage’s The Death Project: An Anthology for our Times, which was just published (ISBN: 978-1-7342272-6-0 paperback or 978-1-7342272-7-7 ebook) and whose net proceeds will fund frontline COVID-19 workers.

Do you have a website or a facebook page that you'd like us to share with other KAC members?
juliebrin.org (or juliebrin.com, but I’m a dot-org kinda gal).

Is there anything else you’d like other KAC members to know about you?
I just resigned from the classic rock cover band I’d fronted since 2009, in order to return to original writing and hopefully buy back my soul. (Also, I may be hopelessly addicted to parentheticals … and ellipses.)

What would you like to gain from your membership with KAC? (Networking and/or friendships with other writers; Entering the KAC writing contests; Information on the writing craft; Information on publishing; Information on promotion)
Yes, please. All of the above.

Welcome, Julie!

When Julie's name first showed up in my inbox, it sounded familiar. And that's because she placed in both the poetry and prose categories in the District 7 Writing Contest recently. Congratulations!

Please take a few minutes to visit Julie's creative and well-designed website and read some of her pieces.

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Member contributions in anthology published by blue cedar press

9/20/2020

Congratulations to D5 member, Gretchen Eick, and the following Kansas Authors Club members who were published in this anthology: Ronda Miller (D2), Jim Potter (D6), Mark McCormick (D5), Judy Keller Hatteberg (D5), Robert Dean (D5), Michael Poage (D5), Julie Baker Brinn (D7), Mike Graves (D2), Ruth Maus (D1), Julie Stielstra (D6), Mark Scheel (D2), Miriam Iwashige (D6), Najiyah Maxfield (D6), Janet Stotts (D1), and Diane Wahto (D5).

PRESS RELEASE
September 20, 2020

The Death Project: An Anthology for These Times is now in print and available to order at your favorite bookstore and Amazon.

This book is a 205 page anthology of stories, poems, mini memoirs, and factual pieces about the various ways we lose loved ones to death and how we grieve and heal. It is a collaboration by 36 writers from across the US, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Britain, Turkey, etc. who contributed their writing to help others suffering from grief or anticipation of grief. It is intended to expand readers' thinking, feeling, and imagining about this universal, often-hidden experience brought relentlessly to the world's consciousness in 2020.

The writers are Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Bah'ais, atheists, and New Age, and of different races and ethnicities. Some write of family loss including suicide, others of war or devastating illness, of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter. Others share rituals that helped them recover.

Published by Blue Cedar Press (Wichita, KS) and edited by Dr. Gretchen Eick and Cora Poage, proceeds from the sales of The Death Project after the cost of publication and shipping will go to an assortment of international organizations fighting COVID-19. $12 paperback, $7 ebook (epub and Kindle).

For more information contact:
Gretchen Eick, 316-682-8818
eickgc@gmail.com

We want to help you share your writing news!

District 7 Announces the winners of their 2020 writing contest

9/9/2020

Kansas Authors Club hosts annual writing contests for adults featuring a wide rage of categories in prose and in poetry. Many of our districts host smaller contests throughout the year. District 7 recently shared with us the results of their contest, which was open to all members, regardless of district affiliation, and all writers residing in the state of Kansas. For more information about district activities, follow the link at left for "Districts" to find contacts for your area.
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POETRY:
1st Place - Ronda Miller for “Thin Blue Line”
2nd Place - Julie Ann Baker Brin for “Lousy Band at Port of Wichita”
3rd Place - Julie Ann Baker Brin for “Eisenhower National Airport”
Honorable Mention - Ronda Miller for “Dew Drop Inn”

PROSE:
1st Place - Tracy Million Simmons for “Mom’s Pink Sweater”
2nd Place - Julie Ann Baker Brin for “Cognitive”
3rd Place - Linda Ahrens-Brower for “Nicky’s Mother”
Honorable Mention - Julie Johnson for “Life With Squirrels”
Honorable Mention - Tracy Million Simmons for “A Storybook Tale”

These winners will be awarded certificates and checks at the District 7 Convention on September 19, 2020 at Sharon Springs, KS. Those unable to attend will have their certificates and checks mailed to them.

Thank you all who participated.
There were 13 Poetry entries and 19 Prose entries.