Month: March 2025

The Quill #2: AWE News #1

March 3, 2025

Northern Lights Deadline: March 16th!

Northern Lights Literary & Arts Journal is currently seeking submissions for its Spring 2025 edition, with a deadline of March 16, 2025. This annual, student-run publication is open to creative work from students, faculty, staff, and alumni across all four UW-Green Bay campuses. The journal invites submissions in various categories, including poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, art, photography, and interactive digital stories.

Northern Lights offers a unique platform for the UW-Green Bay community to share their work with a broader audience. Since its inception in 1980, the journal has carried a legacy, inspired by the northern lights often visible in Marinette, where it was first founded.

The journal is edited by a student team under the guidance of Professor Tracy Fernandez Rysavy. The current co-editors-in-chief are Ginger Knauer and Tiffany Jablonowski. Submissions are open to a range of creative works, with specific guidelines for each category. Writers can submit short stories, essays, poetry, flash fiction, and more, while visual artists can submit high-resolution images of their artwork or photography. This is a great opportunity to leave your creative mark and be a part of this longstanding tradition. Submit today!

—Ginger Knauer, Co-Editor-in-Chief

The Quill #2: AWE News #2

March 3, 2025

Doing is an Act of Teaching
Profs. Case and Meacham Release New Books

As we delve deeper into the semester, let’s take a moment to celebrate two important additions to the literary universe. Professors Rebecca Meacham and Julialicia Case, amidst their busy schedules, have both been recently published books.

Dr. Case, together with Salvatore Pane and Eric Freeze, co-authored a groundbreaking textbook, Story Mode: The Creative Writer’s Guide to Narrative Video Game Design, which uniquely combines game design and creative writing. This is a great resource to empower all writers to change the narrative while also working in a format that has been a mystery to many of us. Case gives us a guide to challenging the ideas of what video games have to be.

Dr. Meacham’s Feather Rousing gets personal by blending intimate memoir with historical fiction. Feather Rousingis a refreshing look at being human. This chapbook, a small book containing ballads, poems, tales, or tracts, takes you on a rollercoaster of tragedy and comedy. LaTanya McQueen, author of When the Reckoning Comes says: “In this genre-blending chapbook of stories and essays, Meacham uses historical events to comment on what it means to be a mother, a daughter, and a wife amidst the uncertainties of our world. Beautifully written, this fable-like collection, full of delight and intrigue, explores what it means to live and love and survive.”

Their success continues to enrich the lives of readers and writers everywhere. Our academic community is consistently made stronger thanks to the contributions of these and other innovative professors.

—Tiffany Jablonowski, Co-Editor-in-Chief

The Quill #2: AWE News #3

March 3, 2025

Sigma Tau Delta’s Dates to Watch

UWGB’s Sigma Tau Delta is more than a chapter of the National English Honors society. It is also a very well-known club around campus. But what some students may not know is that there are no requirements to join! Meetings and events are a space for students to share, collaborate, and expand their skills and ideas.

Meetings: 
Location: Mary Ann Cofrin Hall, Green Bay campus

  • Thursday, March 6 @ 5-6:30 p.m. (MAC 225)
  • Friday, March 28 @ 1-2:30 p.m. (MAC 223)
  • Thursday, April 10 @5-6:30 p.m. (MAC 225)
  • Friday, May 2 @1-2:30 p.m. (MAC 223)
Open Mic Nights
Location: Einstein Bros. Bagels, Student Union, Green Bay campus
  • Friday, March 7 @ 5-7 p.m.
  • Friday, April 11 @ 5-7 p.m.

Sign up to read, sing, or show off your talents upon arrival. No pre-registration is required.

