Literary Events

A Picnic & A Play

June to October

Select Saturdays

picnic lunch with live music & play reading

Six Wisconsin playwrights will present original plays in progress on our intimate outdoor theatre, Alley Stage. Besides being fun to watch, a staged reading is an important way a playwright can get important feedback from an audience (you!) and determine what their next steps are with the script. Purchase picnic lunches featuring local restaurant fare, available at noon, to enjoy on the beautiful Shake Rag Alley grounds as local musicians perform. Stroll the short path to Alley Stage at 1 pm for a new play each visit. You can even get in on the act by signing up to be an actor or musician!

June 12
Occam’s Razor by Marcia Jablonski

July 24
Step Two by Brendon Smith

August 7
Cassandra by Jan Levine Thal

September 4
Love or Forever? by Kurt McGinnis Brown [note: adult content; mature audiences]

September 25
Shelter by Bob Curry

October 16
Magnolia Star by Jeff Pfeiffer

Writers Reading Series

December to March

Writers in residence will read from and discuss their work Wednesday evenings from December 2020 to March 2021. It’s the perfect mid-week pause to reconnect with meaningful language.

Winter Writers Reading Series events are held Wednesdays, from 7-9 p.m. Engage award-winning authors in conversation!

Our Winter Writers Reading Series Partners

Antiracism Book Club

January to December

3rd Thursday 6-7:30 pm

Now Virtual!

sharing books & crucial conversation

Our NEA Big Read of Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen: An American Lyric” concluded in November 2020, but after more than 15 book discussions and art-making sessions, we know that the important conversations confronting racism in our country must continue. We’re grateful to Arts Midwest for spotlighting our NEA Big Read and look forward to continuing the journey with a virtual antiracism book club throughout 2021.

Materials and resources accumulated while reading Rankine’s award-winning work will remain in place, below the Antiracist Book Club schedule

To continue the crucial conversations Shake Rag Alley is hosting a monthly antiracism book club throughout 2021.

Our first meeting is scheduled for 6-7:30 pm Thursday, January 21, via Zoom to discuss The 1619 Project, published by The New York Times Magazine. In addition to the PDF linked to above, you can access the project online.

Please join us for one or all of these discussions as we consider the following probing and insightful books:

January 21: The 1619 Project

February 18: How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi

March 19: The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin

April 15: The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, by Jesmyn Ward

May 20: Men We Reaped: A Memoir, by Jesmyn Ward

June 17: The Undocumented Americans, by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

July 15: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson

August 19: Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism, by James W. Loewen

September 16: Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

October 21: Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar

November 18: A Peculiar Indifference: The Neglected Toll of Violence on Black America, by Elliott Currie

December 16: So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo

For more information and to register to receive a Zoom link to any (or all!) of these FREE events, use the button below, send an email, or call (608)987-3292.

Writing Retreat

May 21-23, 2021

Friday - Sunday

write alongside other writers

Join us for the 5th annual Writing Retreat at Shake Rag Alley, open to writers of all levels. Enrich your talent and prospects in this charming art community and old mining town. Choose one of three genres taught by either Patricia Ann McNair (Memoir and Personal Essay; Retreat Artistic Director), Christine Rice (Crafting Fiction), or Sarah Hammond (Writing for Young People) for an in-depth workshop that will challenge you across the three days. These workshop directors are award-winning published authors and active, experienced teachers of writing.

Interwoven around these main workshops will be optional and inspiring creative activities, including talks on Writers Dreaming with Shawn Shiflett, Confessions of a Literary Magazine Editor with Christine Rice, Writing Your Opposite with Eric May, Magic in Your Pocket (Easy Handmade Books) with Philip Hartigan, Trust Your Voice, Trust Your Reader: Revision as Craft with Sheree Greer, a panel discussion on Literary Citizens & Building Community, a Faculty and Local Author Reading, and Open Mics that will make for a retreat jam-packed with opportunities to learn, share, network and write.

Manuscript consultations are available with instructors on a first sign up, first served basis, at a very affordable price.

We are pleased to work in partnership with Hypertext Magazine & Studio, a social justice writing nonprofit organization.

Driftless Poets

Second Saturday

2 – 4 pm

Now Virtual!

workshop poems & deepen your craft

Driftless Poets meet on the second Saturday of each month at 2 pm either virtually via Zoom or on the Shake Rag Alley campus.

New poets are always welcome, but only those who have submitted work two weeks in advance will receive feedback and critique. Poets take turns leading the workshops by sharing a poem that demonstrates a form or craft technique and monitoring time.

What to Expect

In a writing workshop, a group of people engage in intensive discussion during a time set aside to focus on and improve one’s craft. Driftless Poets meet monthly to learn from one another by listening carefully to feedback on work submitted to the group.

How to Participate

The Driftless Poets workshops are free. You are welcome to attend in person on the Shake Rag Alley campus or to participate virtually, June-October. To receive the Zoom link, please register for the month(s) you’d like to attend:

For more information: (608) 987-3292.