First Sunday Prose Reading and Open Mic

Presented by the Writers Guild at Bloomington

The featured readers are:

John Cardwell

Joe Walker

Come early to sign up for Open Mic!

John Irvin Cardwell is a contemporary writer of poems, stories and essays who was raised on an Indiana farm that he still owns and manages with his wife Nancy Griffin.  John’s books include The Good Road Home, Dances in a West African Night, An Indiana Passage, and From the Tree Top.   Two new volumes are currently being developed.  His poems have appeared in the Tipton Poetry Journal, the Blue Collar Review, Last Stanza Poetry Journal, Farm Aid on-line, and other publications.   John is a great grandfather and served as a teacher and college administrator in Nigeria in the late 1970s.  The bulk of John’s career was in Indiana where he was an adjunct professor of psychology at Indiana University Kokomo, a CEO of non-profit corporations, and a long time public policy advocate.  He served on many private boards and public commissions.   His extensive policy writings include book length research papers, white papers, legislation and laws enacted by the Indiana General Assembly, essays and news stories in a wide array of publications in Indiana and elsewhere.

Recognition by the Indiana General Assembly

 In 2015, John Cardwell and his wife, Nancy Griffin, received special recognition in an act by the Indiana General Assembly for their years of service as public policy advocates for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and other low income constituencies in Indiana.

Recognition by Farm Aid

In 2017, John Cardwell was named a “Farmer Hero” by Farm Aid, Inc. for his authorship of the collection of poems and short fiction entitled The Good Road Home, which examined the harsh conditions faced by family farmers in Indiana during much of the past century.

Joseph S. Walker teaches college literature and composition courses and has lived in Bloomington since 2004.  His short fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, Tough, and a number of other magazines and anthologies.  He has been nominated for the Edgar Award and the Derringer Award, and has won the Bill Crider Prize for Short Fiction.  He also won the Al Blanchard Award in 2019 and 2021.  Follow him on Twitter @JSWalkerAuthor and visit his website at https://jswalkerauthor.com/.