The “Spirit Lake Review” literary magazine is holding its annual Launch Party on Wednesday, May 12 via Facebook Live, and the UW-Platteville campus and community are cordially invited. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. Central Standard Time and will last about an hour. Viewers can expect to be thoroughly entertained with live music, readings and magazine features. While the event is traditionally held on the Baraboo campus, this virtual format allows editors to reach a wider audience, and the editors hope students, faculty and staff at the main campus will take this opportunity to attend this online event.
Please use this link to the Facebook page for the “Spirit Lake Review” literary magazine to “like” the magazine and join the launch party.
The “Spirit Lake Review” literary magazine will be published officially in print and PDF on May 12 as well. This 68-page full-color glossy magazine has a vast selection of stories, poems, creative nonfiction and artwork with enough variety to entertain all readers and viewers. This magazine was created by students and shows that anyone can create something special with a great team.
To provide some background, “Spirit Lake Review” was co-founded in 2004 by Kelly Dwyer and Mike O’Connell at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County. Before this, the college did not have a literary magazine, and Professor Dwyer believed that having one would be a large benefit to both the college and its students. The magazine is named after the Ho-Chunk name for Devil’s Lake, “Tawacunchukdah,” which better translates to “Spirit Lake.”
At its origination, Spirit Lake Review began as a club, but quickly instructors and students saw the need for a course dedicated to the creation and publication of the magazine. Literary Magazine is now a three-credit course offered to students at both the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and UWPBSC, currently in a virtual format. Each year, Wisconsin literature and global art are gathered, selected and displayed in the Spirit Lake Review Literary Magazine. Students are involved in every aspect from beginning to end: seeking literature and art, submitting their own literary and art pieces, marketing the magazine, selecting work to include, designing layout pages and facilitating the annual launch party.
When asked his opinion of the class, Dante Spence, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville at Baraboo Sauk County, stated, “I love the class environment. The students are in full control of making a complete magazine from nothing. I also love designing, reading and photography, and this class gives me the chance to practice and gain exposure to others’ work.”
The following is just a sneak peek of one of the many pieces in the magazine and what readers can expect to have the pleasure reading when it is published. This is a poem by Soroce King, who currently lives in Los Angeles and is a former editor of Spirit Lake Review. He is an extremely emotional writer and has written poetry for years, which shows in this poem especially. You can expect to have heavy feelings while reading this and feel the pain of the writer. Hopefully, this poem will make you want to read more of the magazine and enjoy what you read:

“Hey Siri”
By Soroce King

Facial features not recognized
I’m stigmatized in a manner
Kneel command not recognized
Hey Siri, Call pavement on facetime
Call rejected due to a hate crime.
Would you like to leave a voicemail?
Send a text that says knees on necks …
Hey Siri set a reminder
Publicly banned I’m sold short
By the court in that manner
Sorry can you repeat that?
In fact it’s systemic
Feelings bruised in a pandemic
Hey Siri….
I’m a Blackman
I’m a colored person
HEY SIRI!!!
Sorry can you repeat that?
The argument is moot
I’ll loot just to vent
But the people are content with this trauma
Curfews calling like mama
In the house before the street lights
And street fights go out
I’m Dwindling.
Hey Siri, I asked for a joke.
Needed in throngs of black folks.
I’m just trying to cope here…
Hey Siri, how’s the weather?
It’s currently clear and 75 degrees…