Section 3 of the Wolf, located between Langlade, WI and Gilmore's Mistake rapid at the southern edge of Langlade County, features numerous boulder garden rapids.
Embedded Files
Writers, Come (Back) to the Wolf in 2026
Writers, Come (Back) to the Wolf in 2026
The Wolf River in Northeastern Wisconsin is one of the state’s most beloved and protected waterways. Designated a national scenic river under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, nearly 40 miles of the 225 mile long river still flow freely, unimpeded by dams, through northern Wisconsin’s glacial landscape, Nicolet National Forest, and tribal lands.
The Wolf River flows through multiple ecological zones and cultural histories—glacial headwaters, Menominee Nation territory, paper mill towns, and recreational forests—offering a dynamic landscape for literary and environmental reflection.
Through 2026, writers with ties to Wisconsin and/or the Wolf are invited to find their way (back) to the river to participate in a place-based writing project.
Writers are invited to work within in the creative non-fiction forms of memoir, literary journalism, popular science, personal essay, philosophical essay, nature writing, travel writing, and the lyric essay as you explore the Wolf and its watershed--the wisdom, histories, and curiosities you encounter there. Whether you come as a paddler, a skier, a gatherer, a watcher, a hunter, a fisherman, a scientist, a historian, a traveler, a philosopher, a naturalist, a resident, a descendant, an honorer, or a listener, this creative consortium welcomes you.
The Writing the Wolf creative consortium has four goals:
First, to create opportunities for the environmental writing community of the upper Midwest to gather for a shared purpose and to focus their creative attention on this magnificent waterway.
Second, to engage ourselves and future readers with the Wolf, the land communities and cultures it feeds, supports, and sustains.
Third, to collectively investigate how embodied place-based writing reflects, restores, and reimagines our relationships with ourselves, our communities, our land communities.
Fourth, to create an anthology which illuminates a variety of approaches to place-based writing and eco-poetics.
The Writing the Wolf Anthology
The Writing the Wolf Anthology
As envisioned, the Writing the Wolf anthology asks: What does it mean to write from a river that resists containment? Offering essays that are lyrical, critical, and deeply observational, the volume is anticipated to examine:
Ecopoetics and environmental imagination: reflections on how language shapes our perception of the more-than-human world.
Place-based writing and local knowledge: explorations and discoveries rooted in the Wolf River watershed's natural history and regional identity.
Watershed ethics and conservation: musings engaging with the legacies of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and ongoing environmental protections.
Indigenous perspectives on this land and water: acknowledgments and testimonies to the river’s cultural significance to the Menominee and other tribal nations.
The future of environmental writing: explorations of embodied place based writing as an artistic practice and act of ecological citizenship.
This anthology is currently in development. Selected essays will be tributaries of the final collection. Writing the Wolf will be submitted for publication with an independent or university press in Spring 2027.
Write-Worthy Events in 2026
Write-Worthy Events in 2026
Writers looking to root their work in local experience are invited to explore and take part in the many events and activities happening throughout the Wolf River region. Community organizers are welcome to use the contact form below in order to share additional opportunities with the community of writers.
February 14: LAMBA Valentines Day Snowshoe Hike 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm. Meet at Wolf River Roots in Langlade at 1pm.
May 24: Oxbow Odyssey Adventure Bicycle Ride, sponsored by the Langlade Area Mountain Bike Association, takes place on the Wolf River State Trail and within the Nicolet National Forest.
July 20: Philosophy in the Wild, 6th Annual Conference and Community Gathering. Organized by contributor Arthur Obst, the conference welcomes contributors and participants. Keynote Speakers include: Anahkwet (Guy Reiter), Director of the Menominee Organization Menīkānaehkem, and Cynthia Belmont, Writer and former professor of English, Gender & Women’s Studies at Northland College.
July 25: ATV/UTV Fundraiser for Wounded Warriors Rider check-in at 8 a.m. at 9 Mile All Sport Resort.
September 12: Wolfman Triathlon and Trail Runs – Off-road triathlon featuring a white-water paddle on the Wolf River, mountain bike ride & trail run in Langlade County.
The Wolf in Winter. Photo by Mary Jo Peters, 2017.
The Writing the Wolf Anthology is accepting all forms of creative nonfiction through December 2026: personal and philosophical essays, travel essays and photojournalism essays, memoir, literary journalism, scientific, and nature themed works, as well as lyric, hybrid, and experimental pieces. Submissions should range between 800 and 9,000 words.
Project Coordinator
Project Coordinator
Meg Muthupandiyan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Writing, Language & Literature at University of Wisconsin–Superior. She has been a member of the Wolf River community of Langlade Wisconsin all of her life. Questions about the project can be directed to her at mmuthupa@uwsuper.edu.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse