Current News from the Kansas Authors Club

#ReadLocalKS: The Eleven Directions of Kansas by Jim Gilkeson

2/14/2025

"Kansas is everywhere." -Jim Gilkeson

I raced through, The Eleven Directions of Kansas by Jim Gilkeson this weekend. These well-written memoir-vignettes take the reader on a journey from Kansas to Germany to Scotland and places in between. From funny to poignant to just downright entertaining, each little essay will make you think about life and all the directions it takes you.
--Lindsey Bartlett, Emporia

#ReadLocalKS

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.

2024 Achievement in Writing: Cheryl Unruh

11/10/2024

Cheryl Unruh began her membership in Kansas Authors Club in 2011, but her name in Kansas literature well predates her association with our club.

Cheryl Unruh was raised in the tiny town of Pawnee Rock in central Kansas. She graduated from the University of Kansas in 1981. She now resides in Emporia.

For 11 years she wrote her Flyover People column about Kansas topics for The Emporia Gazette. She has been a commentator on Kansas Public Radio. She has won awards from the Kansas Press Association and the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. In 2016, because of her writing focus on Kansas, Cheryl was named one of Kansas’ Finest by Kansas! Magazine.

She has published two books of Kansas essays. Flyover People: Life on the Ground in a Rectangular State received the Kansas Notable Book Award in 2011, and Waiting on the Sky: More Flyover People Essays received the Kansas Notable Book Award in 2015. Walking on Water, poems, was published by Meadowlark Press in 2017. Her most recent book, a memoir, titled Gravedigger’s Daughter: Vignettes from a Small Kansas Town, was awarded the 2022 Nelson Poetry Book Award and the 2023 Martin Kansas History Book Award by the Kansas Authors Club, the first time in the club’s history that these two awards were given to the same title.

Cheryl has been the editor of 105 Meadowlark Reader, A Journal of True Kansas Stories, since 2021. This popular Kansas publication has featured a total of 152 Kansas (and former Kansas) writers, representing 80 of the 105 Kansas counties, by setting of essay or author hometown, within the first eight issues of publication (Issue 8 will be available in November 2024). Cheryl created the position of and served as the first Welcome Wagon Chair for the Kansas Authors Club, pulling member introductory efforts into the modern age by giving new members the opportunity to introduce themselves to the Club via featured posts, created by Cheryl, on our website and on social media. Cheryl served in this position from 2021 to 2023.

Cheryl is a founding member of the Emporia Writers Group, an often informal, but sometimes ordered and structured meeting of writers that began with a handful of attendees in 2011. Today the facebook page for the group boasts 53 members, with somewhere between 6 and 20 attending the current monthly meetings. Cheryl’s leadership and cheerleading for writers across Kansas is unsurpassed. Her achievements as a wordsmith are to be commended.

Nomination by members of Emporia Writers Group
Lindsey Bartlett, Angel Edenburn, Linzi Garcia, Mike Graves, Hazel Hart, Roger Heineken, Jerilynn Henrikson, Deb Irsik, Emilie Moll, Kerry Moyer, Kevin Rabas, Tracy Million Simmons, Brenda White, Michelle Zumbrum

Writing from the Center: 2024

10/18/2024

The Writing from the Center Zine: 2024, Theme: Friendship, edition is available as a PDF file for downloading. Instructions for purchasing physical copies are found below.

Thank You to our Members who have volunteered their time to make this project possible.

2024 Kansas Authors Club Zine
Editor: Curtis Becker
Assistant Editor: Lindsey Bartlett

Editorial Board:
Toni Cummings
Angel Edenburn
Nancy Julien Kopp
Janice Northerns
Barbara Waterman-Peters
Brenda White

All members receive a complimentary PDF copy of this issue via email.
Links will be provided in mid-November.

Mark your calendar!
Guidelines for 2025 Zine: Submissions March 1 - April 30
Scroll down. It is the 3rd item on the page!

All members receive a complimentary PDF copy of this issue via email.
Purchase a physical copy at the links below.
2024 (Full Color) - $30 + shipping
2024 (B&W) - $20 + shipping

Words in the Wind (Topeka) Featuring Lindsey Bartlett

10/16/2024

Words in the Wind open mic, presented by Kansas Authors Club, District 1, will feature Emporia writer Lindsey Bartlett during its October open mic, Wednesday, Oct. 23 at Round Table Bookstore.

Located in: NOTO Arts Center
Address: 826 N Kansas Ave, Topeka, KS 66608

Words in the Wind rotates monthly between prose/storytelling and poetry. This month, bring some prose or a story to present.

Lindsey teaches composition and literature at Emporia State University. An Emporian by choice, she lives in the Flint Hills region of Kansas, where she spends her days writing in various coffee shops, holed up at home with a good book, or driving the countryside for good photo opportunities.Bartlett has published one poetry collection, Vacant Childhood. Her writing and photography have appeared in The Milk House: A Rural Writing Collective, The Write Bridge, Flint Hills Review, and 105 Meadowlark Reader. Her essay, “Reframing My Rural Past” was recently nominated for “Best of the Net.”

