Door County Hosts Wisconsin Poet Laureate

Bruce Dethlefsen, the 2011-2012 Wisconsin Poet Laureate and poetry judge for this year’s Hal Grutzmacher’s Writers’ Expose, will present two readings in Door County in October. Hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Emily Dickinson Poetry Series and by the Friends of the Door County Libraries, Dethlefsen will read at the UU Fellowship at 7 pm on October 19 and at the Miller Art Museum in the Sturgeon Bay Library at 7 pm on October 20. An open mic will follow the UUFDC reading. The library program, which commemorates National Library Week, will feature readings by high school students.

Dethlefsen’s poetry has been featured on Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac on NPR and Wisconsin Public Radio. His full-length book, Breather, published by Fireweed Press, won an Outstanding Achievement Award in Poetry from the Wisconsin Library Association and received an Honorable Mention in the Posner Awards. He has published two chapbooks; A Decent Reed and Something Near the Dance Floor. His new book, Unexpected Shiny Things, published by Cowfeather Press, will come out in November 2011.

Dethlefsen performed in Door County earlier this year as a featured musician in the group, “Obvious Dog,” accompanying the poetry of Cathryn Cofell at the May Dickinson Poetry Series reading.

Dethlefsen is a retired educator and public library director. He resides in Westfield, Wisconsin.

The UU Fellowship is located at 10341 Water Street (Highway 42) in Ephraim and the Miller Art Museum is located at 107 S. 4th Avenue in Sturgeon Bay. Both events are free and open to the public.

For more information call 920.854.7559.