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9/23
Tarana Burke
6:00 PM - Celebrate the launch of Tarana Burke’s UNBOUND with a one-night only special event.
biographyequity-social-justicenonfiction -
9/28
Sandra Cisneros, Kali Fajardo-Anstine
7:00 PM - This tribute to the life-changing power of youthful friendship is Cisneros at her vintage best.
fiction -
9/30
Dantiel Moniz
7:00 PM - One of the most exciting discoveries in today's literary landscape!
fictionwisconsin-authors -
9/30
2021 Charlotte Zolotow Lecture
Christopher Myers
7:30 PM - A lecture by the author and illustrator, Christopher Myers
artchildren-teen -
10/5
Kristen Radtke
7:00 PM - A timely and moving meditation on isolation and longing, both as individuals and as a society.
artnonfiction -
10/7
Bobby Love, Cheryl Love
7:00 PM - The inspiring and dramatic true account of an escaped convict and his wife of 35 years.
biographyequity-social-justicenonfiction -
10/11
Te-Ping Chen
7:00 PM - Vivid portrayals of the men and women of modern China and its diaspora
fiction -
10/12
Melissa Febos
7:00 PM - The narratives women are told about what it means to be female and what it takes to free oneself.
biographyequity-social-justicenonfiction -
10/21
Dr. Leana Wen
4:00 PM - an insider's account of public health and its crucial role in our society.
nonfictionstem -
10/21
Roya Hakakian
5:30 PM - A stirring, witty, and poignant glimpse into the bewildering American immigrant experience.
equity-social-justicenonfiction -
10/21
nonfictionstemwisconsin-authors -
10/21
Big Ideas, Busy People: How Do We Know What We Know
7:00 PM - Five-minute flash talks from some of UW-Madison’s biggest brains!
nonfictionstemwisconsin-authors -
10/21
equity-social-justicenonfictionpolitics -
10/22
Miriam Toews
4:00 PM - To all the women who are still fighting—painfully, ferociously—for a way to live on their own terms.
fiction -
10/22
Rob Kenner, First Wave
4:00 PM - The first in-depth biography of Nipsey Hussle, the hip-hop mogul, artist, and activist
biographyequity-social-justicenonfictionperformancewisconsin-authors -
10/22
Tomás Morín, Clemonce Heard
5:30 PM - Poets Clemonce Heard and Tomás Morin discuss their recent collections
equity-social-justicepoetrywisconsin-authors -
10/22
Celeste Headlee
7:00 PM - How to have productive conversations about race, offering insights, advice, and support.
equity-social-justicenonfiction -
10/22
Jill Louise Busby
8:30 PM - An intimate, impertinent, and incisive collection about race, progress, and hypocrisy
biographynonfiction -
10/23
Chad Alan Goldberg, Jason Smith
10:30 AM - An investigation of the value of state universities and humanities education as a public good
nonfictionwisconsin-authors -
10/23
Gregg Mitman
10:30 AM - An ambitious and shocking exposé of America’s hidden rubber empire in Liberia.
equity-social-justicenonfictionpoliticswisconsin-authors -
10/23
When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People
Steven Nadler, Lawrence Shapiro
11:00 AM - Why the tools of philosophy offer a powerful antidote to today's epidemic of irrationality.
nonfictionstemwisconsin-authors -
10/23
How the Arts Can Save Education
Erica Halverson
12:00 PM - a blueprint for using the arts to rethink what good learning, teaching, and curriculum can be.
artchildren-teennonfictionperformancewisconsin-authors -
10/23
Christina Clancy
12:00 PM - An evocative and nostalgic tale, about a small-town girl turned Playboy Bunny
fictionwisconsin-authors -
10/23
Meghan O'Gieblyn
1:30 PM - he core questions of existence--identity, knowledge, life itself--urgently require rethinking.
nonfictionwisconsin-authors -
10/23
James Han Mattson
1:30 PM - A chilling and blisteringly relevant literary novel of social horror
fiction -
10/23
Jaquira Diaz
3:00 PM - Jaquira Díaz writes fiercely and eloquently of her challenging girlhood and triumphant coming of age
biographynonfictionwisconsin-authors -
10/23
nonfictionstemwisconsin-authors -
10/23
Larry Olmsted
4:00 PM - Why being a sports fan is good for us individually and is a force for positive change in society.
nonfictionstem -
10/23
Jude Stewart
4:30 PM - An extraordinary, strange, beautiful exploration of smell, the least understood of of the senses.
nonfictionstem -
10/23
Nicholas Petrie
4:30 PM - If Peter and June solve this mystery, Peter's record will be scrubbed clean.
fictionwisconsin-authors -
10/23
fictionwisconsin-authors -
10/23
Jarrett Adams
7:30 PM - An unforgettable firsthand account of the limits—and possibilities—of our country’s system of law.
nonfictionwisconsin-authors -
10/23
The Ex-Girlfriend of my Ex-Girlfriend is My Girlfriend
Maddy Court
9:00 PM - advice on love, dating, and friendship by and for queer women and people of marginalized genders
lgbtq-nonfiction -
10/24
Mary Roach
11:00 AM - An irresistible investigation into the unpredictable world where wildlife and humans meet.
nonfictionstem -
10/28
Wisconsin People & Ideas 2021 Fiction and Poetry Contest Reading
Jennifer Fandel, Paula Schulz, David Southward, Kim Suhr, Allison Uselman, Yvette Viets Flaten, Jason Smith
7:00 PM - the winners of the statewide 2021 Wisconsin People & Ideas Fiction & Poetry Contests
fictionpoetrywisconsin-authors -
11/2
biographynonfiction -
11/3
Go Big Read: Transcendent Kingdom
Yaa Gyasi
7:00 PM - Yaa Gyasi’s stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller Homegoing.
