Event Schedule

When Fred Risser retired from the Wisconsin Senate in 2021, his sixty-four years in state government made him the longest serving legislator in US history. Now, in this candid and illuminating autobiography, Risser shares his singular perspective on events that transformed the state and the nation over the course of his remarkable career. From his role in the “Joe Must Go” drive to recall US Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s to his position as the senior senator among the “Fab Fourteen” Wisconsin Democrats who opposed Act 10 in 2011, Risser was a leader in state politics for decades, always maintaining an unwavering belief that political action can change people’s lives for the better.

Forward for the People provides a unique peek behind the political curtain from the viewpoint of someone who saw it all. Risser worked with thirteen governors and authored more than 240 bills that became law, championing public health and safety, environmental protection, women’s and reproductive rights, organized labor, civil rights, and social justice, among many other causes. Risser also recounts interactions with prominent national politicians, including Robert La Follette Jr., Hubert Humphrey, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton.

Forward for the People also details Risser’s experiences out of state, from a stint in the Panama Canal Zone as a navy hospital corpsman to his undergraduate debate-team days at Minnesota’s Carleton College to his years studying law at the University of Oregon and his travels to all seven continents. Enhanced with details sourced from correspondence, personal notes,
newspaper accounts, and recollections from friends and former colleagues, Risser and coauthor Doug Moe have crafted an engaging account of an extraordinary life in public service.

This is a virtual event only. Register and join the event at: https://crowdcast.io/c/8avbcyk542ye. Before the event begins, you will see a countdown and the event image.

Join the Wisconsin Book Festival in celebrating Xicana Heritage with readings of resistance and resilience from Xicana authors who are invigorating the Xicana identity, culture and pride. Especially at this time of political unrest, when Mexican Americans are being targeted for deportation, the women authors of Somos Xicanas collectively assert their ancestral relationship to the land, and how place and landscapes shape us. These authors refuse to be erased. Hear what it means to be a Xicana, in all its beautiful complexity, multiplicity and might, and draw inspiration from Indigenous voices that will not be silenced. Be a part of our movement, as Xicanas claim their legitimate presence upon the American Literature Landscape.

This event is part of Banned Books Week 2025 and presented in partnership with Beyond the Page.

Covid lockdown is over, but A’s world feels smaller than ever. Coming out as trans didn’t exactly go well, and most days, he barely leaves his bedroom, let alone the house. But the low point of A’s life isn’t online school, missing his bar mitzvah, or the fact that his parents monitor his phone like hawks—it’s the weekly Save Our Sons and Daughters meetings his parents all but drag him to.

At SOSAD, A and his friends Sal and Yarrow sit by while their parents deadname them and wring their hands over a nonexistent “transgender craze.” After all, sitting in suffocating silence has to be better than getting sent away for “advanced treatment,” never to be heard from again.  

When Yarrow vanishes after a particularly confrontational meeting, A discovers that SOSAD doesn’t just feel soul-sucking…it’s run by an actual demon who feeds off the pain and misery of kids like him. And it’s not just SOSAD—the entire world is beset by demons dining on what seems like an endless buffet of pain and bigotry.

But how is one trans kid who hasn’t even chosen a name supposed to save his friend, let alone the world? And is a world that seems hellbent on rejecting him even worth saving at all?

Striker isn’t entirely sure she should be on this luxury Antarctic cruise. A Black film scout, her mission is to photograph potential locations for a big-budget movie about Ernest Shackleton’s doomed expedition. Along the way, she finds private if cautious amusement in the behavior of both the native wildlife and the group of wealthy, mostly white tourists who have chosen to spend Christmas on the Weddell Sea.

But when a kayaking excursion goes horribly wrong, Striker and a group of survivors become stranded on a remote island along the Antarctic Peninsula, a desolate setting complete with boiling geothermal vents and vicious birds. Soon the hostile environment will show each survivor their true face, and as the polar ice thaws in the unseasonable warmth, the group’s secrets, prejudices, and inner demons will also emerge, including revelations from Striker’s past that could irrevocably shatter her world.

With her signature lyricism and humor, Quan Barry offers neither comfort nor closure as she questions the limits of the human bonds that connect us to one another, affirming there are no such things as haunted places, only haunted people. Gripping, lucid, and imaginative, The Unveiling is an astonishing ghost story about the masks we wear and the truths we hide even from ourselves.

