Midwest Writers Room
Podcast from the Wisconsin Writers Association. We discuss all things writerly, with an emphasis on the unique flavor of works that originate in the Midwest.
Episodes
150 episodes
Chapter Break with Keith Pilapil Lesmeister, September 2026
BIO:Keith is the author of the story collections Ask Me About the Money and We Could’ve Been Happy Here. A graduate of the Bennington Writing Seminars, his work has received support from the Anderson Center, Iowa...
Chapter Break with Shoshauna Shy, September 2026
BIO:In the last several years, Shoshauna Shy’s stories have been included in Brilliant Flash Fiction’s anniversary contest anthology, were long and shortlisted in two Bath Flash Fiction Award anthologies, and received fin...
Chapter Break with Kevin Del Principe
BIO:Kevin Del Principe is a writer and film director. I Animal, published by Tumbleweed Books, is his debut novel. He directed and co-wrote the feature film Up on the Glass. He has also written for television and...
Chapter Break with Ryan T Pozzi
BIO:Ryan T. Pozzi is a Council Bluffs, Iowa-based nonfiction author whose debut, The Mess That Made Them: How History’s Greatest Artists Failed, Floundered, and Made Something Brilliant Anyway, is published by Bloomsbury. After tw...
Season 4, Ep. 15 - Martha Engber, August 2026
BIO:Martha’s most recent book, SCATTERED LIGHT, just won an IPPY Silver Medal for Great Lakes Fiction. The book is the sequel to WINTER LIGHT, an IPPY Gold Medal Winner for YA. She’s currently at work on the last book in the...
Chapter Break with Patrick O'Donnell
BIO: Patrick O'Donnell proves there's life after retirement. Raised in Chicago by Irish immigrant parents, he later earned a sociology degree from UW-Whitewater, then spent 25 years with the Milwaukee Police Department as a s...
Season 4, Ep. 14 - Hannah Larrew, August 2026
BIO:Hannah Larrew is the founder of Spellbound PR, a boutique public relations agency built for authors, artists, and creative people with stories worth telling. She specializes in thoughtful publicity campaigns, media relations, ...
Season 4, Ep. 13 - Evelyn Rainey, August 2026
BIO:Evelyn is an ordained minister, author, and publisher whose scholarship and ministry bridge Protestant, Celtic/Coptic Catholic, and Jewish traditions. As CEO of ShelteringTree.Earth, LLC, she leads a traditional publishing hou...
Season 4, Ep. 12 - Jamie Wolf, June 2026
BIO:Jamie is a Wisconsin author, speaker, and community advocate. Her work is mostly non-fiction, focusing on emotional strength and healing. In 2024, she published her memoir Putting Myself Back Together: From Broken to Heale...
Season 4, Ep. 11 - Steven Strackbein, June 2026
BIO:After navigating the challenges of independently publishing his own speculative fiction, including The Change Paradox, Alexandria’s Genesis and Digital Landscape, Steven founded Sisyphus Triumphant Publishing...
Chapter Break with Julie Jacob
BIO: When Julie A. Jacob was a child, she decided she wanted to be a writer, and she’s been writing ever since. Her professional career has focused on health care communications, but through the years she has kept on writing ...
Season 4, Ep. 10 - Rebecca Zornow, May 2026
BIO:Rebecca writes science fiction and fantasy for overthinkers and romantics. She is a Hal Prize winner, member of the Wisconsin Writers Association, and full member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.
Season 4, Ep. 9 - Alicia Boemi, May 2026
BIO:Alicia Boemi calls herself a ‘literary dabbler’, she is the author of the children's books, THE MAILBOAT DOG and THE SAFETY PATROL DOG. Alicia has a poetry chapbook called THE LAKE REMAINS coming out summer of 2026. She is als...
Season 4, Ep. 8 - Scott McConnaha - April 2026
BIO:Scott is an Army veteran, former middle school and high teacher, journal editor, and healthcare administrator. He and his wife, Colleen, have four children and two grandchildren. He holds master’s degrees in English and moral ...
Chapter Break with Debra Hall
BIO:Debra Hall is a Racine poet whose work explores the intersection of love, loss, and the sacred ordinary. She just published her debut chapbook, What the Current Cannot Swallow. She serves as the current president of the ...
Chapter Break with Jason Rumbaugh
BIO:SYNOPSIS:Waves of Shrapnel: A Soldier’s Journey” is a dark, raunchy, and unfiltered memoir from Jason’s time in the Iraq War. It captures the reality of deployment—the absurdity, the fear, and the dark humor that keeps sold...
Chapter Break with Bruce Landay
BIO:Bruce Landay writes near future military political techno-thrillers. As a former US Air Force officer, he brings an authentic vibe to his military characters, their mission focus, and internal motivation to defend their core p...
Season 4, Ep. 7 - Katrina Serwe, April 2026
BIO:Katrina worked as a therapist, professor, and researcher in the field of occupational therapy for over two decades. She started poemwalking after a delightful midlife crisis and ended up hiking the entire 1,200 miles ...
Chapter Break with Brad H Hill
BIO:Brad H. Hill is the author of No One Is Normal: Breaking Free from Normal, a collection of raw and honest short stories exploring struggle, identity, and the pressure to live up to society’s idea of “normal.” Drawing ...
Chapter Break with Tammy Borden
BIO:Tammy Borden is sought-after speaker and author of Waltraud: A True Story of Growing Up in Nazi Germany, a World War II novel based on her mother’s first-hand accounts as a German girl during one of the darkest chapters in his...
Chapter Break with Laurie Hertzel
BIO:Laurie spent 15 years as the books editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune (now called the Minnesota Star Tribune) and is the author of News to Me: Adventures of an Accidental Journalist, also published by the University of Min...
Season 4, Ep. 6 - Geoff Herbach, March 2026
BIO:Geoff grew up in Southwestern Wisconsin playing both football and the cello. He is the author of nine Young Adult novels, a picture book, and a literary novel. He received the Cybils Award for best YA Fiction, the Minnesota Bo...
Chapter Break with Jaqueline Redmer
Bio: Jackie Redmer is a family medicine physician who practices geriatrics and palliative care in the Driftless Region of Southwest Wisconsin. She is also the mother of three school-aged daughters. She started wr...
Chapter Break with Richard Sweitzer
BIO:Richard is an award-winning writer and longtime morning radio host. He received his Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Prior to that he studied English Literature and Creative...
Season 4, Ep. 5 - Kara Grajkowski, March 2026
BIO:Kara is an elementary school teacher by day and a literary agent for 3 Seas Literary Agency by mid-afternoon. She is passionate about championing high-interest, accessible stories that celebrate diverse identities and experiences. Ha...