Current News from the Kansas Authors Club

#ReadLocalKansas: Poetry Books by Meadowlark Press

3/7/2025

Member Skyler Lovelace reviews poetry volumes by Tyler Robert Sheldon, Olive L. Sullivan, and Laura Lee Washburn from the back catalog of Meadowlark Press at The Shout.

"Meadowlark Press' roster of memoir, poetry, short stories, and novels has expanded the Midwest’s literary scene, emphasizing books and writers who possess a distinctly Kansas vibe. It’s the best place to find poets who follow in the footsteps of well-known, Kansas-connected writers like William Stafford, Steven Hind, and Kevin Young — all poets whose work connects nature and landscape while addressing personal identity. "

Read Skylar's Reviews

What are you reading? Help us lift and share the good news about Kansas literature. Tag your book loves and reviews on social media with #ReadLocalKS and submit here to be posted on the Kansas Authors Club website.

January Program Recording Available to Members

1/21/2024

The recording of the January program is now available for viewing by members at this link. (Member sign-on required.) This video will be available until replaced by the February program recording.

We had a lovely program to kick off 2024 featuring three award-winning authors. K.L. Barron, Laura Lee Washburn, and D.L. Winter shared thoughts on their writing processes, entering contests, and advice they would give to authors just beginning the process of publishing.

On Writing Groups:

"Knowing that I had to show up with something new every two weeks guaranteed at least one thing, and often I would write it that morning."

-Laura Lee Washburn
Author of The Book of Stolen Images

Support a Kansas Author! Read a book. Buy a book. Recommend your local library buy the book. Leave a review for the books you love!

A stunning betrayal forces a young woman to flee a relationship and forge a new life in one of the most brutal landscapes on earth. Gradually adapting to her new surroundings, she becomes aware of the impending dissolution of an entire culture. A diverse cast of displaced Westerners, local nomads, and djinn converge as everyone scrambles to survive and everything comes undone. Winner of the 2023 J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award in Fiction.

K.L. Barron is a writer of place: poetry and prose. Her prize-winning fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction has been published in New Letters, The Bennington Review, Little Balkans Review, terrain.org, ChickenBones (Library of Congress), among others, and in several anthologies. She earned an MFA from Bennington in 2005 and taught writing and literature at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas for nearly 20 years. She lives and writes in the Flint Hills.
Her debut novel Thirst came out in November 2022 from Sea Crow Press.

In a fantastical neo-classical sense, The Book of Stolen Images speaks novelly toward culture, politics, and collective humanity. This poetry collection recognizes personal yet relatable ordinary and existential experiences, particularly in a timely contextual fashion regarding modern social issues--what makes us feel alive, imperfect, concerned, and inspired to do better. Unique imagery and diction flavor each poem and set this collection apart from other offspring of fairy tales and social commentaries. Winner of the 2023 Nelson Poetry Book Award.

Laura Lee Washburn is the Director of Creative Writing at Pittsburg State University in Kansas, and the author of This Good Warm Place: 10th Anniversary Expanded Edition (March Street), Watching the Contortionists (Palanquin Chapbook Prize), and The Book of Stolen Images (Meadowlark Press, 2023). Harbor Review’s chapbook prize is named in her honor, and she’s the president of Small Harbor Publishing’s Board of Directors. Her degrees are from Old Dominion University, where she interned for the Associated Writing Programs Newsletter, and Arizona State University. Born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, she has also lived and worked in Arizona and in Missouri. From her home in Pittsburg, Kansas, she edits The Coop: A Poetry Cooperative.

Armed with his trusty birch wand and protective shield, young apprentice wizard Alistur Grimaldi believes he can wield his powers with the same determination and results as his beloved mentor, his Great-grandfather Balthazar. His amusement quickly turns to anguish when his inexperience triggers a chain of disastrous events, putting him-and others-in dire circumstances. Mere hours after the most important event in his fourteen years, Alistur must find the courage to face the catastrophic proof of his foolish actions and make things right . . . if he can. From the coast of the Azlyn Sea to the depths of the Crystal Caverns-befriending magical and mystical creatures along his way-Alistur must learn the journey to becoming a wise and responsible wizard will not be walked alone. Winner of the 2023 "It Looks Like a Million" Design Award.