Early Bird Registration Deadline: August 31, 2024

8/29/2024

Join Us for the 2024 Kansas Writing Convention!

October 4-6, 2024

Early Bird Registration Deadline: August 31

Tickets will increase to full price on September 1.

Meet a Convention Workshop Presenter:

Evolution of a Genre: Giving Voice to Your Stories Through Creative Nonfiction

Presented by Lindsey Bartlett

This presentation will explore using creative nonfiction as a way to give voice to the places, people, and events that have make you who you are. Bartlett will give a brief overview of the genre of creative nonfiction, how it continues to evolve, and how she is using the genre to tell her own stories. Additionally, she will look at how women writers are impacting the evolution of creative nonfiction.

Lindsey Bartlett teaches composition and literature at Emporia State University. An Emporian by choice, she lives in the Flint Hills region of Kansas, where she spends her days writing in various coffee shops, holed up at home with a good book, or driving the countryside for good photo opportunities. Bartlett has published one poetry collection, Vacant Childhood. Her writing and photography have appeared in The Milk House: A Rural Writing Collective, The Write Bridge, Flint Hills Review, and 105 Meadowlark Reader. Her essay, “Reframing My Rural Past” was recently nominated for “Best of the Net.”

Thank you to our convention sponsors & supporters. Click on the images below to learn more.

April 27 Invitation from Anamcara Press - Lawrence, Kansas

4/22/2024

With much appreciation to our authors, artists, and readers we invite you to celebrate the publication of
THE WRITE BRIDGE JOURNAL: 2024 edition. Enjoy refreshments, great speakers
& A GOOD TIME!

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 20243:30 - 6:30 PM
WATKINS MUSEUM, LAWRENCE, KANSAS

Find Out More
SELECT ARTICLES, POEMS, SHORT STORIES, PLAYS AND ARTWORK FROM AUTHORS AND ARTISTS WITH POWERFUL VOICES

The Write Bridge presents two opposing ideas for creators and readers to delve into—seriously or in fun—in order stretch our imaginations, to move beyond boundaries, to bridge the gap.
RNAL TOPIC: SOLITUDE and SOLIDARITYPUBLICATION DATE: MARCH 17, 202
AVAILABLE NOW HERE!

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS & ARTISTS:
*denotes KAC member

Barry Barnes
Vern Barnet
Shelley Watts Barnhill
Stephanie A. Barrows
*Lindsey Bartlett
*Julie Ann Baker Brin
Patricia Cleveland
*Ian Cook
Louis Copt
*Brian Daldorph
*Anamarie Davis-Wilkins
*Thaddeus Dugan
Heather Duris
*Gretchen Cassel Eick
Andrew Evans
*Robert Fraga
*Amber Fraley
*Beth Gulley
*George Gurley
*Duane L. Herrmann
*D.A. Irsik
*Kelly W. Johnston
Kathleen Kaska
Julia Mathias Manglitz
Cathy Martin
J.A. McGovern
*Ronda Miller
*Peg Nichols
*Kevin Rabas
John Ritchie
*Troy Robinson
BruDe Rolfe
*Mark Scheel
*Diane Silver
Garold Sneegas
*Lori Stratton
*Connlyn Synclair
*Chuck Warner
*Barbara Waterman Peters
*Brenda White

Welcome to Lindsey Bartlett, 2024 State Vice President

1/16/2024

Lindsey Bartlett, Kansas Authors Club Vice President (2024)

Lindsey Bartlett grew up on a dilapidated old farmstead in west-central Kansas. At eighteen, she moved to Emporia for college and never looked back. Bartlett earned both her BA and MA in english at Emporia State University. She has spent over a decade teaching composition and literature to first-year writing students at her alma-mater. In addition to teaching, Bartlett has worked as Assistant Editor of Flint Hills Review, Emporia State University’s literary journal. She is currently one of the sponsors for the student literary journal, Quivira.

Bartlett joined Kansas Authors Club in 2021 after serving as a literary contest judge for two years. She was the prose contest manager from 2021-2023. Bartlett presented at the 2022 Kansas Authors Club convention on the lack of rural voices in writing (and other forms of media), and from this presentation a new contest category was created called, Rural Voices. Additionally, Bartlett has served as the co-chair for District 2. Bartlett along with fellow KAC member, Curtis Becker, rolled out the first-ever KAC Zine, Writing from the Center. She somehow nominated herself for vice-president, despite telling Tracy she didn’t want to take on that role.

As a writer, Bartlett has published a poetry collection, Vacant Childhood, with Kellogg Press in January of 2020. In November of 2023, she published a chapbook, Between Belonging and Brokenness. Her work has appeared in Flint Hills Review, 105 Meadowlark Reader, The Write Bridge, and The Milk House: A Rural Writing Collective. In fall of 2023, her essay, “Reframing My Rural Past” was nominated for Best of the Net.