Presented in partnership with the Cooperative Children's Book Center.

This year's lecture speaker will be Christina Soontornvat, who is the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty books for children of all ages. Her lecture titled “The Universe and the Details" will discuss her books All Thirteen, A Wish in the Dark, The Tryout, and more.

Established in 1998, the lecture was named to honor Charlotte Zolotow, a distinguished children's book editor for 38 years with Harper Junior Books, and author of more than 65 picture books, including such classic works as Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present (Harper, 1962) and William's Doll (Harper, 1972). Ms. Zolotow attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison on a writing scholarship from 1933-36 where she studied with Professor Helen C. White. The Cooperative Children's Book Center, a library of the School of Education of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, administers the event which each year brings a distinguished children's book author or illustrator to the campus to deliver a free public lecture.

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is encouraged. The lecture will be live-streamed and recorded. 

Presented in partnership with UW-Madison Go Big Read and Chazen Museum of Art. Please note this event will be held at The Chazen Museum of Art and begins at 5 p.m.

Join us for a conversation with David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson as well as a local historian and educator about the cultural legacy of Jim’s character from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. After the publication of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim became a cultural symbol and garnered a life of his own on stage, in visual culture, in literary history, and elsewhere. 

Commonly regarded as one of the great American novels, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has captured the hearts and imaginations of readers since 1885. But since its publication, critics have rightfully condemned Mark Twain’s troubling portrayal of Black Americans as stereotypes and caricatures, with contemporary fans searching for a modern update to this iconic tale.

Big Jim and the White Boy: An American Classic Reimagined is a radical retelling of this American classic, centering the experiences of Jim, an enslaved Black man in search of his kidnapped wife and children, along with his cheeky sidekick, Huckleberry Finn. Jim and Huck’s high-stakes adventures take them on an epic voyage across the antebellum South and Midwest, through Confederate war camps and runaway safe houses, into Old West standoffs, and on the road as covert Underground Railroad agents. 

Intertwined into the story of Jim and Huck are the stories of Jim’s descendants in the 1930s, 1980s, and 2020s, making this a multigenerational family epic as well as an adventure story. Big Jim and the White Boy takes readers on a journey through Jim and Huck’s past, present, and future, delving into their incredible friendship and years of adventures—a bond that transcends the gruesome racism of the Civil War era. With compelling artwork and riveting storytelling, David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson push the boundaries of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in this incredible graphic novel, exploring the triumphs and tribulations of Jim and his family, and finally giving his due as a hero of American literature.

David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson will be in conversation with Dr. Brittney M. Edmonds and Dr. Melanie Herzog, of UW-Madison African American Studies, and Michelle Kruse, who teaches English at Middleton High School .

Following the panel, there will be a meet and greet with the panelists. During this time, attendees will be encouraged to explore some highlighted pieces in the Chazen’s collection and converse with peers.

This event is a youth-visit only. Presented in partnership with the Wisconsin Science Festival. 

Participating youth attendees will join Rebecca Hogue Wojahn, author of the new book Saving Our Sturgeon: Protecting Wisconsin's Ancient Fish, as she recounts a conservation success story about one remarkable (and plenty peculiar) species of fish and shows young readers how they, too, can help protect these incredible creatures. Saving Our Sturgeon explores the natural history of lake sturgeon in Wisconsin and the factors that threatened their survival, and details how government agencies, conservationists, Native nations, and citizen groups worked together to protect the species. They will then join Anne Moser and Titus Seilheimer of University of Wisconsin Sea Grant for an interactive exploration of lake sturgeon anatomy, evolution, and behavior. 

For millennia, sturgeon swam the waterways of Wisconsin. Before the 1800s, an estimated eleven million sturgeon lived in Lake Michigan alone. But in the early 1900s, the lake sturgeon was near extinction. In Saving Our Sturgeon: Protecting Wisconsin’s Ancient Fish, author Rebecca Hogue Wojahn tells the remarkable story of lake sturgeon in Wisconsin, the conservation efforts to save the species, and what is being done to keep the population healthy and thriving today. Geared for readers ages eleven and up, Saving Our Sturgeon explores the natural history of the lake sturgeon and the factors that threatened its survival, from overharvesting to the building of dams that prevented sturgeon from reaching spawning areas. The book also explains how government agencies, conservationists, Native nations, and citizen groups worked together to save the sturgeon pop lation in Wisconsin.