D.L. Winter was raised in Kansas and spent her adult life in Northern California. Many years ago, on her first trip abroad, inspired by the nostalgic allure of legends, lore, and architectural wonders of the Mediterranean region, the concept for Alistur’s story was born. However, crafting the fable would have to wait. Plotting adventures in the fictitious Kingdom of Fleurbania would be among the creative projects of her retirement. After a corporate career, D.L. now resides in her home state of Kansas once again, telling tales and enjoying life with family members.

January State Program: Q&A With Award Winners

12/30/2023

Join us in conversation with Kansas Authors Club Members K.L. Barron (2023 Coffin Fiction Award), Laura Lee Washburn (2023 Nelson Poetry Award), and D.L. Winter (2023 "Looks Like a Million" Design Award). We will discuss writing, entering contests, and best practices for producing an award-winning book!

State Program Details

State Program Access

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2023 Nelson Poetry Book Award - The Book of Stolen Images, by Laura Lee Washburn

10/14/2023

Order The Book of Stolen Images

Laura Lee Washburn is the Director of Creative Writing at Pittsburg State University in Kansas, and the author of This Good Warm Place: 10th Anniversary Expanded Edition (March Street), Watching the Contortionists (Palanquin Chapbook Prize), and The Book of Stolen Images (Meadowlark Press, 2023). Harbor Review’s chapbook prize is named in her honor, and she’s the president of Small Harbor Publishing’s Board of Directors. Her degrees are from Old Dominion University, where she interned for the Associated Writing Programs Newsletter, and Arizona State University. Born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, she has also lived and worked in Arizona and in Missouri. From her home in Pittsburg, Kansas, she edits The Coop: A Poetry Cooperative.

Learn More - Nelson Poetry Book Award

Judge was Joseph Harrington, who teaches at the University of Kansas. He is the author of Of Some Sky (BlazeVOX Books 2018); Goodnight Whoever’s Listening (Essay Press 2015); Things Come On (an amneoir)(Wesleyan UP 2011); and the critical work Poetry and the Public (Wesleyan UP 2002). His creative work has appeared in BAX: The Best American Experimental Writing 2016, Colorado Review, The Rumpus, Hotel America, Tupelo Quarterly, and elsewhere. From 2019-2023, he maintained a real-time verse-chronicle of the climate crisis, at The Poem of Our Climate and Writing Out of Time.

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

Welcome New Members Laura Lee Washburn & Roland E. Sodowsky

6/16/2023

Today, we welcome new KAC and District 3 members from Pittsburg, Laura Lee Washburn and Roland E. Sodowsky.

Editor-in-Chief of The Coop, Laura Lee Washburn is the Director of Creative Writing at Pittsburg State University in Kansas, and the author of This Good Warm Place: 10th Anniversary Expanded Edition (March Street) and Watching the Contortionists (Palanquin Chapbook Prize). Her poetry has appeared in such journals as TheNewVerse.News, Carolina Quarterly, Ninth Letter, The Sun, and Valparaiso Review. Harbor Review’s chapbook prize is named in her honor. Her most recent book of poems, The Book of Stolen Images, can be purchased from Meadowlark Books.

Roland Sodowsky grew up on a small ranch in western Oklahoma. He has three degrees from Oklahoma State University and studied Old High German as a Fulbright Scholar in Germany. He has taught linguistics, literature, and creative writing at OSU, the University of Calabar in Nigeria, the University of Texas, Sul Ross State University, and Missouri State University. He has published poetry, short stories, or novellas in Atlantic Monthly, American Literary Review, Glimmer Train, Midwest Quarterly, and many other literary magazines. His collection of short stories, Things We Lose (U. Missouri Pr), won the Associated Writing Programs’ Award for Short Fiction. He received the National Cowboy Hall of Fame Short Fiction Award for Interim in the Desert (TCU Pr), the Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines-General Electric Award for fiction, and has been a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts award. Now retired from Missouri State, he and his wife, the poet Laura Lee Washburn, live in Pittsburg, Kansas when he, his brother, and his son are not engaged in a continuing battle with the mesquites and cedars on their family homestead.