Pump House offers community for writers, artists

For the past six years, the Pump House Regional Arts Center has had a reading series featuring authors and artists from the nearby area, and from as far away as Madison, Wis., Minneapolis, Minn., and even Ames, Iowa. The reading series takes place on the third Thursday of every month from September through May, and excluding December. Currently hosted by Viterbo English professor Bill Stobb, and Viterbo alum David Krump, this reading series hosts a published author, an open mic portion, musicians, snacks, refreshments, and beer and wine are served as well.

Krump, the executive arts administrator at the Pump House, along with Stobb, and Kelly Sexton, created the Pump House Reading Series over six years ago, after a prior reading series held at the Lone Wolf, a bar in downtown La Crosse, closed down.

"The three of us (Stobb, Sexton and Krump) discovered a definite need for literary expression, experience, and artistic communion in our region," Krump told Lumen. "When I approached Toni Asher, the director of the Pump House, she welcomed the idea [of the Pump House Reading Series], and has since welcomed and aided the reading series."

"Basically we were looking for a way to get together a group of people who just enjoy writing, and sharing in each other's collective work," Stobb told Lumen. "We just hope that there are people who feel the way we do, and share our love and passion for writing, and the Pump House is a place where we can all get together. We don't make money off of this, and the Pump House has been gracious enough to only ask for a donation of $2 to get in. Typically it is pretty expensive to rent the place out, but it helps having someone like David Krump working there as well."

"Often the writers or their publishers contact us directly and we then jury the writers into the series," Krump said. "Occasionally, there's a writer that we directly invite, but this is the exception.  Most often we jury our readers in from a pile of submissions. Bill and I still have our dream list of major authors we'd like to invite, but, really, we're hesitant because the reading series operates on a small budget, offering a minimal stipend, which, if we're lucky and the author drives a hybrid, covers their gasoline expenses. We're always looking for sponsors; individuals, universities, and businesses are welcome to sponsor our season or a specific reader."

At the end of the evening, once the authors are done reading their respective works, the stage is then opened up for an open mic segment where anyone willing to share their work is able to come up and do so.

"The readers typically read a short story or a poem they've written. We have even had musical acts come up and perform," Stobb said. "We get a pretty good turnout of people on stage, and the best part about the open mic is it turns the place into more of a hangout. People can kick back, have a beer, and just enjoy each other's writing."