A great resource for classroom use, Saving Our Sturgeon contains maps, photos, and diagrams, plus a glossary of terms, a timeline of events, a Who’s Who list of individuals and groups featured in the book, and a bibliography that highlights kid-friendly sources for further learning. Saving Our Sturgeon celebrates the conservation success story about one remarkable (and plenty peculiar) species of fish and shows young readers how they, too, can help protect these incredible creatures.

All attendees will receive free copies of the book, courtesy of the Wisconsin Book Festival. 

This semiannual sale is organized by the Friends of UW Madison Libraries to help to support public events and lectures, priorities identified by the Dean of Libraries, special purchases and preservation of library materials, and grants for the visiting scholar program. The Friends accept donations for upcoming sales on a continual basis. The sale is free (except the preview sale) and open to the public.

Wednesday, October 22

• Preview Sale:  4:00-8:00 P.M. ($5 entry)

Thursday & Friday, October 23 & 24

• Regular Sale: 10:30 A.M.-7:00 P.M. (no entry fee)

Saturday, October 25

• Bag Sale: 9:00 A.M.-1:00 P.M. ($5 per bag)

Bring your own grocery bag or purchase one for $1

• From 1:05-2:00 p.m. all remaining items are FREE
   

Presented in partnership with the Center for East Asian Studies.

Journalist Amy Yee follows ordinary Tibetan exiles in Dharamsala, India and across the globe in the face of political, religious, and cultural persecution.

In 2008, the Chinese government cracked down on protests throughout Tibet, and journalist Amy Yee found herself covering a press conference with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, his exile home in India. She never imagined a personal encounter with the spiritual leader would spark a global, fourteen-year journey to spotlight the stories of Tibetans in exile.

As she documents how Tibetans live between worlds, Yee comes to know ordinary but
extraordinary people like Topden, a monk and unlikely veterinary assistant; Norbu, a chef and
political refugee; and Deckyi and Dhondup, a couple forced to leave their middle-class lives in Lhasa. Yee follows them to other parts of India and across oceans and four continents where they forge new lives while sustaining Tibetan identity and culture.

Mutual Interest is the story of a trio of queer characters tangled together in business and in life in New York City at the turn of the 20th century: Vivian, a social-climbing lesbian who has successfully fled Utica, NY and will do anything to prevent having to go back, Oscar, a Midwestern middle manager who comes to New York to work in the soap industry, and Squire, a misunderstood son of New York social royalty who founds a rival candle company that inadvertently threatens to take down Oscar’s business. When Oscar and Squire fall in love, the trio form a new kind of partnership, merging their personal and business lives. Mutual Interest is a beguiling story of queer romance, empire, and power.

Stephanie and Jasmine have nothing and everything in common. The two women don’t know each other but are on the same plane. Stephanie is on a business trip and Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship. After a few days, they text their friends the same exact messages about the same man—the messages becoming stranger and more erratic.

And then the two women vanish. The texts go silent, the red flags go up, and the panic sets in. When Stephanie and Jasmine are each declared missing and in danger, it begs the questions: Who is Trent McCarthy? What did he do to these women— or what did they do to him?

Twist upon twist, layer upon layer, where nothing is as it seems, The Business Trip takes you on a descent into the depths of a mastermind manipulator. But who is playing who?

A gripping, elegant debut novel about a young Black man caught between worlds of race and class, glamour and tragedy, a friend’s mysterious death and his own arrest, from an electrifying new voice.

An arrest for cocaine possession on the last day of a sweltering New York summer leaves Smith, a queer Black Stanford graduate, in a state of turmoil. Pulled into the court system and mandated treatment, he finds himself in an absurd but dangerous situation: his class protects him, but his race does not.

It’s just weeks after the death of his beloved roommate Elle, the daughter of a famous soul singer, and he’s still reeling from the tabloid spectacle—as well as lingering questions around how well he really knew his closest friend. He flees to his hometown of Atlanta, only to buckle under the weight of expectations from his family of doctors and lawyers and their history in America. But when Smith returns to New York, it’s not long before he begins to lose himself to his old life—drawn back into the city’s underworld, where his search for answers may end up costing him his freedom and his future.

