Words

TAILSPIN: THE STORY OF A WISCONSIN WWII GUNMAN

In the book’s forward, he shared that he would assign a new writing project and the next time they met, someone would disclaim their work by saying “I don’t think I did this right.” And nothing could have been further from the truth.

The poetry group was an outgrowth of a Tuesday night support group – the Blugold Brain Injury Group – formed by UW-Eau Claire speech and language pathology professor Jerry K. Hoepner who had met Constantine at an aphasia camp. Hoepner shares that through this creative process, the participants shared their healing and gained a greater sense of self-worth and identity.

Even the cover art of a robin pulling a worm from the ground is by Clare Sierra, an artist who used painting with her left hand as rehab after a stroke and aphasia in 2002.

The book is available for $10 at The Local Store.

DESCRIBED AS “BIGGER THAN LIFE BUT NOT FANTASTICAL,” AND AN “EXTRAORDINARY, MOVING ACCOUNT OF SURVIVAL AND ENDURANCE” by Kirkus Reviews, Tailspin by John Armbruster tells the true story of a World War II tail gunman from Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin, who survived a four-mile fall without a parachute after it was shredded by enemy fire, falling into Nazi hands. Chippewa Falls’ Heyde Center for the Arts will be hosting a presentation of the novel on Aug. 8 at 7pm in collaboration with the Chippewa Valley Cultural Assocation and the Chippewa Falls Public Library as part of the Chippewa Valley Book Festival. Armbruster was a close friend of the Moran family and initially refused to write Gene’s story, for its utterly powerful significance felt too much for a 20-years-removed journalism degree holder. But, after one of Gene’s daughters told Armbruster her father would only tell his story if Armbruster were the one to write it, he took on Gene’s story. For more than 60 years, Gene said next to nothing of his story, Armbruster’s learning of it all becoming a story of its own too. Learn more about Gene and Tailspin on Aug. 8 at the Heyde Center at 7pm. –McKenna Scherer

Sky Island Journal Hits 5-Year Milestone

SKY ISLAND JOURNAL, A FREE-ACCESS, INDEPENDENT LITERARY JOURNAL WITH AN INTERNATIONAL REACH, PUT DOWN ITS ROOTS IN 2017, CO-FOUNDED BY CHIPPEWA FALLS NATIVE JEFF SOMMERFELD AND EAU CLAIRE’S JASON SPLICHAL. Just this month, Sky Island celebrated its five-year anniversary. More than 20 issues published by the five-year milestone on July 14, Sky Island has published nearly 700 writers from across the globe and has garnered 115,000 readers in 145 countries. “We both have other full-time jobs, and we both have families, but this is our passion,” Sommerfeld said. “We’re constantly learning from each other, our readers, our contributors, and the editing process itself.” Sky Island is freshly distinctive in numerous ways, specifically compared to other publications, perhaps its largest stand-out differences being its accessibility and Sommerfeld and Splichal’s genuine communication with submitters. While each issue is different, Sky Island’s acceptance rate for work is around 3%, though it has always fallen between 1.5-5.5% after their initial two issues. To put those percentages into more tangible numbers: for Sky Island Issue 21 – their summer issue that just dropped – they received 1,549 individual pieces, and the issue ending up with 60. “We’ve earned a reputation from readers and writers alike for quality, professionalism, respect, kindness, attention to detail, and one of the fastest response times on the planet,” they said. “We’ve carved a clear path for ourselves in the world of literary journals by always placing the interests of readers and writers at the core of everything we do.” Pausing or scaling back is not an option for the pair, they said, as they believe the power of the written word can truly change lives, and the world, for the better. Visit skyislandjournal.com to view all issues.

–McKenna Scherer