Gregory Lee Renz

I served the city of Milwaukee for twenty-eight years as a firefighter, retiring as a fire captain. During my career, I received a number of awards for heroism, including induction into the Police and Fire Hall of Fame. After experiencing how my words affected people when I shared my stories at the awards ceremonies, I knew I had to learn how to do that on the page. I’ve been taking creative writing classes through the University of Wisconsin and an excerpt of my novel "Where Hot Bricks Fly" won first place honors in the writing contest at the University of Wisconsin Writer’s Institute conference in April of 2015. The excerpt was published in the 2016 issue of The Midwest Review.