Coffee and Conversation: Creating a Chapbook with Cathryn Cofell, Bruce Dethlefsen, and Christina Kubasta

What is a poetry chapbook and how do you get one published? Poets Cathryn Cofell and Christina Kubasta, co-president and vice president of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets will talk about the chapbook and a new contest they are launching with Brain Mill Press. They will be joined by former Wisconsin Poet Laureate Bruce Dethlefsen. Light refreshments will be served.

Cathryn Cofell is the author of six chapbooks and two full-length poetry collections, including Stick Figure with Skirt, winner of the 2019 Main Street Rag Poetry Award. She has published hundreds of poems in literary magazines and journals, and her work has earned more than 50 awards, including the Lorine Niedecker Poetry Award and the Mill Prize.

Bruce Dethlefsen was born in Kansas City in 1948 and now makes his home in Westfield, Wisconsin. He was the Wisconsin Poet Laureate for 2011-2012 and has published four full-length books of poetry. He plays in the Prairie Sands Band and leads poetry workshops in Wisconsin prisons. His favorite poets are Marge Piercy and Richard Brautigan.

C. Kubasta writes poetry, fiction, and hybrid forms. She has published several books of poetry, two novels, and a collection of short stories. Her most recent book is the short story collection Abjectification (Apprentice House, 2020). She is Director of Education at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, as well as the Vice President of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, Managing Editor of Bramble, and Assistant Poetry Editor for Brain Mill Press.