A Homecoming Farewell—A Weekend of Readings and Reunions in Riverwest

Fri. May 22 | 7 pm CDT ($Give What You Can)

We kick off our final weekend of programs on Locust Street with a celebration of Soham Patel’s The Daughter Industry (Nightboat Books), alongside readings from Mauricio Kilwein Guevara and Wisconsin Poet Laureate, Brenda Cárdenas.

A former Woodland Pattern volunteer and reading series curator, Soham Patel is the author of The Daughter Industry (Nightboat, 2026), as well as all one in the end—/water (2022), ever really hear it (2018), winner of the Subito Prize, and to afar from afar (2018).

Current Wisconsin Poet Laureate and former Milwaukee Poet Laureate Brenda Cárdenas has authored Trace (Red Hen Press), winner of the 2023 Society of Midland Authors Award for Poetry and silver winner of Foreword Review’s Indie Poetry Prize; Boomerang (Bilingual Press); and three chapbooks as well as editing two anthologies. Her poems have also been published in literary magazines and anthologies such as Poetry, American Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner, and the Library of America’s Latino Poetry anthology among many others. Cárdenas is Professor Emerita of English at UW–Milwaukee and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Woodland Pattern in Milwaukee where she lives with her husband, the poet Roberto Harrison, and their dog, Maya.

Mauricio Kilwein Guevara was born in Boyacá, Colombia, and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. He retired as Professor of English at UW–Milwaukee, where he taught creative writing and contemporary literature for many years. He had the privilege of directing Soham Patel’s doctoral dissertation, titled The Daughter Industry. A longtime friend of Woodland Pattern, Mauricio is the author of four poetry collections, a book of translations published in Spain, and a play performed Off-Broadway. His novel, The Thieves of Guevara, a road novel set mostly in Ecuador, is forthcoming.

1 pm CDT: Bryon Cherry, Siwar Masannat, and Bethany Price—We begin a tremendous final day of programs on Locust Street with three inimitable poets, each of whom have been steady fixtures of Woodland Pattern’s programming and community for many years.

3 pm CDT: Small-Press Appreciation: pitymilk press—For our final installment of Small-Press Appreciation on Locust Street, we could not be happier to feature the fearless and homegrown-in-Riverwest pitymilk press. Join us for readings and conversations with TBA pitymilk authors curated by editors edie roberts and Chelsea Tadeyeske. Small-Press Appreciation is an ongoing series celebrating publishers doing passionate and exemplary cultural work outside the mainstream.

5 pm CDT: Old School “Poetry Marathon” Potluck—Bring a dish, share a dish. We’ll provide utensils, bowls, and plates, and we’ll have some beverages on hand. Crockpots galore and Locust Street lore, in memory of so many Marathons past.

7 pm CDT: Native Writers in the 21st Century—Befittingly, Woodland Pattern’s longest-running reading series will close out this special weekend and represent our final curated program on Locust Street. Please join us for readings by Sherwin Bitsui, Kimberly Blaeser, Franklin K.R. Cline, and Jake Skeets—all returning writers of this series, which has featured more than 100 Indigenous writers—both emerging and established—since 2007.

Sun. May 24 | 2–5 pm CDT (Open to the public)

Closing Reception for Art That Keeps on Singing: Work by Anne Kingsbury: An open house and toast to Anne and her art, and to all the Woodland Patterning that has been done on Locust Street over the years. See you there! View the exhibition here: woodlandpattern.org/art-that-keeps-on-singing

Reading: A Homecoming Farewell—Friday