Shawano Area Writers plan to meet at night

The Shawano Area Writers (SAW) decided that, to reach out to more people who have the desire to write, an additional monthly meeting should be made available to the public.

Normally, SAW has held its monthly meetings from 10 a.m. to noon every third Thursday at the Shawano County Library. but members feel that there are many people out there who are working during those hours and cannot attend daytime meetings.

Starting Oct. 17, SAW will meet from 5:30-7 p.m. at Shawano’s Café, W7389 River Bend Road, Shawano.

“We are planning to hold two meetings per month from now on,” said John Mutter Jr., SAW treasurer. “We hope to attract people from all age groups and different degrees of writing talent. We will help people become knowledgeable in how to get going on that writing project that they have put off for far too long. Some people just need a little advice on how to start whatever they want to write. We can’t perform miracles for a person, but we are here to give advice, advice from people who have been writing for years and some for decades.”

SAW has been working and writing in the Shawano area since 1966 and is one of the oldest writing groups in Wisconsin. The organization has helped with the Shawano Story-Shawano Centennial 1874-1974 book and the Shawano County Sesquicentennial 1853-2003 book.

During meetings, members read excerpts from what they’ve been working on, ranging from poetry to short stories to personal essays to novels. Some members have published books, some are retired teachers, and others write just for the fun of it.

Through the years, SAW published 14 anthologies, with work from 112 writers. The group is beginning to plan its 15th anthology and would welcome local writers’ submissions.

SAW has also been promoting the written word for the next generation through the George Putz Memorial Student Writing Contest that SAW is planning for the 19th year. This contest is open to all children from first grade through high school who live or go to school in Shawano and Menominee counties.

For information, call Mutter at 715-524-4520 or go to www.shawanoareawriters.org.