She is an active member of the Emporia Writers Group, which has become an integral part of her life. Bartlett credits her involvement with EWG for much of her writing successes over the last several years.

Follow Lindsey on Facebook

Subscribe to her at Substack

2023 Service Awards

10/28/2023

The following service awards were presented at the Annual Meeting of the General Membership on Saturday, October 20, 2023.

Nomination #1

I nominate Nichole Snyder of District 5 for an Award of Merit for Service to the club. Nichole stepped in faithfully before joining D5 to help us with our computer and Zoom issues. She agreed to serve in 2023 in a newly-created position as Technology Manager and has excelled in her gracious service. I appreciate Nichole because I know how difficult it is to listen to the speakers while trying to run club issues simultaneously, and the computer "glitches" and malfunctions have often taken considerable time over a meeting.

Nominated by Connie Rae White

D5 President Sandee Taylor and Nichole Snyder.

Nomination #2

I nominate Ann Christine Fell for the KAC Service Award. Ann dedicates herself to promoting Kansas authors in her community and in the state. Currently she serves as the Writers in Community Liaison for District 5. She especially champions authors' involvement with libraries. Ann organized a small group for writers in the Winfield area.

Ann was a moving force for the first D5 Writers Retreat. She found the speaker and provided the venue for the retreat. She was a gracious hostess.

Working with Ann is a pleasure because of her competence and service mindedness. D5 is blessed to have her as a member.

Nomination by Sandra Taylor

D5 President Sandee Taylor and Ann Christine Fell

Nomination #3

I nominate Lindsey Bartlett for the Kansas Authors Club Service Award. Lindsey joined KAC in 2021 after serving as a judge for our literary contests. In 2022, she agreed to become the prose contest manager and served in this position for two years. This year, she introduced and co-sponsored the Rural Voices category to our prose and poetry contest, a contest, bringing in a total of 51 entries, making it one of the larger categories in our contest. Lindsey is an active member of the Emporia Writers Group and has become a KAC leader serving as Co-Chair of District 2 in 2023. She has also worked as the assistant editor on our new publication, The Write from the Center Zine. Lindsey is a generous friend and an actively publishing writer. Her efforts to grow as a writer and as a KAC community builder are inspirational.

Nomination by Tracy Million Simmons

Lindsey Bartlett

Kansas Authors Club Literary Contest Winners 2023: Prose

10/10/2023

Theme Contest
Judge: Kathie Buckman

First Place: A Lazy Sunday Morning by Julie A. Sellers
Second Place: Sacred Tuesdays by Lindsey Bartlett
Third Place: Writing From the Heart by Nancy Julien Kopp
Honorable Mention: Zounds! Sounds! By Connie Rae White
Honorable Mention: Just a Moment by Brett Wilkinson
Honorable Mention: Writing Moments by Sandee Lee

Playwriting
Judge: Kari Bowles

1st: Gene Stratton-Porter The Birdwoman by Cynthia J. Ross
2nd: Murder by the Books by Julie A. Sellers
3rd: Cold Sweat by Sandee Lee

Stories for Young Readers
Judge: Michaela Karr

1st: The Eggnog Thief by Linda Ahrens-Brower
2nd: The Mystery of the Hundred Dollar Bill by Marcia Young
3rd: The Singer and the Storyteller by Julie A. Sellers
Honorable Mention: The Haird by Heather Taylor
Honorable Mention: Shake and Settle by S.L. Brown

Flash Fiction
Judge: Lydia Kautz

1st: Doubt Thou The Stars are Fire by Julie A. Sellers
2nd: Missed by Heidi Unruh
3rd: Curiosity Bites by Sandee Lee
Honorable Mention: A Surprise on my Bed by Sandee Lee
Honorable Mention: Uninvited Delivery by Gloria Zachgo
Honorable Mention: The Wish by Julie A. Sellers

Rural Voices
Judge: Ryan Dennis

1st: Landscape of My Childhood by Lindsey Bartlett
2nd: Laneway Landmarks by Julie A. Sellers
3rd: The Bull is Out by Kristine A. Polansky
Honorable Mention: Finding Home by Linda Heggestad
Honorable Mention: In My “Hay” Day by Gloria Zachgo

First Chapter of a Book
Judge: Amy Sage Webb-Baza

Feast or Famine by Marlana Marts

Irish protagonist with pregnant wife and kids in feudal lord’s estate attempts to whore himself for family but is rejected and then is met by vampire on the road and turned into vampire. Captivating in the ways that Outlander mixes historical truth with character situation, mixed with genre. Suggests a suspenseful and exciting character arc.

The Penny Paige Shannon Home for Unwanted Books by Julie A. Sellers

Recently divorced woman returns to bibliophile Aunt’s house. The aunt has cancer and the woman is controlled by ex-husband and the memories of a mother recently deceased. She opens free book library with Aunt. Solid world-building and point of view. Multiple things going on immediately. Captivating and suggests a redemptive and emotional character arc.

