If you see a visitor in town in the middle of the week, in the middle of winter, odds are, she’s an award-winning writer. This is the third year that Shake Rag Alley has sponsored the Winter Writers Series.

Not only are these writers here for a week-long writing residency, but each one will engage in a community activity – either speaking at the Library, visiting the school, reading at Foundry Books, or conducting a workshop at Shake Rag.

Coming up next is the celebrated author Kathleen Ernst. This is her second award-winning getaway to Mineral Point.

This year, Kathleen won a Children’s Literature Award for a Caroline book – one of the 25 books she has written for the American Girl series.

While in Mineral Point, Kathleen will visit the Elementary School, and she will be conducting a workshop at Shake Rag this Sunday about family food traditions.

Last year, Kathleen spoke at the MP Library about her popular Chloe Ellefson series. In case you aren’t familiar, Chloe Ellefson is the heroine in a best-selling series of mysteries set in the 1980’s with flashbacks to historic Wisconsin of the 1800’s. Kathleen just finished writing the 5th Chloe Ellefson book, expected to be published sometime this year.

The big question is, “where is the 5th Chloe book set?” Could it be Mineral Point we wondered?  Sadly, no it isn’t.  But it’s only a matter of time.

After Kathleen’s visit last year, she posted this picture of the Gundry House along with this statement on her Facebook page, “I am so going to write a book set in Mineral Point one day! This beautiful building is very close to where I’m staying, but there are gorgeous old places in all directions. Thanks again to those who made the residency possible–and to the new friends I met at the library last night!”

So, if you see Kathleen in town, ask her when Chloe Ellefson is coming to Mineral Point.

The Shake Rag Winter Writers Series is built around partnerships with the Council for Wisconsin Writers (“CWW”), Wisconsin People & Ideas, and the WI Poet Laureate Commission (sponsored by Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters). Here is an alphabetical list of the 2013-14 residency winners:

Amy Baker – Wisconsin People & Ideas 2013 Short Story Contest Winner

Sarah Busse – CWW Posner Poetry Book Award

Kara Candito – CWW Lorine Niedecker Poetry Award Winner

Geoff Collins – Wisconsin People & Ideas 2013 Poetry Contest Winner

Tom Davis – CWW Ellis/Henderson Outdoor Writing Award Winner
Residency sponsored by Maple Wood Lodge

Kathleen Ernst – CWW Tofte/Wright Children’s Literature Award Winner

Jeff Esterholm – CWW Larry and Eleanor Sternig Short Fiction Award Winner

Max Garland – Wisconsin Poet Laureate

George Johnson – CWW Kay W. Levin Short Non-fiction Award Winner

David McGlynn – CWW Kingery/Derleth Book-Length Non-Fiction

Shauna Singh Baldwin – CWW Anne Powers Book-Length Fiction

A full schedule of 2013/14 SRA Winter Writers Series residencies and events can be found online at www.shakeragalley.com.

– Contributed by the Hays