Celebration of Thought and Beauty
Location: Phoenix Rooms, Student Union, Green Bay campus

  • Friday, May 2 @ 5-9 p.m.
This is a showcase that celebrates students’ artistic creativity through a mix of performances, discussions, and exhibits.
—Tiffany Jablonowski

The Quill #2: AWE News #4

March 3, 2025

Sierra on the Move:
Notes from our Marketing & Engagement InternNorthern Lights table

As we get closer to the Northern Lights deadline, you might see Marketing & Engagement Manager Sierra Nyokka out and about on our UWGB campuses handing out copies of the 2024 journal — and reminding you to submit.

Pictured above is Musa Abdikadir, English major and friend of the Northern Lights who has kindly been helping Sierra as she runs around our campuses. Below is a close-up of Sierra’s artfully arranged table.

Sierra writes: Northern Lights: A Literary and Arts Journal presented a table in the Student Union celebrating Black History Month and Presidents Day on January 17, 2025. The display featured Representative Shirley Anita Chisolm (1924-2005), the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968, representing New York’s 12th Congressional District. In 1972, “Fighting Shirley” ran for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Presidents Day Northern Lights table and artwork
Despite being denied a place in the televised presidential debates and dealing with an underfunded campaign, she won 152 delegate votes, 10% of the total votes. During her illustrious career, Chisholm held important positions including on the House Rules Committee. She was a tireless advocate for “racial and gender equality, and the plight of the poor.” Chisholm retired from politics in 1983 after serving seven consecutive terms.

Also featured on that display was Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), the first Black man to be nominated for Vice President of the United States on the Equal Rights Party ticket with Victoria Woodhall (1838-1927), a women’s rights and labor activist. Over his lifetime, Douglass was a prominent abolitionist, orator, writer, social reformer, and statesman. In 1877 during the presidency of Rutherford D. Hayes (1822-1893), Douglass held the position of U.S. Marshall of Washington, DC.

More information about Congresswoman Chisholm can be found here. More information about Fredrick Douglass can be found here. Books, photographs, and artwork provided by Sierra Nyokka, Marketing & Engagement Intern for Northern Lights Journal.

The Quill #2: Local Favorites #1

March 3, 2025

Local Black-Owned Businesses

As we say goodbye to Black History Month, we’ll be giving the spotlight to some local Black-owned businesses that you can show your support to year-round.

Lovell Richardson

Lovell Richardson Photography

Based in Green Bay, Lovell Richardson (pictured right) has been doing photography for over six years and has been published in numerous magazines. In 2024, he was awarded one of the Best Photography Businesses in Green Bay by BusinessRate. His services include anything from senior photos to engagement and wedding photography. Check him out for any of your photography needs!

Lil Jamaica

In the mood for some good food? Opened in 2019, Lil Jamaica is a restaurant and lounge owned by Derron Wilson and Janel Johnson. Their menu features authentic Jamaican cuisine ranging from jerk chicken to curries. They also provide services with their food truck and catering events.

Urban Cultural Arts and Events Center

For those with a love for arts and crafts, Urban Cultural Arts and Event Center is the place for you. They are a nonprofit organization founded in 2022 with the mission to create a safe space to participate in art events at an affordable price for the community. There are events for both youth and adults, so check out their website to see if any of them interest you.

—Clover Cicha, Local Favorites Editor

The Quill #2: Local Favorites #2

March 3, 2025

Join a Worldwide Phenomenon: Telephone! 

Telephone boothAttention all UWGB students and faculty: You are invited to join Telephone: A Game of Art Whispered Around the World.

Telephone is an international art project created in 2010 by Nathan Langston, a multimedia artist and software engineer. After moving from Portland, Oregon, to New York City, Nathan wanted a way to connect and collaborate with fellow artists. He came up with an art version of the childhood game Telephone.

“Telephone is an arts game in which a message is passed, not just from person to person, but from art form to art form. So a message could become a poem and then painting, film, music, sculpture, dance and so on,” writes Langston on the Telephone website. “[This] international art game connect[s] over one thousand artists from hundreds of cities across the world.”

Visit the site to learn more about the concept behind Telephone, as well as the people and the process of developing this collaborative game.

