On Tuesday, June 13th the Forest Lodge Library welcomes regional poets Peggy Trojan and Jan Chronister who will be reading from recently published work honoring their fathers.
Peggy Trojan, who lives in Brule, published her first poem in 2010, at the age of 77. She has, since then, published many times and her work is very well regarded. Peggy’s first chapbook Everyday Love, a collection of poems about her parents, placed second in the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets chapbook contest in 2015. This chapbook was followed by Homefront: Childhood Memories of WWII, her full-length collection Essence, her third chapbook Free Range Kids and a compilation of many of her poems into the title All that Matters.
Peggy’s fourth chapbook River recounts her life of growing old with her husband David, and how their existence was suddenly interrupted by his diagnosis of Lewy body dementia. In PA, the title she’ll be reading from on 6/13, Peggy pays tribute to her father Wayne Lundeen who lived a full life and strongly influenced her with his values and actions. PA won second place in the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets’ chapbook contest in 2022. Peggy’s most recent chapbook, The Dance, is a compilation of poems that looks back at a long life and ponders the present.
Jan Chronister, who has been writing poetry for sixty years, mas o menos, lives and gardens in Maple, WI with her husband of 50+ years.
Her work appears in a variety of journals and anthologies. Jan has won awards from Lake Superior Writers (Duluth), the Tallgrass Writers Guild (Indiana), Highland Park Poetry (Illinois), the Emberlight Festival (Michigan), the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, and the League of Minnesota Poets.
Jan’s first chapbook Target Practice was published in 2009. Casualties, a chapbook of Holocaust poems, was published in 2017. Her first full-length collection Caught between Coasts was released
Jan’s second full-length collection titled Decennia, published in 2020 received the Kops-Fetherling Award for Poetry. Distanced: Poems from the Pandemic, Jan’s fourth chapbook, was written to document the months of February through November 2020. It was recognized as an Outstanding Book in Poetry by the WLA. Heartsick, Jan’s fifth chapbook, contains poems reflecting events in the poet’s life from 2021. In 2022 Jan published a chapbook dedicated to her father titled Son of Norway. This is the title she will read from on the 13th. Flight Patterns (2022) is her seventh chapbook. A third chapbook, Bird Religion, came out in 2019 and was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets chapbook contest.
It is rumored that there will be treats! We hope to see you there!
