Features from The Agora

Reflections and Deceptions, a photograph by Bill Eisinger

As a farm boy I loved to hike and explore nature. In college, biology was a natural fit for me and I was a professor at a West Coast university for nearly 40 years. After retiring, we moved to the Madison area to be near our daughter and family—Bill Eisinger.

Pintail Duck, a woodwork by Jim Albright

Hanging Up my Laundry, a short story by Howard Bowman

This piece can be downloaded from here.

Howard Bowman is a retired college instructor in the areas of philosophy and theology, as well as a retired member of the clergy. He and his wife live in Madison, well-situated near his beloved Driftless area trout streams.

Kohlrabi, a poem by Kate Dike

This piece can be downloaded from here.

Kate Dike has lived in Madison all her life, including her college years at UW-Madison. She thoroughly enjoys the many local and state parks and natural areas and even discovers a new one now and then. Poetry has always been a part of her life.

Melrose, a short story by Allen Youngwood

This piece can be downloaded from here.

Allen Youngwood hails from LaCrosse, Wisconsin. After a long career in infrastructure planning and environmental studies, he took up creative writing, in particular, screenwriting. Much like a blunt instrument, the rigors of getting his scripts produced persuaded him to recast them as short stories and flash fiction.

Storm Approaching, a painting by Joanna Kutter

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Joanna Kutter holds a degree in Art from Beloit College. She has been creating art most of her life but only started writing seriously in the past few years. She finds inspiration in unusual places and everyday situations. Joanna likes the experimental mixed media process and therefore her final pieces tend to be more abstract than representational.

Yarn Dyers, a painting by Sherry Ackerman

Inspiration:

Sherry Ackerman is grateful for Mary Ann Inman, a wonderful teacher who inspired her to take painting to another level, which has honored her with many awards for her watercolors and acrylics. Sherry is the Chairperson for AWA's Tiny Treasures, an avid gardener, walker, pickleball, and table tennis player.

Kitchen Match, a short story by Thomas Schlicht

You can download the complete work here.  You can also read along with your Agora Volume 7!

Tom Schlicht is one of the longest-serving PLATO coordinators. He has volunteered for this group since the mid-nineties. The oldest of six children, he got started in teaching by helping his sibs with homework and sports. He now enjoys the Golden Years with his long-suffering, faithful life-partner, whom he lovingly calls “St. Catherine.”

As a farm boy I loved to hike and explore nature. In college, biology was a natural fit for me and I was a professor at a West Coast university for nearly 40 years. After retiring, we moved to the Madison area to be near our daughter and family—Bill Eisinger

Day of Diagnosis, a poem by Diane Hughes

Text of Day of Diagnosis can be found here.

For Diane Hughes, art has long felt like a necessary counterpoint to my "real life" of accounting and administrative work for non-profit organizations. Retirement offered more time to focus on art, including offering "Exploring Creativity" as a PLATO class. I began writing after impulsively signing up for a PLATO memoir writing class.

Dr. Ackerman's Memory Training Seminar, a short story by Andy Millman

Andy Millman has been facilitating PLATO’s Writers Workshop since 2015. His own writing has appeared in numerous places including: The Big Jewel, Midwest Review, Little Old Lady Comedy, Weekly Humorist, Points in Case, Flash Fiction Magazine, Pif Magazine, Zest Literary Magazine, Helix, and Black Heart Magazine.

Morning Call, a painting by Susan Young Hoffman

When not creating art, Susan Young Hoffman spends time promoting literacy through her blog susanyounghoffman.wordpress.com, tutoring, and gardening. She recently published her second children's book Henry's Play on Words. Her work in acrylic and watercolor ranges from abstract art to realistic portraits