Smith goes on a dizzying journey through the nightlife circuit, anonymous recovery rooms, Atlanta’s Black society set, police investigations and courtroom dramas, and a circle of friends coming of age in a new era. Great Black Hope is a propulsive, glittering story about what it means to exist between worlds, to be upwardly mobile yet spiraling downward, and how to find a way back to hope.

Presented in partnership with Law Forward and Civic Media.

Why have so many Americans turned against democracy? In this deeply reported book, Katherine Stewart takes us to conferences of conspiracy-mongers, backroom strategy gatherings, and services at extremist churches, and profiles the people who want to tear it all down. She introduces us to reactionary Catholic activists, atheist billionaires, pseudo-Platonist intellectuals, self-appointed apostles of Jesus, disciples of Ayn Rand, women-hating opponents of “the gynocracy,” pronatalists preoccupied with the dearth of white babies, Covid truthers, militia members masquerading as “concerned moms” and battalions of spirit warriors who appear to be inventing a new style of religion even as they set about attacking democracy at its foundations.

Along the way, she provides a compelling analysis of the authoritarian reaction in the United States. She demonstrates that the movement relies on several distinct constituencies, with very different and often conflicting agendas. Stewart's reporting and comprehensive political analysis helps reframe the conversation about the moral collapse of conservatism in America and points the way forward toward a democratic future.

The acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World returns with a stunning coming-of-age novel about girls, mothers, and finding one's way in the world.

Seventeen-year-old Phoebe was never interested in her birth family. But on the cusp of her high school graduation, her adoptive mother, Greta, insists on a visit to meet her biological parents and siblings. The encounter is a jolt, a revelation that derails Phoebe.

With the help of her best friend Luna, Phoebe runs away—as far as their friend Patrick O’Connor’s chaotic home, where she hopes to go unnoticed among his thirteen siblings. But when Phoebe asks Patrick to chop off her hip-length hair, she’s suddenly transformed. Patrick’s older brothers can’t help but notice the striking, Peter Pan–like stranger who has suddenly appeared in their midst.

What starts as an adolescent rebellion soon spirals into a whirlwind of self-discovery and unexpected connections. As she grapples with her shifting identity and strained relationships, Phoebe must navigate the tumultuous road out of girlhood and chart a new and unknown course.
 

When 276 schoolgirls are abducted from their school in Nigeria, Fidelis Ewerike, a Florida-based barrister, poet, and former POW of the Nigerian Civil War, begins to go mad, consumed by memories of his younger sister Ugochi, who went missing during that conflict. Consumed by survivor’s guilt and fearful that the same fate awaits Amara, his sixteen-year-old daughter who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ugochi, Fidelis locks her in her bedroom, offering no words of explanation, only lovingly—if poorly—made meals and sweets.

Amid that singular action, the Ewerike family spirals into chaos: After unsuccessful attempts to free her daughter from her room, his wife Adaobi seeks the counsel of a preacher, praying for spiritual liberation from the curse she is certain has plagued her family since leaving Nigeria. Fourteen-year-old Chuk, beset by his own war with the neighborhood boys, receives a painful education on force, masculinity, and his tenuous position within his family. And rebellious, resentful Amara is hungry for her life to be hers, so the moment she is able to escape her imprisonment, she falls in love—not with the Aba-born engineer-in-training her mother envisages, but with Maksym Kostyk, the son of the town drunk. Before long, the two have concocted a plan to run away from the trappings of their familial traumas.

Presented in partnership with the Wisconsin Science Festival and Wisconsin Public Radio.

Part memoir, part oral history, Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music traces Tamara Saviano’s remarkable journey through the rise of the Americana music genre. Spanning more than three decades, Saviano unfolds the story of Americana—country music’s bohemian cousin—from her unique perspectives as a journalist, historian, Grammy-winning music producer, filmmaker, and artist emissary.

