"You are a gift of gifts, Alison. I linger in your workshop, reviewing notes and handouts, eager to obtain Fresh Water. You have inspired a calm, steady, long dormant will to write, and powerful, clear guidance on how to proceed." -Judy, writing workshop participant

Contact Alison Swan about scheduling an event.

Wednesday, April 24, 2012, 7 pm:

Reading & Book Signing with Alison Swan & Patricia Clark
Sponsored by Great Lakes Commonwealth of Letters
In the old Literary Life Bookstore space, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Thursday, October 25, 2012, 6:30 pm:

Alison Swan judges "An Evening of Haiku and Prose Poetry"
Performing Arts Center
Grand Valley State University

Friday, June 15, 2012, 7 pm:

Reading & Book Signing with Alison Swan, Anne-Marie Oomen, Patricia McNair
Brilliant Books
118 E. Front St., Traverse City, Michigan
Free and open to the public

Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 7 pm:

Poetry Reading & Book Signing
The Box Factory
1101 Broad St., St. Joseph, Michigan
Free and open to the public

Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 7 pm:

National Poetry Month Gathering: Bring your favorite poem to share
Uncommon Grounds
127 Hoffman St., Saugatuck, Michigan
Free and open to the public

Friday, March 16, 2012, 6:30 pm:

Poetry Reading & Book Signing: Alison Swan & Keith Taylor
Saugatuck Center for the Arts
400 Culver St., Saugatuck, Michigan
Free and open to the public

Wednesday, February 29 – Saturday, March 3, 2012:

Conference Presentation: "Midwestern Cities: Contemporary Ecopoetics"
2012 Associated Writing Programs Conference Chicago, Illinois

Friday, February 17, 1012, 6:30 pm:

Poetry Reading & Book Signing
Nicola's Books
2513 Jackson Ave., Ann Arbor, Michigan
Free and open to the public

Saturday, December 3, 2011:

Book Signing with Other Local Authors
Holiday Green Market, Saugatuck Center for the Arts
400 Culver St., Saugatuck, Michigan

Monday, November 14, 2011:

Reading and Talk : No Complacency: Imagination and Calls to Action
Gwen Frostic Lecture Series
Meader Rare Book Room, 3016 Waldo Library
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, Michigan

Friday, November 4, 2011:

Discussion with Jerry Dennis and Paul Webb
Conference on the Great Lakes: Love Song and Lament
Sponsored by Michigan Quarterly Review
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan
434 S. State St., Ann Arbor, Michigan

Reading and Talk: "No Complacency: Imagination and Calls to Action," Friday, October 14, 2011. The Saugatuck Woman’s Club, Saugatuck, Michigan.

Reading: “Desperate and Deliberate: Reading the North Woods Landscape,” Wednesday, June 22, 2011. Association for the Study of Literature and Environment Conference, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Reading, May 18, 2011. Paper and Book Intensive, sponsored by the University of Alabama, Oxbow Art School, Saugatuck, Michigan.

Panel Discussion: “Recent Projects in Environmental Stewardship through the Arts,” March 20, 2011. The Arts and the Environment Colloquium, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Featured Reader, “Michigan Stories” on IMPACT Exposure, prerecorded and aired on various dates, 2010. Emily Fox, host. Impact 89FM/WDBM-FM, East Lansing, Michigan.

Workshop: “Write Where You Are,” September 25, 2010. Writers Block Series, Saugatuck Center for the Arts, Saugatuck, Michigan.

Fresh Water reunion reading, November 4, 2009. Saugatuck Center for the Arts, Saugatuck, Michigan.

Fresh Water reunion reading, October 7, 2009. Hope College Critical Issues Symposium. Holland, Michigan.

Talk: “No Complacency: Imagination, Storytelling, and Calls to Action,” October 8, 2009. Hope College Critical Issues Symposium: At Water’s Edge: Complacency, Thirst, Action, Holland, Michigan.

Talk: “About the Great Lakes,” with Mary Gillis, ArtPrize entrant, and Lana Pollack, of the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Found Board, October 2, 2009. DeVos Place, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Panel Discussion & Reading: “The Power of Story,” January 23, 2009. Stewardship Network Conference: The Science, Practice and Art of Restoring Native Ecosystems. Michigan State University. East Lansing, Michigan.

Workshop: “From the Field to the Page,” January 24, 2009. Stewardship Network Conference: The Science, Practice and Art of Restoring Native Ecosystems. Michigan State University. East Lansing, Michigan.

