Celebrate the 15^th anniversary of the Fox Cities Book Festival with an evening of poetry honoring the first Wisconsin Poet Laureate and Festival founder, Ellen Kort.

The event will include:

• Free passed appetizers & desserts plus a cash bar.
• A poetry program from 7:00 to 8:00 PM.
• Raffle.
• Poetry & Art Museum Walk.

The late Ellen Kort was Wisconsin’s first Poet Laureate and a lifelong resident of Appleton. She was also a founder of the Fox Cities Book Festival, which is celebrating its 15th year this October with three days of workshops, panels and discussions with authors from around the country, including local writers.

This year’s festival will begin with an event commemorating the late Ellen Kort and the impact her poetry has had on our community and beyond.

Books Feed My… A Community Art and Poetry Submission Project in Honor of Ellen Kort

Middle and High School students are invited to submit original poetry, prose or artwork in response to the prompt: Books feed my… This idea was chosen from the themes in Ellen’s poem Reading Our Lives. The full poem is included below.

Fox Cities Book Festival is excited to partner with area schools and students on this project! We would love to have original artwork and poetry to display during the Ellen Kort tribute event representing the students here in the Fox Cities.

Submission Information:

• DEADLINE for submissions is October 2, 2022 by 5:00 PM.
• Save your image file with your first name, last name and city. Ex: JohnBrown_Appleton
• Submit your work through Dropbox HERE. Or go to this URL: https://bit.ly/3etjWLB
• Complete the attached submission, scan it with your work and upload it as part of your image file.
• Large art pieces that cannot be scanned, can be dropped off at The Bookstore with a submission form attached to it. The Bookstore is located at 293 W Northland Ave, Appleton WI 54911.
• By submitting entries, you give the Fox Cities Book Festival permission to use your work during the Ellen Kort Tribute Event and through the 2022 festival, for public display, and in related print publications, photographs, website and social media use.

Reading Our Lives by Ellen Kort

On certain days when it’s

Raining or the sun flickers like a

Bright tongue against the sky

Night when the moon is full

Where there is nothing to do

Or everything to do when your

Minds and hearts are hungry we

Head for the library push open

Doors cross for the distance

Reach out to touch certain books

Whispering their names until

One calls out to us demanding

Attention we hold the book in

Our hands turn back the cover

Grace our fingers with the feel of

Paper the quiet motion of

Opening a gift

We dive in

We swim follow the

Words page after page whole

Days pass this way whole years

Generations into generations

What we remember are the

Stories how we make them fit

Our lives how we see ourselves

Seeing everything the tasting of

Words how books feed us all