Saturday, July 11, 2026
Friday, June 26, 2026
Racine Public Library executive director wins state poetry award
Ryan Patterson
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Nick Demske, left, and Dave Demske celebrate after Nick received an award at a Wisconsin Writers Awards event in May in Madison. |
RACINE — Nick Demske has always loved words.
In middle school, language provided an outlet for him.
That was when Demske began writing poetry to help deal with the mental health challenges he was facing, including anxiety and depression.
“I realized at some point, ‘Oh, when I do this, it really helps balance me out,” said Demske, who is executive director of the Racine Public Library. “Poetry has been a really important health and wellness tactic in my survival strategy in life.”
He continued writing poetry while studying English and creative writing at Carthage College.
After that, Demske received some notice for his work, publishing one full-length book of poems and a chapbook.
Demske put poetry on the backburner for several years as he became more involved in civic engagement, including being a Racine County Board supervisor from 2018-24.
In fall of 2024, he began writing poetry again.
That creative reignition was recently recognized when Demske won a state prize, the Lorine Niedecker Poetry Award.
He was one of eight honorees at a Wisconsin Writers Awards event in May in Madison.
Demske
SUBMITTEDHua Xi, the award judge who is also a poet, wrote that Demske’s poems are delightful, “full of witty observations and pure feeling.”
“These are risky and defiant poems, full of unexpected twists of language and imagery that produce a sharp and melancholy whimsy,” Xi wrote.
Demske was honored and surprised to win a poetry prize for the first time in many years.
“I was over the moon about it,” he said.
Niedecker was born in Wisconsin and lived for most of her life near Fort Atkinson, about 60 miles west of Racine.
Demske adores Niedecker’s work so was thrilled to win a prize named after her.
The award includes $500 and a five-day residency later this year at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point, Wisconsin.
Demske looks forward to having several days to write and “be in community with other writers and other creatives.”
Rita Mae Reese, from left, Nick Demske and Steven Espada Dawson at a Wisconsin Writers Awards event in May in Madison.
Dave DemskeThe relational aspect of poetry has become more important to Demske over the years.
Writing poems remains a cathartic outlet similar to when he was younger, but Demske also greatly enjoys the people he has met through poetry.
“It’s still a very important therapeutic tactic in my life,” Demske said. “The community became really important and central to me, differently than my creative work.”
After several years off, Demske, who recently finished a poetry manuscript and is working on a new collection, plans to keep writing.
He writes poetry for his own health, but Demske also hopes his words connect with people.
“This stuff actually has an impact if you do it correctly,” Demske said. “I want to heal myself and heal others.”
Friday, May 29, 2026
Monday, May 25, 2026
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Sunday, May 24, 2026
Monday, May 11, 2026
New book gets deep into details of Violent Femmes debut album
If more than 7 million copies sold and a public-television special are not already enough validation of the classic status of the Violent Femmes' 1983 debut album, here's another indicator:
That album is now the subject of a book in the famed 33⅓ series about individual recordings.
Books in this series can vary widely from detailed music journalism to idiosyncratic personal takes. "Violent Femmes" (Bloomsbury Academic) by Nic Brown, a drummer as well as a writer, is both fannish and deeply reported. Brown interviewed original band members Gordon Gano, Brian Ritchie and Victor DeLorenzo at length. He also spoke with album producer Mark Van Hecke and other figures.
As someone who has read many Milwaukee takes on the Femmes over the decades – and has written a few, too – I also enjoyed Brown's view of the band from outside the local hothouse.
Brown explores the band's formation, its unusual instrumentation and how it worked in the studio. He also goes over each song in detail, both lyrically and musically.
Here are a few takeaways gleaned from Brown's book. While passionate fans may already know some of these, you'd have to be a certified expert to know them all.
- Bassist Ritchie coined the Violent Femmes name as a label for the rhythm section he had with DeLorenzo, at a time when the pair played with various other musicians.
- By the time he met Ritchie and DeLorenzo, the prolific Gano had already written all of the songs that would appear on the Femmes' first two albums, and some of the songs that would turn up on the band's third.
- What led to the Femmes' acoustic instrumentation, particularly Ritchie's acoustic bass guitar? "I just thought that we should all be equipped to play acoustic music because there was an imminent apocalypse on the horizon," Ritchie told Brown. "I thought we probably wouldn't have electricity."
- The trio's first gig was in the basement-level Beneath-It-All-Cafe on Downer Avenue (under the old Wash Tub laundromat).
- The person who actually "discovered" the Femmes busking outside the Oriental Theatre on the day of a Pretenders concert in 1981 was Peggy Sue Honeyman-Scott, the wife of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott. It's often written that James or even singer Chrissie Hynde was the initial talent spotter.
- Who bankrolled the recording of the album? DeLorenzo's father loaned the group the $10,000 they needed.
- Castle Studios in Lake Geneva, where the album was recorded, was a facility that had been installed in the main lodge of the fabled Playboy Club there.
- Given the enormous backlog of songs Gano had written and the limited studio time the band could afford, how did they decide what to record for the first album? Gano said Ritchie had "the brilliant idea" to pick only "the poppy songs." That's why the band's second album, "Hallowed Ground," is so different: it has the Gano songs influenced by gospel, country and jazz.
- DeLorenzo calls the distinctive snare drum beats he plays at the beginning of "Blister in the Sun" "stutter flams." A flam, Brown explains, is played with two sticks hitting one note together. Those familiar flams are heard today as pump-up music samples in stadiums and arenas around the country.
- Penn Jillette, of the magic duo of Penn and Teller, gave Gano a specific and enthusiastic compliment about the timing of a line in "Kiss Off." But you'll have to read Brown's book to find out what it was.
Thursday, April 30, 2026
First Fridays kick off in downtown Racine on May 1
RACINE -- The Downtown Racine Corporation's First Fridays kick off on May 1 with a Creative Crawl, a citywide celebration of art, creativity and community.
There will be hands-on activities, artist demonstrations, local author readings, pop-up exhibits and more from 4-9 p.m. throughout Downtown Racine.
Racine Art Museum, 441 Main St., will feature:
- A live set by DJ Unknown (5-8 p.m.).
- Interactive art stations for kids & adults (4-8 p.m.).
- Art Treasure Hunt with prizes.
- Meet the Artist: Amanda Browder (6:30 p.m. talk).
- Live Urban Sketching with Patti Fallon.
- Outdoor public art/postcard painting station.
- Artist demos throughout downtown featuring RAM artists.
Live art and hands-on experiences will include these venues:
- Revelyn Soul: Watch artist Erin Krembs create felted beads & animal sculptures.
- The New Café: Create beaded wind chimes with Pop-Up Adventures.
- Stitched: Fiber art demo with Sherrye Smith + explore Racine’s newest fiber arts hub.
- Art Metals Studio: Father/daughter duo showcasing painting/metalwork collaboration.
The Hotel Verdant, 500 Main St., is offering:
- A rare behind-the-scenes look at a private guest floor.
- Creative cocktail specials at Marguerite.
- A paper floral art demonstration with Laura Gillespie.
Among other highlights will be:
- Busia’s XOXO, 210 3rd St.: Hands-on cookie icing station.
- Photographic Design: Opening reception for the "Windows of the World" exhibit.
- Racine Art Guild, 419 6th St., Spring Juried Show.
- COP House: Student-made jewelry from repurposed materials.
- Over Our Head Players: Interactive puppet “Joke Booth.”
- Public art installations and demos throughout downtown.
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