Cornerstone Press to launch first in poetry book series

For the Metro Wire

Cornerstone Press, a student-staffed publishing company at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, will launch the first book in its new Portage Poetry Series next week.

The Almost-Children, by Alaskan author and poet Cassondra Windwalker, will be released Thursday, April 4, at an event from 7–9 p.m. in The Encore Room of the Dreyfus University Center. The book will be available for sale and there will also be a cash bar.

The book is also available to pre-order from the University Store at https://universitystore.uwsp.edu.

The book kicks off the Portage Poetry Series, which will add a book annually as part of a new spring Editing and Publishing course in the English Department. Cornerstone Press also publishes a work of fiction each fall as well as the J. Baird Callicott Environmental Humanities Series and other books.

“This is a new addition to the growing company,” said Maddy Krueger, a senior marketing assistant for Cornerstone Press. “Cornerstone is looking forward to publishing a new voice in poetry every spring. We are excited to expand our marketing efforts as we take on a higher volume of projects.”

In the book, Windwalker uncovers heartbreak and hope and takes readers on a journey deep into the human heart. Set against the backdrop of a beautiful natural world, her poems are filled with pain and redemption, force and forgiveness, and the responsibility of love.

“Intense in its imagery, graceful in its style and keen to the matters of the heart, ‘The Almost-Children’ will haunt you, heal you, and lift you up,” said Assistant Professor Ross Tangedal, publisher-in-chief of Cornerstone Press.

Windwalker writes from the southern coast of Alaska, where she is cheered on, she said, by a ghost cat, a useless dog, and a tolerant husband. She has written two novels, Bury the Lead and Parable of Pronouns. The Almost-Children is her first book of poetry.

“In launching the Portage Poetry Series, Cornerstone Press hopes to enhance its already stellar list of new and emerging writers,” said Tangedal.

Cornerstone Press, established in 1984, is made up by students in the Editing and Publishing courses offered each semester at UW-Stevens Point. It operates with the support of the English Department and is taught by Tangedal. Students have hands-on experiences in all aspects of publishing, from editing to marketing the finished product.

For more information, go to www.uwsp.edu/english/cornerstone.