The third cycle of Telephone is now open for submissions, and you are all invited! Submit your name here and join the Telephone community.

“We’re calling all musicians, graphic artists, filmmakers, dancers, and more to apply — the application takes only five minutes and is the opportunity to join one of the largest cooperative multi-genre art projects in the world,” writes Langston.

—Sierra Nyokka, Marketing & Engagement Manager

The Quill #2: Local Favorites #3

March 3, 2025

Visit Milwaukee

MIlwaukee is about two hours away from Green Bay, a short drive. It is a bustling destination full of entertainment and adventure. Whether you’re a history buff, an art lover, a foodie, or someone who enjoys traveling, Milwaukee may genuinely have something extraordinary for you, for everyone!

MARCH EVENTS

Festival Symphony OrchestraSaturdays: Milwaukee’s Festival City Symphony offers free “accessible-to-all” concerts every Saturday at the Bradley Symphony Center. 

March 21: The 12th Annual Milwaukee’s Blues Festival, which will take place at the Riverside Theater at 8 p.m., is a unique night of moving lyrics and guitar-driven accompaniment.

PLACES

  • MKE Art MuseumMilwaukee Art Museum: Renowned for its stunning architecture and impressive collection of artworks, the Milwaukee Art Museum is a must-visit for visitors and art enthusiasts alike.
  • Milwaukee Public Museum: Experience, explore, and discover history, culture, and innovation in “Wisconsin’s largest natural history museum.”
  • “Slice of Ice” at Red Arrow Park: Free outdoor ice skating (with your own skates) transforms winter nights into a magical adventure! Glide beneath the city’s skyline, creating unforgettable memories of joy and exhilaration. Skates, skating aides, and mobility sleds available to rent.

FOOD
Milwaukee has some great eateries with a relaxed atmosphere are off the beaten path, and the food … ¡delicioso!

  • Café Corazon: Wonderful ambiance, authentic Latin dishes, and reasonable prices.
  • Classic Slice: This pizza spot is a must. It has an existentialist vibe.
  • Milwaukee Public Market: Indulge in delicious flavors at their community events and experience the vibrant world of artisanal and ethnic food!
—Mia Perez-Behringer

The Quill #2: Recommended Reads #1

March 3, 2025

Dune
by Frank Herbert

Dune coverWhen it comes to complex interstellar stories that present deep, thought-provoking messages, there are few I’ve experienced that have surpassed Frank Herbert’s Dune. Published in 1965, Dune is an epic novel that is considered by some to be the work that defined the science fiction genre as we know it today.

The primary setting is a desert planet called Arrakis, a fully fleshed-out world consisting of well-developed civilizations, an intricate, highly feudal political system, and a protagonist whomay be one of the most complex characters in fiction.

Paul Atreides, the son of the esteemed Duke Leto Atreides, is the final product of nearly 10,000 years of careful planning and breeding by the Bene Gesserit — a group of women who possess superhuman abilities. This is done for the sake of producing the Kwisatz Haderach (a male Bene Gesserit) who is prophesized to possess the ability to bridge time and space, thus shaping the very fate of the universe. From an early age, Paul displays many extraordinary powers — including the ability to see into the future — confirming his status as the Kwisatz Haderach. However, much to the chagrin of the Bene Gesserit, Paul chooses not to submit to their manipulation, instead striving to forge his own destiny. This takes Paul on an epic journey across Arrakis, forging an alliance with the nomadic Fremen for the sake of freeing the planet from the control of House Harkonnen, who have maintained dominance over the planet for the better part of a century.

While Dune features many familiar tropes, such as the “messianic chosen one,” it is depicted in a way that serves more as a deconstruction of the trope. While Paul does reject his status as the Kwisatz Haderach, his actions throughout the story cause significant harm to a great many people. This is Frank Herbert’s way of warning readers against placing power in the hands of “messianic” individuals, implying that it can lead society down a dangerous path of self-destruction. Prophecies can be incorrect, and chosen ones are not always willing to follow their chosen destiny. Paul is a prime example of this, and his gradual descent into darkness sends a truly powerful message to readers of all backgrounds.

