William J. Anderson is a freelance writer, poet and activist. His work is featured in Dark Side of the Loon, an anthology of short mysteries sponsored by the Twin Cities Sisters in Crime, and Turning Points, an anthology of essays exploring how people became activists. He was interviewed on Democratic Visions, a cable TV program available on YouTube, regarding his essay and the Turning Points anthology. In Too Deep, a thriller written in collaboration with C. N. Buchholz, placed as a top five finalist for the 2017 Freddie Award for Writing Excellence (FAWE) competition, sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America, Florida Chapter. William writes in a northwest suburb of Minneapolis.
Awards
Finalist for 2017 Freddie Award for Writing Excellence (FAWE) sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America, Florida Chapter: In Too Deep
3rd Prize, SE MN Poets Medical Term Contest: “Tinea Pedis”
Honorable Mention, 2020 LOMP annual poetry contest: “An Ode”
1st Honorable Mention, 2022 LOMP Yarn Spinner Award: “Revenge of the Dogs”
3rd Honorable Mention, 2022 Florence Hynes Willette Memorial Award: “Toilet Paper”
3rd Honorable Mention, 2022 Rock Paper Poem Award: “Rock, Paper, Scissors”
2nd Merit, 2022 Mississippi Valley Poets and Writers Award: “Weed Free Garden”
4th Merit, 2022 LOMP Bring Back the Prairies Award: “A Glimpse of the Past”
4th Merit, 2022 LOMP Grandview Poets Award: “H2O Oh”
Organizations
Member of Sisters in Crime, national organization and Twin Cities and Guppies chapters
Member of the League of Minnesota Poets (LOMP)
Chair of the Bookstore committee
Vice-President of the Cracked Walnut Chapter
Member of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP)
Sustaining member of the Loft Literary Center
Sustaining member of the Rain Taxi Review of Books
Member of the Word Whippers critique group
Member of the Peace and Social Justice Writing Group at the Loft Literary Center
Past-president of Friends of the Champlin Library
Friend and Supporter of Poets and Writers
Friend and Supporter of MotionPoems