The first woman president of the Americana Music Association and producer of the early Americana Honors and Awards shows at Nashville’s storied Ryman Auditorium, Saviano takes readers behind the scenes for some of the most significant moments in Americana history. Poets and Dreamers illuminates the exceptional Americana community: an ever-expanding yet close-knit circle of friends and unsung heroes devoted to the success of roots music and its artists.

Highlights include interviews with artists and colleagues and memories of special events, concerts, and day-to-day life with singers, songwriters, and musicians. Tender stories recalling Saviano’s close relationships with two of her most enduring clients, iconic songwriters Kris Kristofferson and Guy Clark, round out this singular historical work. Including photographs of significant people and moments in Americana music, Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music will entertain and inform a worldwide readership of fans, students, and scholars of Americana and roots music. 

In this collection of interrelated essays, Bronson Lemer explores companionship through the lens of a queer veteran, focusing on the difficulty of forming true connections with others, including a “battle buddy” during basic training, the people he meets while teaching in China, and the spirit of a long-dead older sister. Lemer uses lessons from popular culture and literature—the globe-trotting exploits of fictional criminal Carmen Sandiego, the sexual exploration in Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room, the expatriate longing in Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast, just to name a few—as a means to think more broadly about the role of the outsider and how we navigate aimlessness while searching for stability and meaning.

Lemer’s distinct take on the veteran’s story boldly engages the intersection of military narratives and queer culture, including examinations into the role of thirst traps in contemporary dating culture, the fears of long-term health damage caused by military service, and the ways in which intimate relationships can lead to a loss of self. Taken together, his essays illustrate how one queer veteran managed to carve out a path that led him, however awkwardly at times, closer to the person he wanted to be.

Presented in partnership with the Wisconsin Science Festival. 

The Driftless Region of Wisconsin is home to some of the nation’s finest cheese artisans, whose creations have earned hundreds of state, national, and international awards. Three of these talented cheesemakers were even featured on Top Chef: Wisconsin during its twenty-first season, which aired in spring 2024. According to the artisans, the secret to their cheese’s exceptional flavor lies in the milk sourced from this unique region.

Guided by Joe Burns, owner of Brunkow Cheese in Darlington, twelve cheesemakers were selected to be featured in a book celebrating Driftless cheesemaking. Award-winning Chicago-based food photographer Paul Strabbing captures their craft visually, while Judy Newman Coburn, a former business reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal, shares their stories.

The book introduces master cheesemakers like Sid Cook of Carr Valley Cheese, who has crafted over fifty varieties and received more top awards than any other cheesemaker in North America. It also highlights Andy Hatch of Uplands Cheese, whose Pleasant Ridge Reserve, one of only two cheeses his company produces, has earned more accolades than any other single cheese in the U.S.

Traveling through western Wisconsin, from Shullsburg to Westby, the authors met cheesemakers representing diverse legacies and paths. Some are the fourth generation in their family business, while others entered the field just a decade ago. Among them are women breaking into a traditionally male-dominated industry, cheesemakers specializing in sheep, goat, or even buffalo milk, and artisans with backgrounds as varied as law, political campaigns, and wine marketing.

What ties this eclectic group together is their shared commitment to craftsmanship and quality. They work long hours perfecting their cheeses and fostering an extraordinary sense of collaboration. Despite being competitors, these artisans openly support and celebrate each other’s successes, embodying a unique camaraderie rare in any industry.

This book not only tells their stories but also celebrates their dedication to their craft and their contributions to Wisconsin’s rich cheesemaking tradition.

Conversation will be facilitated by Kristin Mitchell, with special appearances from featured cheesemakers.

For fans of The Glass Castle and The Liars’ Club, a tender, heartbreaking, and hilarious memoir chronicling the challenges of growing up with a desperately scheming father, a mother plagued by an acute hoarding disorder, and parenting parents while seeking independence.

The Long family’s love was fierce, their lifestyle bizarre, and their deceptions countless. Once her parents were gone, Amanda Uhle realized she was closer to them than anyone else, yet she found herself utterly confounded by the lives they had led.

Amanda’s striving fashion designer mother and her charismatic wheeler-dealer father wove a complex life together that spanned ten different homes across five states over forty perplexing years. Throughout her childhood, as her mother’s hoarding disorder flourished and her father’s schemes crumbled, contradictions abounded. They bartered for dental surgery and drove their massive Lincoln Town Car to the food bank. When financial ruin struck, they abandoned their repossessed mansion for humble parish housing, and Amanda’s father became a preacher. They swung between being filthy rich and dirt poor, devious and virtuous, lonely and loved, fake and real.