So, is this a story that might engage you as much as it interested me? If your answer is yes, then get out there and snag a copy of Dune for yourself!  And if you’d rather check it out on the big screen, consider giving Dennis Villeneuve’s film adaptations a shot instead: Dune: Part One (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024) can both be found on HBO Max (Max), or both can be rented on Apple TV or Amazon Prime Video.

—Noah Spellich, Books Editor

The Quill #2: Recommended Reads #2

March 3, 2025

Dawn By Octavia E. Butler

Dawn coverHow far can you stretch your mind? Pushing the boundaries of our world and minds is an essential feat in science fiction, one Octavia Butler is exceptional at. In Dawn, published in 1987, Butler carries this out by creating an alien species. She imagines how humans would react to this species by looking at how we handle the differences we see in each other.

Lilith Iyapo is the heroine of Dawn, and she must face an impossible situation. She is human in a world of non-human beings. The natural, human responses of anger, fear, and desire for human companionship that Lilith has to her situation often make it more difficult for her. Yet it is her humanity — her ability to understand other humans and the very DNA her cells contain — that makes her useful to her captors. Read more …  She wakes up alone in a room after watching her entire world be destroyed. Everyone that she loves has died, and she knows, though the room has no entrance or obvious surveillance devices, that she is not truly alone. Eventually, a being enters her room, its very strangeness so repellent that she can hardly bear to be in the same space with it. The being is shaped like a human, but its skin ripples with tiny feelers. It has no eyes yet can still see her.

Slowly, Lilith becomes acclimated to her captors and comes to understand why she and other human survivors are being held captive. Her captors call themselves the Oankali and depend on genetic exchanges with other species to survive. She comes to trust that they mean to save the human species. But do their goals really match up with hers? What price can she accept for the survival of her species? And most importantly, what does it mean to be human? The thought Butler puts into exploring these questions and her characters’ responses to them made this book unforgettable for me — and hopefully will make it equally unforgettable to you

—Neesa Peak

The Quill #2: Recommended Reads #3

March 3, 2025

Calamity
by Constance Fay

CalamityWhen I first picked up Constance Fay’s Calamity, it wouldn’t be a lie to say it was because I was actively judging a book by its cover. I wasn’t super into the sci-fi genre last year, but Calamity‘s topic caught my attention and seemed interesting enough to read. It turned out to be a thrilling romance that blended intergalactic adventure with a touch of space-mafia politics. Being a huge Star Wars fan, the space-mafia side of the book was exactly what I needed to stay engaged. If you’re into sci-fi with a romantic subplot and fun, witty banter, Calamity is up your alley.

The story follows a girl named Temperance Reed, otherwise known as Temper. I’ll admit, when I first saw the strange names, I was a bit thrown off, but they grew on me after a while. Temper is an “exile” from one of the wealthiest and most powerful family groups that control everything in the galaxy. She’s the captain of an inherited scout ship named Quest and is fiercely loyal to her crew. Temper’s life takes a turn when she receives an offer from the Escajedas, one of the top five families, to scout a desert planet called Herschel 2. 

The catch? She has to take one of their sons, Arcadio Escajeda, with them for security. The two travelers face strange cultists, erupting volcanoes, and a spicy bond that starts to form between them. The book is written in almost a “Wattpad-ish” way, which I always find easy to read since those stories don’t make things too complicated.

I finished the book in a single day, so it can definitely keep you hooked! Calamity centers around exactly what the title describes — a catastrophic event. It isn’t a one-trick pony either, as the Uncharted Hearts series has a currently available second book, Fiasco, with the third one, Chaos, planned for release in March. These sequels focus on different characters from Temper’s crew, who you learn to love just as much. If you’re looking for a book to get you into the sci-fi genre, Calamity could be an awesome choice!

—Katie Frank