meet the author

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Martha Gershun has won our essay writing contest on the theme of A Universe of Stories with "The Hatch".

Martha Gershun is a retired non-profit executive. Her first book, Care & Custody: A Novel of Three Children at RIsk, tells the story of siblings caught up in the child welfare system. Her second book, The Radical Altruism of Organ Donation, co-written with Dr. John Lantos, will be published next year by Cornell University Press. Her published essays and academic articles can be found at www.marthagershun.com.

The Hatch

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Lori Stratton has won our essay writing contest on the theme of A Universe of Stories with "Johnny Cash".

Lori Stratton is an English teacher at Gardner Edgerton High School. Her husband is a middle school guidance counselor, and they have three young adult children and one grandchild. Lori also works for the National Education Association as a trustee for the Leaders for Just Schools initiative. Her writing can be found at Grown&Flown.com, at her personal blog, lorijstratton.com, and on her Medium account, @ljstratton50.

Johnny Cash

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that David Lee Garrison has won the open category of our writing contest on the theme of BREAKING FREE with "Putting Killers Away".

Dr. David Lee Garrison (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University) taught Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Kansas in 1978-79, and then at Wright State University until his retirement in 2009. He and his wife, Suzanne Kelly-Garrison, have residences in Oakwood, Ohio, and in Prairie Village, dividing their time between the two cities. Almost all of Suzanne’s family lives in Kansas; David has a cousin in Grandview, MO

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Karin L. Frank has won the essay category of our writing contest on the theme of BREAKING FREE with "Nearly Me".

Karin L. Frank (@klfrank1 and karinlfrank.com) is an award-winning author. Nurtured by the fantasies and sciences of both coasts, she eventually settled on a farm in the Kansas City area. Her poems and stories have been published in a wide variety of venues both in the U.S.A. and abroad. Her first book of poems, A Meeting of Minds, is a collection of her science-based and science fiction-based poems. It is available through Amazon

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Pat Daneman has won the poetry category of our writing contest on the theme of BREAKING FREE with "Congolese Refugee Family Watches Fireworks for the First Time".

Pat Daneman is from Long Island, New York and currently lives in Lenexa, Kansas. She has published fiction and poetry in many print and online magazines, including The American Journal of Poetry, Escape into Life and the Bellevue Poetry Review. Her poems have been anthologized in Best of the Net and New Poetry from the Midwest. She is the author of a chapbook, Where the World

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Virginia Brackett has won the open category of our writing contest on the theme of WOMEN'S VOICES with "Mrs. Cross".

Virginia Brackett, Professor Emeritus of English, retired in 2016 from Park University where she directed the Honors Academy and received varied teaching and service awards, including Faculty Member of the Year, 2013 for Exceptional Services to Student Veterans. She served as a discussion facilitator for the 2017 NEH-funded initiative for veterans and their families, Planting the Oar. Brackett serves on the Kansas City

Johnson County Library and The Writers Place are pleased to announce that Peggy Epstein has won the essay category of our writing contest on the theme of WOMEN'S VOICES with "Wordless".

My writing career has been crazily eclectic: two parenting books published by McGraw-Hill and Capitol Books; four locally produced musicals (with my partner, composer Allen Epstein)--one for the Kansas City Fringe Festival; 30 or so fiction/essays for various magazines and journals; dozens of features for the Kansas City Star, hundreds of pieces for the on-line site, Demand Studios, and, most rewarding to me

Johnson County Library and The Writers Place are pleased to announce that Martha Gershun has won the essay category of our writing contest on the theme of WOMEN'S VOICES with "Channeling Marjorie".

Martha Gershun recently retired as Executive Director from Jackson County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). Her first book, "Care & Custody: A Novel of 3 Children at Risk," was published in June. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, SELF Magazine, Kveller, and the Kansas City Star.

Channeling Marjorie

There is something deeply intimate about knitting with another woman’s yarn

Johnson County Library and The Writers Place are pleased to announce that Mary Silwance has won the poetry category of our writing contest on the theme of WOMEN'S VOICES with "The Mystery".

Mary Silwance lives in Kansas City. A mother, environmental activist, educator, farmhand and poet, she has served as poetry co-editor for Kansas City Voices and is a member of the Kansas City Writers Group. Her work has appeared in Konza Journal, Descansos, Heartland: Poems of Love, Resistance, and Solidarity, Sequestrum, Well Versed, Rock Springs Review, and on her blog, http://tonicwild.blogspot.com/

Johnson County Library and The Writers Place are pleased to announce that Timothy Tankard has won the open category of our writing contest on the theme of MUSIC with "The Crawdad Song".

Tankard grew up in Kansas City and lives here now. His jobs over the years have included teaching high school and junior college English, newspaper reporting and editing, and computer programming. (That's what has paid the bills!) He's had a few stories published in literary journals, including Kansas City's New Letters magazine. He likes to play music with his wife Valerie. They have two grown kids, Frank

Johnson County Library and The Writers Place are pleased to announce that Kayla Wiltfong has won the open category of our writing contest on the theme of MUSIC with "From the Joint".