Kentucky Blood by Ashley Thomas Sheikh

Brings the reader immediately into the POV of Rhonda who has been capturing sexual predators and torturing them in the garage. The build to reveal who is being captured and why is just slow enough to cause reader discomfort and chilling true crime engagement with the story. We’ll never look at a garage the same way.

Honorable Mention: Overcoming by Hazel Hart
Pre-suffragist female character in MO finds herself a target of the times in social and gendered ways. She is accused of behavioral crimes and there’s tension and excitement right away. Good context building.

Honorable Mention: One Throw Pillow Too Many by S.L. Brown
Reader is catapulted into the POV of a woman on a reality show about to be rejected. It’s immediately dramatic and likely to become moreso, with humorous insights along the way.

Memoir
Judge: Kim Horner McCoy

First Place: The Curse of the Catalpa Tree--Learning about Bees by Roger Droz
Second Place: Football Mom by Shawn Renee Hood
Third Place: Vultures on the Roof by Gretchen Cassel Eick
Honorable Mention: Chien for the Win by Julie A. Sellers
Honorable Mention: New Arrows for Christmas, Or The Extent of My Injury by Roger W. Heineken

Short Story
Judge: Michelle Zumbrum

First Place: The Spelling Bee by Sarah Jane Crespo
Second Place: The Sunflower Dance by S.L. Brown
Third Place: Slipping Away by Stacy Thowe
Honorable Mention: Reflections by Jeanette Carter
Honorable Mention: Empty by Julie A. Sellers
Honorable Mention: Donnie and the Great KA-BOOM by Marion Joseph Bollig

Humor
Judge: Marcia Lawrence

First Place: Have a Drink and a Pen by Marion Joseph Bollig
Second Place: It Pays to Save the Receipt by Deborah Shouse
Third Place: Ten Little Birds: A Tragic Tale of Attrition by Jerilynn Henrikson

Members to be Published in Landmarks Issue of Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction

9/28/2023

The next issue of 105 Meadowlark Reader includes essays by the following Kansas Authors Club Members.
The theme of this issue is Landmarks, and expected ship date for this publication is early November, 2023.

Congratulations writers!

Lindsey Bartlett, Emporia
Boyd Bauman, Overland Park
Linda Cook, Manhattan
Ann Christine Fell, Winfield
Monica Graves, Emporia
Carolyn Hall, Lenexa
Cheryl Heide, Baldwin City
Thomas Holmquist, Smolan
Nancy Julien Kopp, Manhattan
Marilyn Hope Lake, Columbia, MO
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Lawrence
Julie A. Sellers, Atchison
Julie Stielstra, Ellinwood
Sandee Lee, El Dorado
Barbara Waterman-Peters, Topeka
Jon Kelly Yenser, Albuquerque, NM

Next Submission Theme: Intersections

Ships in November: Subscribe Today

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

Congratulations to the following members who will be published in Issue #4 (the food issue) of 105 Meadowlark Reader: A Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction

10/25/2022

Lindsey Bartlett teaches composition and literature at Emporia State University. An Emporian by choice, she lives in the Flint Hills region of Kansas where she spends her days writing in various coffee shops, holed up at home with a good book, or driving the countryside for good photo opportunities. You can find her wherever there is a sunset. Bartlett has published one poetry collection, Vacant Childhood. Her writing and photography have appeared in The Write Bridge, Flint Hills Review, 105 Meadowlark Reader, and The Wyandotte Window.

Boyd Bauman grew up on a small ranch south of Bern, Kansas, with his dad the storyteller and his mom the family scribe. He has published two books of poetry: Cleave and Scheherazade Plays the Chestnut Tree Café. After stints in New York, Colorado, Alaska, Japan, and Vietnam, Boyd now is a librarian and writer in Kansas City, inspired by his three lovely muses. Visit him at boydbauman.weebly.com.

Cathy Callen was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Since then, though, she has lived mostly in Kansas. Her father worked for Southwestern Bell, and every time he was promoted, the family got to see more of Kansas. They lived in Sunflower, Manhattan, Hays, Salina, Topeka, and Wichita. Her career as a teacher and special education coordinator with Topeka Public Schools kept her in the state for more than thirty years. After retiring, she moved to Lawrence with her soon-to-be husband, Barry, and it is her current favorite Kansas location. She likes the Lawrence Busker Festival, the Art Tougeau parade, the library, The Raven Bookstore, the political environment, the summer pooch swim, Liberty Hall, Wheatfield’s Bakery, and walking on the KU campus and in her friendly neighborhood.

Annabelle Corrick was born and raised in Topeka, lived in five other Kansas towns and three other states, returned to Topeka the last decade, and currently resides in Columbia, Missouri. She earned advanced degrees from Emporia State University and Kansas State University and was the Kansas Authors Club 2015 Prose Writer of the Year. Her writings have appeared in The Poet’s Art, 2016 Kansas Voices Writing Contest, Well Versed, and other publications. Her most awesome Kansas experience has been standing against the wind and viewing the vast vista of western Kansas where her paternal grandparents pioneered.