In Destroy This House, Amanda sets out to document her parents’ unbelievable exploits and her own hard-won escape into independence. With humor and tenderness, Uhle has crafted a heartfelt and utterly unique memoir, capturing the raucousness, pain, joy, and ultimately, the boundless love that exists between all parents and children.

An accessible and easy-to-follow comic book cookbook for baking delicious breads from acclaimed comic artist Sarah Becan and bestselling author Ken Forkish. 

Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most: her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days.

The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.

Eerie, urgent, and ceaselessly clear-eyed, The Dream Hotel artfully explores the seductive nature of technology, which puts us in shackles even as it makes our lives easier. Lalami asks how much of ourselves must remain private if we are to remain free, and whether even the most invasive forms of surveillance can ever capture who we really are.

Presented in partnership with the Wisconsin Science Festival.

Doug Bradley played basketball with the Miracles, shared a joint with Grace Slick, and held Dionne Warwick’s hand when he told her Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated. He watched his Doo-Wop singing brother and World War II veteran father battle over the birth of rock and roll, brought the music of Stax and Motown to a small college in the West Virginia hills, and soaked in the sounds of CCR, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix as an Army journalist in the “air-conditioned jungle” in Vietnam.

In The Tracks of My Years: A Music-Based Memoir, the acclaimed co-author of Rolling Stone’s 2015 music book-of-the-year, We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of Vietnam War, tells the story of a life lived with, and in, music. He provides a poignant, sometimes painful, series of portraits of a young man maneuvering the intricacies of family life, love and romance, and a complicated relationship with a high school teacher who inspired him but was a constant source of bewilderment. As Bradley discovers who he is and, crucially, who he isn’t, the soundtrack evolves from Sinatra and the Beatles to Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan.

The Tracks of My Years is a book for anyone who grew up in post-World War II America, and for their children and grandchildren trying to look beyond the haze of myths surrounding Baby Boomers. It opens windows into the echoes of the heart. Cue up Alexa, Siri, or Spotify and curl up for a journey through The Tracks of My Years.

In conversation with David Maraniss.

Presented in partnership with the Wisconsin Science Festival and Wisconsin Public Radio.

The ground-breaking legacy of Alanis Morissette's iconic album Jagged Little Pill is celebrated and explored in the new book Alanis: Thirty Years of Jagged Little Pill by music journalist and author Selena Fragassi. On June 13, 1995, 21-year-old Alanis Morissette released Jagged Little Pill, an existential awakening of sexuality, a rail against sexism, and a confessional catch-all of topics related to anxiety, depression, angst, eating disorders, religious dogma, and beauty standards. The raw emotion and introspective lyrics of tracks such "You Oughta Know," "Ironic," and "Hand in My Pocket” struck a chord with fans around the world. Alanis became a voice for millions of young women, providing both a sense of identity and inspiration.

As gay restaurants–rare spaces of safety and celebration for the LGBTQ+ community-evolve and chart new futures, New York Times journalist Erik Piepenburg takes readers to Progressive Era Automats, lesbian separatist eateries, Wisconsin sports bars, pioneering drag brunches, and his own beloved diners. It’s a culinary tour full of joy, sex, sorrow, activism and nostalgia.

Dining Out explores how gay people came of age, came out, and fought for their rights not just in gay bars or the streets, but in restaurants, from cruisy urban cafeterias of the 1920s to mom-and-pop diners that fed the Stonewall generation to the intersectional hotspots of the early 21st century. Using archival material, original reporting and interviews, and first-person accounts, Erik Piepenburg explores how LGBTQ restaurants shaped, and continue to shape, generations of gay Americans.

Through the eyes of a reporter and the stomach of a hungry gay man, Dining Out examines the rise, impact and legacies of the nation’s gay restaurants past, present, and future, connecting meals with memories. Hamburger Mary’s, Florent, a suburban Denny’s queered by kids: Piepenburg explores how these and many other gay restaurants, coffee shops, diners and unconventional eateries have charted queer placemaking and changed the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement for the better.