Kayla Wiltfong is a student in the undergraduate English program at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, with an emphasis in creative writing. She had two poems published in the 2016 edition of Elementia and three in Shawnee Mission East's 2016 Free Lancer literary magazine. In 2017, she won a contest held by the Johnson County Library for her poem "Politics," as well as having an essay published in the

Johnson County Library and The Writers Place are pleased to announce that Rebecca Schier-Akamelu has won the short story category of our writing contest on the theme of MUSIC with "From One to the Next".

Rebecca writes from Overland Park and has previously been published in A Long Story Short and The Kansas City Star. She is also a voiceover artist and a proud wife and mom.

From One to the Next

Steph took a deep breath and plunged her foot into the muddy stream. It was icy cold; she curled her toes into the mud. She took a moment to let the cold rush through her, chilled to the bone on

Johnson County Library and The Writers Place are pleased to announce that Michael Harty has won the poetry category of our writing contest on the theme of MUSIC with "Ralna's Song".

Harty has been practicing psychology and psychoanalysis in the Kansas City area for a long time, and publishing poetry for a fairly small percentage of that time. So far he's had poems in Kansas City Voices, I-70 Review, New Letters, Coal City Review, and other magazines, and he's published a chapbook, The Statue Game.

Ralna’s Song

Nobody on the Lawrence Welk show

knew her the way I knew her,

all those years

Johnson County Library and The Writers Place are pleased to announce that Kaleah Petersen has won the open category of our writing contest on the theme of TIME with "A Matter of Time".

Kaleah Petersen is in eighth grade at Indian Woods Middle School and is taking a Creative Writing class. She enjoys writing poetry and fiction in her free time.

A Matter of Time
Time is precious
You always think
That you have more
Until
The only ticking you hear
Is your dying heart
Counting down
The final seconds of life
And every minute
Every second
Of your entire life
Flashes before you
In a single

Johnson County Library and The Writers Place are pleased to announce that Sarah Donohue has won the open category of our writing contest on the theme of TIME with "Grounded".

Donohue has been writing a weekly column in the Estes Park News in Estes Park, CO for 12 years. In 2017, she published "Slices of Life, Estes Park; Best of The Thunker Columns," a collection of favorite columns from the first 10 years. She currently lives in Lenexa and does seasonal work in Estes Park, supervising the hiking program for YMCA of the Rockies.

Grounded

Gone hiking. Back about 2:00.

She put the note on

At Johnson County Library, we love local authors. And when that local author is one of our own, we can't help but celebrate! Before transferring to our Leawood Library to work in the Youth Services Department, Hannah Jane Weber was active in our writing programs. We are proud to share that Hannah Jane had been awarded the 2017 Dylan Thomas American Award for the poem "Scenic Rail Tour" which is published in issue 63 of Rosebud. Of Hannah Jane's work, Grand Prize Winner, Judge Molly Peacock says "it is a twenty-first century nature poem" and she chose it "because of the double helix of its form

The Readers Advisory committee is pleased to announce that Frank Higgins has won our TIME poetry contest with his poem "The Summer We're All Sixteen". We love way the poem circles back on itself and illustrates both the universality of time and its unique passage for each of us.

Frank Higgins writes plays, and occasionally poetry and haiku.

The summer we’re all sixteen

we buy bathing suits we hide from our mothers.

And in the deck chairs at the town pool

we each let a boy rub baby oil

over our shoulders and backs.

And those boys, who gulp so hard

you can hear their Adam’s apples

The Readers Advisory committee is pleased to announce that Lisa Allen has won our Ain't It the Truth writing contest in the open category for her poem "Adoration."  With precise yet smoldering language, Allen's narrator carefully unravels the "secret histories" of the women who raised her--what remains hidden beneath the facades they were forced to adopt to survive.

Allen's choice of perspective allows readers to put themselves in the narrator's shoes and imagine the inner-workings of the matriarchs in their own lives.  "Adoration"'s truth doesn't come from absolute fact as much as lived

The Readers Advisory committee is pleased to announce that Kristin Pitts has won our Ain’t It the Truth writing contest in the short story category. In Last Night, Pitts develops her two characters nicely, primarily through effective use of dialogue; without further explanation, we know who they are and how they see the world.  Pitts’ response to the theme of truth is subtle, showing us that we can’t always rely on memory and, at times, we must rely on the evidence. 

Kristin Pitts is a Kansas City-based writer and editor. She is currently working on a novel about a summer camp romance gone

The Readers Advisory committee is pleased to announce that Marcia Hurlow has won our Ain't It the Truth poetry contest for her poem Maps. We love how simply so much is conveyed and how well the poet utilizes maps to illustrate a shrinking world.