Michael Durall grew up in the thriving metropolis of Pawnee Rock, Kansas, population 250. He was the champion sentence diagrammer in his sixth grade English class, which eventually led to his writing nine books about his work as a consultant to nonprofit organizations. He lives in Salina and writes a weekly column for the Salina 311 newspaper and has recently published a book of essays from local residents for the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission on the theme of The Day That Changed My Life Forever.

Mark O. J. Esping first lived in a Swede-Town in Pottawatomie County. He graduated from Bethany, a Swedish-Lutheran College. He reprinted NEQUA, a feminist sci-fi novel first published in Topeka, Kansas, in 1900. Mark directed www.folklifeinstitute.com, a nonprofit, and two N.E.A. Folk Art grants. His work has appeared in The Clarion Folk Art, Country Living, Scandinavian Review, Victorian Homes, and Hemslöjden. He is an Eagle Scout and a veteran. He and his wife share a home in Merriam, Kansas, with three near-feral cats. Twin deer occasionally graze in their backyard. Mark tells stories, true stories, with a humorous nature and a hint of morality. In collection they are packets of maps that are Near Invisible, Like Footprints in Ever Shifting Sand.

Beth Gulley first moved to Newton, Kansas, when she was two. Her family moved to Latin America, but Beth returned to the Olathe area for college where she met her husband. They moved to Paola, Kansas, to raise their family. Beth has advanced degrees from UMKC and the University of Kansas. She teaches writing at Johnson County Community College. Her recent writing is included in Kansas City Voices, Dragonfly Magazine, Kansas Speaks Out, and The Write Bridge. She has published three full-length poetry collections: The Sticky Note Alphabet, Dragon Eggs, and The Love of Ornamental Fish. She currently resides in Spring Hill, Kansas, which gives her easy access to Hillsdale Lake where she enjoys trail running and fishing.

Carolyn Hall is an award-winning author who grew up on a farm outside Olmitz, Kansas. Her childhood on the farm provided wonderful memories which she shared in her book, Prairie Meals and Memories: Living the Golden Rural. It was named to the Kansas Sesquicentennial’s Best 150 Books list. Her stories and poems have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Christian Science Monitor, The Kansas City Star, and various anthologies. She lives in Lenexa, Kansas.

Jerilynn Jones Henrikson, a retired English teacher, has always loved teaching, telling, reading, watching, and writing stories. To date, Jerilynn has published nine children’s picture books, an adult memoir, and a young adult historical fiction novel. Her work reflects her sense of humor, love of words, and talent for detail. Jerilynn finds her inspiration in the rolling hills of east central Kansas. No matter the subject of a current work, she is motivated by the people, history, and changing seasons of this place. As a student of history and language, she enjoys traveling to beautiful places. But ultimately, she finds the greatest joy in travel is coming home. www.prairiepatchwork.com

Thomas N. Holmquist is a fifth-generation farmer and rancher near Smolan, Kansas. He also is a retired teacher in the Smoky Valley School District having taught music, American History, and agriculture for forty-four years. He has also published three books, including Pioneer Cross, Swedish Settlements Along the Smoky Hill Bluffs, Bluestem, a novel, and Salemsborg, A History of the Salemsborg Church and Community, Volume 1, 1869-1939, for which he won the Award of Commendation for Lutheran Church History from the Augustana Historical Association. Tom has several writing projects in the works in between feeding cows, putting up hay, and planting and harvesting crops.

Deb Irsik was the owner of Makin’ Waves Salon in Emporia, Kansas, and retired from the beauty industry after twenty-five years. She is a Kansas girl and shares her life with her husband Mike, and children John and Emily. Deb is a member of the Kansas Authors Club and Emporia Writers Group. Deb’s favorite thing about Kansas is the people. “Most people in Kansas have a strong work ethic and family values. The beautiful Flint Hills and Kansas sunsets are second to none. What’s not to like?” Poetry and lyrics have always been part of her life, but she felt a call to write middle-grade Christian fiction after her daughter found it difficult to be “that God girl” in eighth grade. “It is my hope that my books will encourage young people to hold onto values and faith as they navigate their teen years.” Deb’s “Heroes by Design” series was completed in 2020, and she hopes to dedicate her time to creating a book of poetry and continuing to write essays, prose, and fiction. Deb can be found online: facebook.com/D.A.Irsikauthor, Twitter:@Writerwannabe1, www.dairsik.com, amazon.com/author/dairsik, https://instagram.com/debirsik/

Miriam Iwashige lives on a three-acre property outside of Partridge, Kansas, near where her preacher-farmer dad and mom raised twelve children. She aims to live large from this small place, just as the land and sky around the property suggest. Reading, earning a bachelor’s degree, teaching, conversing, and traveling have often fostered large living, as did homeschooling her children and investing deeply in many aspects of homemaking, gardening, animal husbandry, nature study, and church and community life. She and her Japanese-immigrant husband parented three sons who all live nearby right now. Those who have joined their sons’ families through marriage or birth (nine grandchildren!) spent childhood years in such diverse places as Bangladesh, Kenya, El Salvador, and Washington state.

