Karen Haley has made Milwaukee her home for over twenty years, moving here to be close to family. An active member of WFOP and Woodland Pattern’s Wednesday Writers group, her poems and essays have appeared in various publications and anthologies, including Verse Wisconsin, Leaves of Peace, and more, with nature, Lake Michigan, and family as frequent subjects.

Scott Lowery grew up in Minneapolis, and lived almost thirty years in the Driftless area of SE Minnesota. His chapbook, Mutual Life, observes small-town life against a looming backdrop of pandemic, climate change, and extremism. The collection placed second in the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets’ 2024 Chapbook Contest. His poems have appeared in Rattle, Prairie Schooner, Great River Review, River Styx, RockPaperPoem, Sky Island Review, and elsewhere. Scott thinks that Lyrical versus Political is a false dichotomy. He and his wife now live in Milwaukee, near their young grandchildren. Find more: www.scottlowery.org

Sheryl Slocum (West Allis, Wisconsin) recently retired from her English language teaching career to focus on writing. Sheryl’s poetry has appeared in multiple literary publications such as Blueline, Bramble, and Wisconsin People & Ideas. Her book, Leaving Lumberton, was published by Wipf and Stock in 2022. In May 2025, her son, Jacob Slocum, released a jazz suite, “Repentance,” based on Sheryl’s poem by the same name. Sheryl is currently working on a series of poems based on mindful movement/qigong. She is a member of the Hartford Avenue Poets and the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets.

Poetry Reading: Karen Haley, Scott Lowery, and Sheryl Slocum