Marcia L. Hurlow is the author of six collections of poetry. Her most recent chapbook, Brushstrokes on Water, was published by Finishing Line Press in January, and her full-length collection, Anomie, won the Edges Prize at WordTech. Her poems have appeared in various journals, including Poetry, Poetry Northwest, Nimrod, Poetry Wales, Stand, Miramar

Natasha Ria El-Scari is most known for her honesty about motherhood, womanhood, politics and love. Once asked in an interview what makes her unique she replied, "most people lie to themselves, but I like to reveal myself.” Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Natasha El-Scari has a BA from Jackson State University and a MA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her poetry, academic papers, and personal essays have been published in anthologies and journals. She lives in Kansas City.

Ria El-Scari will offer a poetry critique session at our 2017 Writers Conference.

When and how did

Eric McHenry is the immediate past Poet Laureate of Kansas. From Topeka, Kansas, McHenry attended Beloit College and then earned a MA in creative writing from Boston University. His work has been featured in The Harvard Review, Slate, Poetry Northwest, The New York Times Book Review and Salon. He lives in Lawrence and teaches at Washburn University of Topeka. McHenry will offer a poetry workshop at our 2017 writers conference.

I’m always curious about how someone starts out on a creative path in life. What do you think your first motives were for writing poetry?

I’ve often said that I think

The Readers Advisory committee is pleased to announce that Annie Newcomer has won our Build a Better World writing contest in the open category for her poem Caregivers. We find the poem an interesting and new take on our theme that works to capture a very specific type of "Building a Better World." The imagery is powerful and the author captures how our bodies can sometimes be forces of nature that suck us in and spit us out. And that some are able to witness this process of unknowing and struggle in others and stick around, trying to find what good they can in the uncertain mess. 

These

The Readers Advisory Committee is pleased to announce that Barbara K. Roberts has won our Build a Better World essay contest. We enjoyed how "Sisters Building a Better World" sheds light on the amazing rehabilitative work being done at Kansas City's Journey House, a prison re-entry program run in large part by a group of area nuns.  Roberts's ability to capture the women of Journey House--both those who work there and those who come to stay--gives readers a vibrant example of the impact one can have when they try to build a better world.

Barbara Kietzer Roberts writing includes short story

The Readers Advisory Committee is pleased to announce that Kayla Wiltfong has won our Build a Better World poetry contest. We enjoy Politics for both Wiltfong’s skill and confidence. She employs double-meanings to great effect, referencing multiple news items seen and heard in both social and mainstream media. On the surface, it’s a very short and simple poem, that evolves with each reading and teases our understanding. It’s clever in its aphoristic, tweet-like form, and addresses the theme of Build a Better World in an interesting way. You build a better world by saving what you value.

Kayl

Ann Ingalls first started making appearances at Johnson County Library in 2009 with the release of her picture book The Little Piano Girl, a biography about the childhood of jazz prodigy Mary Lou Williams. She has another round of appearances coming soon in conjunction with her latest title. Read on to learn more about the book and the author.

This July you are spending a day traveling to some Johnson County Library locations to share your new book, Fairy Floss: The Sweet Story of Cotton Candy. Can you tell us a little about the contents and creation of the book, as well as what attendees can

The Readers Advisory committee is very pleased to announce that Kent Moore has won the Open Category of our The Many in One writing contest with his entry "Rooted and Grounded in Love". In it, our protagonist Grace, is caught between the conflicting identities of wife and mother. The complexity of those relationships adds layers to Grace that we, as readers, get to know, but her daughter may never understand. The physicality of an old woman working in her garden foreshadows her intimate connection to the land and Moore's skillful dialogue brings humor upon a second reading, changing the

Amy Engel was born in Kansas. Over the next couple of decades, she boomeranged around the world – to Iran and back to Kansas City, to Taiwan and back to Kansas City, from the University of Kansas to Georgetown University in Washington D.C., and finally back to Kansas City. Phew! With a law degree in hand, she worked for ten years as a criminal defense attorney.

After marrying a fellow attorney and having children, she decided to be a stay-at-home mother and writer. The writing took a little longer to become a reality than the mothering. One day, a flash of inspiration hit, and she wrote her

In this world of ever-increasing digitization, self-expression has largely gone online. Books and other artistic works are shared in electronic formats. Socializing happens through networked media. Magazines, newspapers, and other serial paper publications are struggling to maintain readership.

That does not mean that all forms of paper expression have disappeared, though. One form--that has always been an underground format--retains a thriving community in the Kansas City area: Zines.

Just as the online term "blog" is a shortened form of "web log," "zine" is a shortening of the word

Did you know that the United States does not have a writers museum? We celebrate authors and have museums for visual arts (among many other things), but we don't really have a museum for writers and their books.

An article from Smithsonian.com recently caught our eye, not only for its content but because it also resembles something happening locally.

America’s First Writers Museum Is Slated to Open in May - A new home for celebrating American literary titans, titles and traditions takes root in Chicago. The key to the project, say its developers, has been figuring out how to bring the