.png)
We are celebrating both Jazz Month and Poetry Month in April 2025! We are pairing a poem written either in Wisconsin, by a Wisconsinite, or about Wisconsin with a jazz song produced in Wisconsin, by a Wisconsinite, or about Wisconsin each day.
Read and listen to week three's featured poems and jazz, and nominate an artist or an arts organization to be included in the Poetry Month and Jazz Month tandem spotlight.
Find the full Jazz Month 2025 Youtube playlist here.
Day Ten
Beginning the third week of Poetry and Jazz Month 2025, we are spotlighting an excerpt from « The Woman and the Whale » by Ethel Mortenson Davis, an artist and poet from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, along with « Cow Cow Boogie » performed by Freddie Slack, a boogie-woogie, swing, and jazz pianist and bandleader from southwest Wisconsin.
Day Eleven
We are spotlighting an excerpt from « THE FOX OF MY IMAGINATION » by Cynthia Marie Hoffman, a poet who calls Madison, Wisconsin her home, along with « What'd You Say (Dealin', 1973) » performed by Richard Davis, legendary jazz bassist who called Madison, Wisconsin his home.
.png)
Day Twelve
We are spotlighting « liminal light » by Moki Ruminski, 2025-2026 Woodland Pattern Emerging Poet Fellow, along with « Dark Eyes » performed by Les Paul, who was known as an innovator in the music world, and born in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Located in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood, Woodland Pattern is a poet- and artist-run nonprofit book center, gallery, and performance space. Each year, they present over 400 programmatic activities and events. Their goals are to promote a lifetime practice of reading and writing; to serve as a forum and resource center for poets and other artists in our region; to encourage collaboration and exchange across the literary, sonic, and visual arts; and to act as a bridge between local and national communities of poets and other artists.
Day Thirteen
We are spotlighting « The Climate’s Changed Already » by Mary Linton, a wetland scientist, aquatic ecologist, educator, and published poet who was a long time resident of Fort Atkinson, WI, along with « In Your Own Sweet Way » performed by Manty Ellis, Milwaukee, WI local icon known as the Godfather of Milwaukee Jazz.
Day Fourteen
Rounding out the third week of Jazz and Poetry Month, we are spotlighting « My Life by Water » by Lorine Niedecker, an important twentieth-century American poet, living most of her life on the shores of the Rock River near Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, along with « Like Someone in Love » performed by Janet Planet, a renowned jazz vocalist and educator based in Appleton, WI.
Planet will be performing on April 19th, 2025 at 7:00 PM, at the Racine Theatre Guild!
Keep up with the Jazz month and Poetry Month celebrations on our socials (Instagram, Facebook), and check back next week for more amazing poems and songs!