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Wisconsin People & Ideas

John Mulvihill's "Full House" won Second Place in the 2025 Wisconsin People & Ideas Fiction Contest. Artwork created using Procreate by Emilia Rood, a student at New Glarus High School.

It began with a cough. It came from the next room, formerly their daughter’s but now the “guest” room, though they rarely had guests.

Maria Lockwood, owner of Foxes and Fireflies Booksellers in Superior, Wisconsin. Credit: Foxes and Fireflies Bookstore.

The word community comes up almost as frequently as the word book in a conversation with Tracy Grigus, owner of The Shade Tree, a former Book World store on the main drag in Minocqua. 

Original artwork by Sarah Kdosi Mirpuri.

Beneath the heel pad of Wisconsin’s open palm (kitty-corner its frostbitten thumb) the bluffs of Dubuque clasp the cuff of Illinois with a rail bridge that pivots like a toggle.

A water ski performance entertains visitors and locals in Minocqua, Wisconsin. Credit: Minocqua Area Visitors Bureau.

When I was a kid, my family cherished our trips Up North to the family cabin. We went as often as we could.

Hmong-Lao Veterans Memorial in Wausau. Credit: Chia Youyee Vang.

The idea of home has never been a stable, physical place for me. When I was born, a war decided by leaders on the other side of the globe shaped every aspect of my family's life.

Fred Reed sings "At Last" by Etta James at the author's wedding in Kadish Park, Milwaukee. Credit: Nicole Acosta.

“Adam. It’s Fred Reed. When you come up for air, give me a call.” Over the course of a decade, I received that voicemail more than 100 times. 

The rusted triangular frame, which once supported the hitch coupler for towing the manufactured home, now serves as a stand for a decorative planter. Credit: Erin Gaede.

Rural housing in Wisconsin is as diverse as the landscapes of the state and the people who live in it.

M. Winston, used with permission from Portrait Society Gallery, Untitled (Oatmeal Box House), 2022. Acrylic paint, paper, beads, collaged food boxes, and cardboard. 4x7.5x6 inches.

Dorm A at Green Bay Correctional Institution was one hundred and twelve beds arranged in rows, separated from a dayroom with four phones, a bank of showers, and a few televisions mounted too high on the wall.

Tribal farmers and producers who are involved with the Tribal Elder Food Box Program.

There is a tradition in every culture that brings people together to share food. In the stories of our foodways, we find a sense of belonging, both in the specifics of a place and in the diversity of a community.

Hope Finds a Home mural. October, 2023. Credit: Bayview Foundation.

You can’t miss it. Standing just blocks from the state capitol in downtown Madison, Bayview’s townhouses and apartment units announce themselves with vibrant colors: peacock blue, poppy red, burnt orange, earthy green.

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