Sally Jadlow grew up in Ft. Scott, Kansas. After marriage, she and her husband moved to Overland Park. Teaching creative writing for the Kansas City Writers Group is one of her joys. She writes historical fiction, inspirational stories, devotionals, and poetry. Sally has published thirteen books. Her work has appeared in many compilations including Chicken Soup for the Soul and many other publications. Her books are available on Amazon.com. Sally also loves to bake, cinnamon rolls, her specialty. Family Favorites from the Heartland contain her favorite recipes. The eastern Kansas countryside with its gently rolling hills claims Sally’s most favorite area of the state. She believes what Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home,” is true—if you live in Kansas.

Amy Deckert Kliewer has lived her entire life in Kansas. She grew up in Pawnee Rock, Kansas, and went to high school in Larned. After attending Bethel College and graduating from the University of Kansas, Amy lived and worked in the Kansas City metro area as a civil engineer. Recently retired, Amy and her husband moved to North Newton to enjoy the smalltown feeling and be close to family. She is enjoying exploring her Next Chapter.

Nancy Julien Kopp grew up in the Chicago area and moved to Kansas, her adopted state and home, in 1975. She started writing in her mid-fifties, realizing a long-held dream. She has been published in many anthologies, including twenty-three times in Chicken Soup for the Soul books, in addition to publication on websites, in magazines, and in newspapers. She writes creative nonfiction, including personal essays and short memoir pieces, and also poetry, short fiction for children, and articles on the craft of writing. Nancy and her retired husband live in Manhattan, Kansas, and are strong supporters of all things K-State. She is mother to two and grandmother to four. She is a voracious reader and enjoys playing bridge. www.writergrannysworld.blogspot.com

Marilyn Hope Lake, PhD, writes short fiction, poetry, plays and children’s picture books. She has many awards for writing, including through the Kansas Authors Club contests. Dr. Lake’s first-place story, “Harry’s Stone,” was published in Words Out of the Flatlands; Kansas Writers Association. Lake has been published in Rock Springs Review, STIR, Well-Versed: Literary Works, the Gasconade Review, and the Mizzou Alumni Magazine. Marilyn lived in Hutchinson, Kansas, from 2002-2017, is a Kansas Authors Club ten-year member, and was a facilitator of the 2014 Annual Conference. Her Kansas favorites are the Wichita Art Museum, State Fair, Underground Salt Mine, Delos V. Smith Senior Center, Hutchinson, and others. Although she misses her Kansas friends, she is happy to live with her dog, Hugo, and near family in Columbia, Missouri.

A Kansan through and through, Sandee Lee celebrates being published in every edition of 105 Meadowlark Reader. Her favorite writing topic for nonfiction and fiction is Kansas. The turmoil of the mid-1800s in the Lawrence area is the topic of her current fiction project. Relaxing on her porch with her two border collies lying by her feet and watching cattle graze on the hillside is where you’ll find Sandee most evenings except in the winter months. From that porch she can observe the homestead where her family has lived since 1925.

Errin D. Moore, an emigrant from Montana, has called Kansas home for eight years. She lives in the Flint Hills near Leon with her husband, infant son, and eighteen-year-old stepson—along with their menagerie of chickens, turkeys, geese, pigs, and an overabundance of cats. She fell in love with the unique beauty Kansas offers, most especially the magnificent sunsets. Errin and her husband own Able and Ready Appliance Repair. She runs the office from home while raising Oliver. She was a teacher and administrator for nineteen years, and she owned and operated a bookstore in El Dorado. Her humorous, touching, and unique sense of voice is especially effective when she writes about the joys and challenges of being a first-time mother at the age of forty-four.

Audrey Phillips is a Kansan through and through. She grew up in Overland Park, attended the University of Kansas, and is now living in Kansas City, Missouri. Audrey loves to represent her favorite parts of being a Kansan by cheering on her Jayhawks or Chiefs or Sporting Kansas City. Audrey loves Kansas because of the way everyone feels like family here. She is a proud midwesterner and strives to promote the kindness that midwesterners possess. She has always loved to write, even from a young age. She was and continues to be inspired by her famous Aunt Mary-Lane Kamberg who has published many books in her time as an author. Even though now she lives right across the state line, Kansas will always be her home.

Cynthia Schaker (Cindy), a retired Kansas educator of thirty-seven years, grew up on a farm outside of Hamilton, Kansas, in Greenwood County. Cindy taught grades six through eight at Towanda Grade School and served as school counselor at Circle Middle School in Butler County. One of her favorite places in Kansas is the Flint Hills because they remind her of going home. She currently resides in El Dorado, Kansas, with her rescue dog Moxie. Cindy does volunteer work in the Gift Shop at Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital in El Dorado. She serves as President of the SBAMH Auxiliary. She loves humorous writing and penning stories from her childhood. She recently had her humorous murder mystery play performed at Cardinal Creek Farm in Butler County.

