ONLINE: David Southward

press release: David Southward grew up in southwest Florida and earned degrees in English from Northwestern and Yale Universities. In 1998 he joined the Honors College at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he is currently Senior Lecturer. Through introductory courses in graphic novels and film, as well as advanced courses in poetry and aesthetics, David shares his passion for the arts in all their variety. His first chapbook, Apocrypha, was published by Wipf & Stock in 2018, and his collection Bachelor’s Buttons appeared from Kelsay Books in 2020. Otherpoems have appeared recently in THINK, Gyroscope Review, Measure, Light, Bramble, Millwork,and Verse-Virtual. David is a two-time winner of the Lorine Niedecker Prize from the Council for Wisconsin Writers (2016, 2019) and the Muse Prize from the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets (2017; selected by Mark Doty). In 2019 his poem “Mary’s Visit” was chosen from 978 entries for the $1,000 Frost Farm Prize for Metrical Poetry. David resides in Milwaukee with his husband, Geoff.

Since 2011 Shake Rag Alley has partnered with the Council for Wisconsin Writers (CWW), Wisconsin People & Ideas, and the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission through the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters to offer week-long residencies to their annual writing contest winners.

In the tradition established by Edenfred, the Terry Family Foundation’s artist residence in Madison, writers and poets are provided with a week of uninterrupted time to focus on a project of their choice.

Between the months of December through March, writers stay in Shake Rag Alley’s inspiring lodging facilities surrounded by the nurturing environment of historic Mineral Point’s artistic community. Visiting writers participate in workshops, readings, and/or community outreach activities, including Wednesday evening Winter Writers Reading Series author talks and discussions.

2020-21 readings and discussions offered virtually via Zoom.