Michigan: Our Land, Our Water, Our Heritage tour, November 16, 2008. Grand Rapids Public Library, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Michigan: Our Land, Our Water, Our Heritage tour, November 10, 2008. Shaman Drum Bookshop, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Michigan: Our Land, Our Water, Our Heritage tour, September 25, 2008. Nicola’s Books, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Fresh Water tour, August 5, 2008. Chicago Public Library (sponsor), Notebaert Nature Museum. Chicago, Illinois.

Panel Discussion & Reading: June 12, 2008. Edition Green: The Power of Story, The University of Michigan, Flint.

Fresh Water tour, April 22, 2008. Herrick District Library, Holland, Michigan.

Workshop: “Nature Writing,” January 12, 2008. The Box Factory for the Arts Writers’ Studio, St. Joseph, Michigan.

Featured Reader, Michigan Writers Series, November 2, 2007. Michigan State University Libraries, Computing, and Technology Division, East Lansing, Michigan.

Workshop: “Fresh Water: Words, Place, Environment,” October 22, 2007. Association of Independent Michigan Schools Annual Conference, Greenhills School, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Featured Reader, Writers Reading Series, October 16, 2007. Sweetwaters Cafe, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Discussion: “Fresh Water,” October 10, 2007. Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Sister Lakes, Michigan.

Panel: “Great Lakes Beyond the News: A Writer’s Forum,” September 8, 2007. Healing Our Waters Conference, The Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, Illinois.

Featured Reader, Fundraiser for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, July 10, 2007. Corner Brewery, Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Featured Reader, Michigan Notable Books tour (Fresh Water), May 23, 2007. Hartford Public Library, Hartford, Michigan.

Panel: “The Writer-Editor Relationship,” May 18, 2007. Ann Arbor Book Festival Writers’ Conference, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Featured Reader, Michigan Notable Books tour (Fresh Water), May 7, 2007. Otsego District Public Library, Otsego, Michigan.

Featured Reader, Michigan Notable Books tour (Fresh Water), April 21, 2007. White Lake Township Library, White Lake, Michigan.

Fresh Water tour, March 28, 2007. Institute for Research on Women and Gender, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Fresh Water tour, March 7, 2007. Grand Rapids Public Library & Ryerson Library Foundation, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Reading & Workshop: “Fresh Water: Using Your Senses to Make Your Writing Better,” March, 2007. North Creek Elementary School and Pierce Lake Elementary School, Chelsea, Michigan.

Panel: “Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes,” December 2006.  Open Books radio program, Host Donna Seaman, Chicago, Illinois. http://www.openbooksradio.org/interviews.htm#nonfiction

Fresh Water tour, December 2, 2006. Cranesbill Books, Chelsea, Michigan.

Talk & Workshop: “Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes,” November 5, 2006. Writers’ Workshop: Connecting with the Past, The Box Factory for the Arts Writers’ Studio, St. Joseph, Michigan.

Workshop: “Write Where You Are” and Panel Discussion: “Creative Writing About Michigan,” September 30, 2006. Writing Michigan Two: The Grand Rapids Writing Conference at UICA, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Featured Reader, Work-in-Progress Reading Series, September 2, 2006. Crazy Wisdom Tea Room, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Fresh Water tour, November 19, 2006. Women and Children First Bookstore, Chicago, Illinois.

Fresh Water tour/Fundraiser for Friends of the Library, October 21, 2006. Saugatuck Women’s Club, Saugatuck, Michigan.

Fresh Water tour, October 10, 2006. Shaman Drum Bookshop, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“Women of the Great Lakes,” May 13, 2006. Ann Arbor Book Festival, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“Authors on the Huron [River],” September 29, 2005.  Mallets Creek Branch Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Featured Reader, “A Celebration of Michigan: The 2004 Annual Membership Meeting of the Ecology Center,” March 28, 2004. Vitosha Bed and Breakfast, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Featured Reader, Michigan Writers Series, September 27, 2002. Michigan State University Libraries, Computing, and Technology Division, East Lansing, Michigan.

Peninsula tour, October 19, 2000. Ladies Literary Club, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Peninsula tour, September 26, 2000. Portage Public Library, Portage, Michigan.

Peninsula tour, June 15, 2000. Shaman Drum Bookshop, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Featured Reader, December, 1995. Red Eye Cafe. Saginaw, Michigan.