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| Action Into Words: A Memoir of Activism Genre: Memoir Themes: Midwestern history, activism, civil rights Release Date: October 1, 2026 222 pp ISBN paper: 979-8-3493-4109-0 ISBN hardcover: 979-8-3493-4117-5 ISBN ebook: 979-8-3493-4110-6 Library of Congress Control Number 2026936125 Author: Margaret Rozga Ordering information: Contact Wisconsin Writers Association Press, wwapress@wiwrite.org Bookshop.org LINK Available through Ingram and wherever books are sold Retail: Paperback: $26.95 |
Action Into Words: A Memoir of Activism Discover the inspiring journey of Margaret "Peggy" Rozga in this captivating memoir, Action Into Words, brought to life by the Wisconsin Writers Association. A poet, activist, and Wisconsin's 2019-2020 Poet Laureate, Rozga's story unfolds against the backdrop of the 1960s civil rights movement, where she marched for fair housing in Milwaukee and stood alongside icons like Father James Groppi. Through personal triumphs and tragedies-including the loss of her husband and raising three young children-she found solace and strength in poetry. Her words, infused with a passion for social justice and the beauty of everyday life, have touched hearts and sparked change. This memoir is a testament to a woman who turned struggle into song, offering readers a profound exploration of courage, creativity, and community. Join us in celebrating a Wisconsin treasure whose voice continues to resonate Praise for Action Into Words This was history come alive. Weaving her poetry with her prose makes the incidents and the emotions real. Better than a textbook with simply dates and locations... this puts faces and souls into American history. –Joanne Williams, television host and documentary film producer With rare insights into what the Civil Rights movements in the North and South looked like at ground level, this engaging memoir is a call to all of us to stay vigilant and act with bravery to defend our hard-won freedoms. –Jennifer Morales, author of Meet Me Halfway Overall, her memoir reveals her to be a woman with deeply held principles without compromise. So, we ask, how do we pay proper homage? By never forgetting, and striving to model her example to pursue equity and justice for all. –Lora L. Hyler, author and associate producer of short film What moved me especially was the way she so carefully and respectfully named the many participants in the struggle for justice, in both the South and the North. By doing so, she honors not only Father Groppi’s leadership but also the countless individuals whose courage and commitment shaped the movement. It reminds us that social change is never the work of one person alone, but of a community bound by conscience and action. -Thomas M. Jacobson, former attorney representing open housing marchers It is not nostalgic, sentimental, or gauzy, but searching, vulnerable, alive and endlessly relevant to our current predicament, an important reminder that history and the people who create it live on beyond the events of a particular time period, that there really is no end and beginning, but only an on-going process of creation and recreation, that history is passed, one to another, generation to generation. Action Into Words is a gift, a lifeline to a new generation looking for ways to put their own words and beliefs into action. –Patrick D. Jones, Associate Professor History & Ethnic Studies U-Nebraska-Lincoln We gain a richer, deeper understanding of justice and community., effectively deepening our knowledge and opening our hearts. For this inspiring memoir, I say, ¡Sí se puede! –Eloisa Gómez, co-author of Somos Latinas: Voices of Wisconsin Latina Activists |
Margaret Rozga, emeritus professor of English at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee - Waukesha campus, served as the 2019-2020 Wisconsin Poet Laureate and the 2021 inaugural artist/scholar in residence at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee at Waukesha Field Station. She is the author of six books of poetry, most recently Restoring Prairie and Holding My Selves Together. She has also co-edited four poetry anthologies with Madison poet Angela Trudell Vasquez. She is a member of the Wisconsin Writers Association, the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, and the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature, an organization that honored her with their 2026 Mark Twain award. She lives in Milwaukee.
Wisconsin Writers Association is proud to help keep these memories alive as part of our mission to provide a structured fellowship of amateur and professional writers who support and assist fellow writers with all phases, types, and categories of writing. We strongly encourage documentation of personal, family, regional, and cultural stories both fiction and nonfiction, and offer informational educational services to writers and to the general public. Find more at www.WiWrite.org. |