Julie A. Sellers was raised in the Flint Hills near the small town of Florence, Kansas. She currently resides in Atchison, Kansas, where she is an Associate Professor (Spanish) and Chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Benedictine College. Julie’s creative work has appeared in publications such as Cagibi, Wanderlust, Unlost, The Write Launch, and Kansas Time + Place. Julie was the 2020 Kansas Authors Club Prose Writer of the Year, and the Overall Poetry Winner (2022) and Overall Prose Winner (2017, 2019) of the Kansas Voices Contest. She is the author of Kindred Verse: Poems Inspired by Anne of Green Gables (Blue Cedar Press, 2021) and the novel, Ann of Sunflower Lane (Meadowlark, 2022).

Perry Shepard is a Vietnam veteran who has written two novels: The Hero versus Me and Monkey Jo, and Hard Love. He co-wrote two plays in the anthology titled Annabelle. He won a second-place award in Eber and Wein’s Best American Poetry of 2013, and an honorable mention in Writer’s Digest 84th annual Poetry Competition. Perry is a member and former District 2 president of Kansas Authors Club. He makes his home in Eudora, Kansas.

A month after the sudden death of her second husband, Anne L. Spry had a mystical dream that detailed a new business based on capturing personal history for writing memoir. She had already begun publishing books through Createspace for herself and others following a twenty-seven-year career as a newspaper publisher and editor. Since the fortuitous dream, Spry and partner Cheri Battrick have developed a DIY Memoir Kit and Spry has expanded her book publishing to some two dozen titles under the Personal Chapters LLC banner. They include children’s books, memoir and fiction, and a few titles authored by Spry. Anne serves as President of District 1 of Kansas Authors Club and produces a newsletter for that group and another for a local Sweet Adelines group. She is married to a retired military pilot, and they live on a family acreage south of Topeka where Anne spent her first five years.

Chuck Warner is a lifelong Kansan. After growing up in Wichita, he has lived in Lawrence since first attending the University of Kansas in the 1960s. With business and law degrees, he embarked on a nearly forty-year career in business and banking. After he retired in 2008, he began writing about his maternal grandfather and in 2019 Birds, Bones, and Beetles: The Improbable Career and Remarkable Legacy of University of Kansas Naturalist Charles D. Bunker was published by the University Press of Kansas. In 2020 his book was recognized as a Kansas Notable book, and also won awards for the best Kansas history and best book layout from the Kansas Authors Club, and was a finalist in the High Plains Book Awards.

Barbara Waterman-Peters is an artist by training and a writer by chance. Both pursuits have come together over the years in her articles about art and artists for such publications as Topeka, Kansas, and New Art Examiner magazines, in her book cover paintings for authors such as Marcia Cebulska’s Watching Men Dance, and in her collaborations with poets, most recently, Two Ponders: A Collaboration with Dennis Etzel, Jr. Co-owner of Pen & Brush Press with author Glendyn Buckley, Waterman-Peters illustrated their first two children’s books, The Fish’s Wishes and Bird which won awards from Kansas Authors Club. She co-wrote and illustrated their third book, TING & the Caterbury Tales, which came out this spring. Recently her fiction piece, “The Critique,” appeared in The Pen Woman and her creative non-fiction and poetry have been included in several anthologies. She lives in Topeka and her studio is in the NOTO Arts & Entertainment District. She spent five years living in rural Jackson County and Holton.

Cat Webling is an actress and author based in Kansas. She loves everything mad and macabre, philosophical and silly, so that’s exactly what she writes! Scifi, fantasy, and poetry are her mainstays when she’s not writing about literature, theater, gaming, or fan culture. She currently has a novel, a couple of short story collections, and several poetry collections under her belt. She works as an editor for SUPERJUMP Magazine, is an active member of the Kansas Authors Club, and daylights as a copywriter for hire. Cat writes from her home in Russell, which she shares with her loving partner, adorable son, and several very cute cats. You can find her work at www.catwebling.com.

Theme for Issue #5 (Nov 1 - Dec 31, 2022 Submission Period):
Animal Stories

Remember that our themes are simply prompts to spur your essays. There are so many directions you can go. Surprise us. Engage us. Help us remember what it was like to tame a nest of wild kittens. How did mom react when those kits turned out to be skunks? Ever snuggle with a turtle? Communicate with an owl? Swim with your pet snake?
Personal essays are welcome, but we are also looking for interviews, journalistic pieces, and more. Do you know a veterinarian who deserves the spotlight? Is there an animal shelter leading the way whose operations deserve to be highlighted? There are so many true stories that need to be told.
Remember, It must be a true story that happened, all or partially, in Kansas. Can your story leave the boundaries of Kansas? Sure! But you must show us that Kansas connection!

