We're taking the Polar Bear Plunge again. Maybe. (It's up to you.)

Here at Stoneboat Literary Journal and Pebblebrook Press, our annual fundraiser (donate here) has given rise to a New Year’s tradition. For three years in a row, our co-editors in chief took the Polar Bear Plunge to solicit monetary support for the journal and its press. In 2014, ’15, and ’16, Rob Pockat and Signe Jorgenson jumped into icy Lake Michigan on New Year's Day, despite subzero temperatures, to raise funds that offset our annual operating costs. While this helped us raise money, it also put their health in jeopardy each January. We gave our EICs the year off in 2017 and held a more traditional fundraiser instead. But there’s no fun in that—not for us, and not for you, our supporters.

So, we’re reviving the Polar Bear Plunge fundraiser in 2018 (donate here), but with two twists. First, Poetry and Arts Editor Lisa Vihos will be joining Rob and Signe at the lakefront. And second, our donors will decide whether we stay warm and dry on New Year’s Day or jump into the water with the crowd that chants “It’s not cold enough!” no matter how low the mercury dips. Donors will designate their contributions as “Plunge” or “Don’t Plunge,” and the group that raises the most funds will determine our fate. We’ll broadcast live from Lake Michigan on New Year’s Day, via Facebook, to announce the winner—and jump in if need be.

Stoneboat Literary Journal Welcomes Guest Poetry Editor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Signe Jorgenson

Stoneboat Literary Journal

PO Box 1254
Sheboygan, WI 53082-1254

920-783-8512

stoneboat.journal @gmail.com

Sheboygan, WI –May  4, 2017 – Stoneboat Literary Journal is pleased to announce that Katie Amundsen will serve as Guest Poetry Editor for the Fall 2017 issue. Amundsen will take on the Poetry Editor role that is normally filled by Lisa Vihos, who will spend the coming months focusing on building a children’s reading garden in Malawi.

Stoneboat & Pebblebrook Need Your Help

Dear Friends,

As many of you know, our co-editors in chief, Rob Pockat and Signe Jorgenson, have taken part in the Polar Bear Plunge fundraiser at Sheboygan's lake front for the last three years, jumping into the lake in sub-zero temperatures on New Year's Day to solicit your support for Stoneboat literary journal and its imprint Pebblebrook Press.

Introducing our newest INTERNal recruit

Hello! My name is Brittany Beckmann—avid coffee drinker, reader, and writer. I will be interning with Stoneboat over the next several months. I graduated from Lakeland in May of 2015, earning a degree in both creative writing and vocal performance. Like so many who frequent this blog or follow Stoneboat, I also have a passion for writing—mostly nonfiction—and reading. During my undergrad, I had the opportunity to intern with Seems under the direction of Karl Elder and am looking forward to working alongside editors and publishers once again. In my free time, you can find me singing with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, tutoring at the Mead Public Library, or playing piano for a church somewhere out in the boonies. I’m excited to work with Stoneboat and to learn more about the inner-workings of literary journals.

Call for Submissions: “Beyond Red and Blue: Voices for America”

Stoneboat Literary Journal seeks submissions of poetry, literary prose, cartoons, b&w artwork, graphic literature, and photo essays for a special section of the Spring 2017 issue, tentatively titled “Beyond Red and Blue: Voices for America.”

Remembering the Vineyard

Listen to the voice

of each dead poet

as if it were yours.

It is.

Philip Dacey

From Mosquito Operas, 2010

The sad news came today that a poet and good friend to Stoneboat, Philip Dacey, has died after struggling with leukemia for quite a while. I only met Philip in person on one occasion, and that was at the Great Lakes Writers Festival at Lakeland College back in 2007. At the time, I had not tried to write a poem for many years. I was on major hiatus as far as poetry was concerned. But meeting Philip and hearing his work, I was impressed by his poems and by his welcoming nature. He was not snobbish about poetry. He did not make it seem like an enterprise for only some special sect of people. He helped me see that poetry is there for anyone who wants to partake of it. He was a true mentor in that regard.

Break Out Your Dancing Shoes, Poetic Pairings Are Coming

Lisa Vihos, Stoneboat's poetry and arts editor, reporting here:

I have been long fascinated by the way in which poetry, when spoken aloud (as opposed to read in silence from the printed page) is in fact a form of theater. This hit me upside the head a few years back when I staged a reading from my then-new chapbook, The Accidental Present, and instead of me droning on reading poem after poem, I had my friends and neighbors read the majority of poems in my stead. I cast my poems in the voices of people of all ages and walks of life, and the result was pretty nearly breathtaking. Seriously, it was very cool. Even people who had not come to Paradigm coffeehouse that night for poetry looked up from their laptops to listen.