fictionstem -
11/16
Dear Azula, I Have a Crush on Danny Phantom
Jackson Neal, Azura Tyabji
7:00 PM - A masterclass on how Generation Z see themselves reflected on screen
performancepoetrywisconsin-authors -
11/20
Neal Stephenson
7:00 PM - An exhilarating, witty, mind-expanding speculative climate change adventure.
fiction
Ongoing Wisconsin Book Festival Events
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12/1
Kashmira Sheth
12:00 PM - A humorous series featuring a charming, distractible Indian-American girl and her family and friends
children-teenfiction -
4/6
Kevin Henkes
11:00 AM - The stand-alone companion to the award-winning, acclaimed, and bestselling The Year of Billy Miller
children-teenfiction
Recent Wisconsin Book Festival Events
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7/20
Michele Harper
7:00 PM - An emergency room physician explores how a life of service to others taught her how to heal herself.
Recording Available
biographyequity-social-justicenonfictionstem -
5/26
Kevin Kwan
7:00 PM - A brilliantly funny comedy of manners set between two cultures.
Recording Available
fiction -
5/26
Andrea Debbink
11:00 AM - An inspiring guide for the next generation of climate activists, conservationists, and nature lovers
Recording Available
children-teennonfictionstemwisconsin-authors -
5/25
Lunch for Libraries - Carl Hiaasen
Carl Hiaasen, Nicholas Petrie
12:00 PM - Madison Public Library Foundation’s annual Lunch for Libraries virtual fundraiser!
fiction -
5/24
Jason Karlawish
7:00 PM - Part case studies, part meditation on the past, present and future of the disease.
Recording Available
lgbtq-nonfictionstem -
5/19
Barrett Swanson
7:00 PM - A personal quest across the United States to uncover what it means to be an American today.
Recording Available
biographynonfictionwisconsin-authorswisconsin-wednesdays -
5/7
Helen Oyeyemi
12:00 PM - A vivid and inventive new novel about a couple forever changed by an unusual train voyage
fiction -
5/6
Senator Elizabeth Warren
7:00 PM - Vivid personal stories with a passionate plea for political transformation.
Recording Available
biographyequity-social-justicenonfictionpolitics -
5/6
The Secret to Superhuman Strength
Alison Bechdel, Cheryl Strayed
4:00 PM - A heartrendingly comic chronicle for our times.
artbiographylgbtq-nonfiction -
4/28
UW Press Wisconsin Poetry Series Reading
John Brehm, Ambalila Hemsell, Sarah Kortemeier, Bruce Snider
7:00 PM - A reading celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Wisconsin Poetry Series.
Recording Available
poetrywisconsin-authorswisconsin-wednesdays -
4/27
Angela Garbes
7:00 PM - A candid, feminist, and personal deep dive into the science and culture of pregnancy and motherhood.
Recording Available
biographyequity-social-justicenonfictionstem -
4/22
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
7:00 PM - ***ONE NIGHT ONLY*** Ocean Vuong will appear live to discuss his debut novel
fictionlgbtq- -
4/21
2021 Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellows Reading
Emma Binder, Jari Bradley, Sasha Debevec-McKenney, Victoria C. Flanagan, Sandra Hong, Taylor Koekkoek
7:00 PM - Poetry and fiction from the 2020-21 Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellows.
Recording Available
fictionpoetrywisconsin-authorswisconsin-wednesdays -
4/19
Yan Lianke
7:00 PM - The story of a public health crisis when rural villages selling their blood led to an AIDS outbreak.
equity-social-justicefictionpolitics -
4/14
Imperial Liquor & Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry
Amaud Johnson, John Murillo
7:00 PM - UW Professor, Amaud Johnson, and UW Almnus, John Murillo, for their newest books,
Recording Available
equity-social-justicepoetrywisconsin-authorswisconsin-wednesdays -
4/8
Emily Nemens
7:00 PM - An explosive, character-driven odyssey through the world of baseball.
Recording Available
fiction -
4/7
Love Poems & God of Nothingness
Jesse Lee Kercheval, Mark Wunderlich
7:00 PM - Featuring UW Professor, Jesse Lee Kercheval, and UW Almnus, Mark Wunderlich, for their newest books
Recording Available
lgbtq-poetrywisconsin-authorswisconsin-wednesdays -
3/30
Brian Alexander
7:00 PM - An intimate portrait of one small hospital, revealing the magnitude of America’s health care crisis
Recording Available
nonfictionstem -
3/26
A Time for Mercy & A Song for the Dark Times
John Grisham, Ian Rankin
6:00 PM - Grisham and Rankin discuss their new books, and frankly, anything else they’d like to discuss.
fiction -
3/25
Ayad Akhtar
6:00 PM - A deeply personal work about identity and belonging in a nation coming apart at the seams.
equity-social-justicefictionwisconsin-authors -
3/23
Andrew J. Graff, Nickolas Butler
7:00 PM - A timeless story of loss, hope, and adventure amid the vividly rendered Upper Midwest landscape.
Recording Available
fictionwisconsin-authors -
12/1
Miranda Paul, Ebony Glenn
12:00 AM - When something really matters, one voice can make a difference.
Recording Available
artchildren-teenequity-social-justicefictionwisconsin-authors