Learn More

2022 Literary Contest Results (Adult Prose & Poetry Categories

10/24/2022

Congratulations to
Duane Johnson
2022 Poet of the Year!

Congratulations to
Julie A. Sellers
2022 Prose Writer
of the Year!

Thank you to our
contest managers

Poetry Contest Manager: Linzi Garcia

Linzi Garcia plays with language in poetry, essays, book reviews, and publicity materials. Her full-length poetry collection Thank You was published by Spartan Press in 2018. She and her partner Jase Buck co-authored a chapbook, Live a Great Story (Analog Submission Press 2019), about their short but impactful time in England. Most recently, she co-authored a travel poetry collection While Away, with Kevin Rabas and Brett Seaton.

Linzi has a BA and MA in English and currently attends law school at Washburn University. Linzi also currently works as the Poetry Press Editor and Publicist for Meadowlark Press.

Linzi became involved with KAC after building friendships with members across the state, particularly in Salina, Emporia, and Lawrence. She served as the 2020 free verse poetry contest judge and, after joining the club in 2021, served as poetry contest manager in 2021 and 2022.

Prose Contest Manager: Lindsey Bartlett

2022 Convention Presenter: Lindsey Bartlett

8/7/2022

Writing Rural: The Importance of Rural Voices in Writing Today

This presentation will explore how Bartlett decided to embrace her rural past rather than running away from it, and how much of her writing is informed by her rural background. She will emphasize how important it is to write about rural experiences in all genres of writing. Bartlett believes that we need more individuals writing about their rural backgrounds in order to give voice to a people and a place that are often overlooked.

Lindsey Bartlett teaches composition and literature at Emporia State University. An Emporian by choice, she lives in the Flint Hills region of Kansas where she spends her days writing in various coffee shops, holed up at home with a good book, or driving the countryside for good photo opportunities. You can find her wherever there is a sunset. Bartlett has published one poetry collection, Vacant Childhood. Her writing and photography have appeared in The Write Bridge, Flint Hills Review, 105 Meadowlark Reader, and The Wyandotte Window.

Lindsey will be speaking at 10:15am on Saturday, October 22

PRESENTATION BLOCK 1 – EXPANDING VIEWS AND PERSPECTIVES

Learn More and Register

The Write Bridge, by Anamcara Press

5/8/2022

The newest issue of The Write Bridge, by Anamcara Press, includes the work of many Kansas Authors Club Members: Amber Fraley (D2), Peg Nichols (D2), David Hann (D2), Kathleen Kaska (D2), Boyd Bauman (D2), John L. Swainston (D2), Lindsey Bartlett (D2), Beth Gulley (D2), Debra Irsik (D2), Fred Applehanz (D1), Brenda L. White (D2), Brian Daldorph (D2), Iris Craver (D2), Ronda Miller (D2), Perry Shepard (D2), Micki Carroll (D2)

View the issue here

Anamcara Press will begin accepting submissions for the Next edition of The Write Bridge June 1, 2022. Topics: Fortitude & Toploftiness

Welcome New Member Lindsey Bartlett

12/15/2021

Lindsey Bartlett reading at the book launch of Arterial Ink.

Today, we have the honor of welcoming Lindsey Bartlett of Emporia (D-2) to the KAC fold. She has served KAC in the past as a judge in our literary contests.

Here's some of Lindsey's background:

Lindsey Bartlett teaches Composition to first-year writing students at her alma mater, Emporia State University. When not grading papers, she is also a voracious reader and amateur photographer. Bartlett grew up on a dilapidated farmstead in west-central Kansas before moving to Emporia at 18 for college. She has lived in Emporia for almost half her life – it has been the better half.

Though she told her professor in an undergraduate introductory creative writing class that she hated poetry, her first book is just that, a collection of poetry and photos centered around the abandonment of her childhood home. It is also about childhood, rural life, and nostalgia for a time that cannot come again. Bartlett’s true writing love, however, is creative nonfiction. She has had two essays published in 105 Meadowlark Reader, a journal focusing on true Kansas stories. She was also honored to have an essay published in the inaugural anthology of writings inspired by renowned Emporia journalist William Allen White, Arterial Ink. Her poetry and photos have also appeared in Flint Hills Review, MidAmerican Fiction and Photography, and The Wyandotte Window.

Bartlett believes that through words and ideas we can change the world and is looking forward to sharing words and ideas with other members of KAC.

Welcome, Lindsey! It's great to have you with us.
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Congratulations toDuane Johnson2022 Poet of the Year!

Congratulations to Julie A. Sellers2022 Prose Writer of the Year!

Thank you to our contest managers

Writing Rural: The Importance of Rural Voices in Writing Today

Categories

Archives

Congratulations to
Duane Johnson
2022 Poet of the Year!

Congratulations to
Julie A. Sellers
2022 Prose Writer
of the Year!

Thank you to our
contest managers