“The start of my junior year of high school was probably one of the biggest struggles I’ve had thus far. After having moved from the school district I lived in since 6th grade to the middle of my junior year, I fell into one of the worst depressions of my life. In addition to losing all of my...

The annual Great Lakes Writers Festival spanned two days, Nov. 7 and 8, and featured writers, Kathleen M. Heideman and Paul Hostovsky.   Heideman lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by Lake Superior. Heideman shared that she spent one third of the year off the grid, allowing her to...

“I grew up in poverty my entire life, and with that came financial struggles and not being able to budget money properly. When I was in elementary school and middle school, I took a special interest in math and got really good at it. When I got into high school I became in charge of the family’s...

Karl Elder, Lakeland professor, presented his original work “Phobophobia” at the John Esch Library. “Phobophobia” is a collection of original poems previously published in 1987.   This collection of poems is considered by many to be one of Karl’s most creative and original pieces...