Event Search

Curtain’s Up with CTM presents: An Evening with Lois Lowry

7:00 PM - Newbery Medal award winning author Lois Lowry joins CTM for a unique event celebrating The Giver.

Bread & Butter

Michelle Wildgen

7:00 PM - Join Michelle Wildgen to celebrate the release of Michelle's her novel, Bread & Butter

Pearls Falls Fast

Stephan Pastis

6:00 PM - Join the Pearls family as they face many more misadventures!

Praying Drunk

Kyle Minor

8:00 PM - Join us as author Kyle Minor reads from his new collection of short stories PRAYING DRUNK!

Lunch for Libraries: Nosh with Nevada

Nevada Barr

11:30 AM - Join the Madison Public Library Foundation for its third annual Lunch for Libraries fundraiser!

Biggest Book Club Ever with Nevada Barr

Nevada Barr

6:00 PM - Join bestselling author Nevada Barr for the biggest book club ever! Registration required.

Struck By Genius

Jason Padgett

7:30 PM - Jason Padgett can see mathematical designs hidden in every day objects, but he wasn't born this way!

Shotgun Lovesongs

Nickolas Butler

7:00 PM - Debut Wisconsin author reads from his highly-acclaimed new novel, Shotgun Lovesongs

The Artist's Library

Erinn Batykefer, Laura Damon-Moore

7:30 PM - A book launch celebration featuring projects led by Erinn Batykefer and Laura Damon-Moore!

Madison Authors Reading

Kara Candito, Chloe Benjamin

7:00 PM - Join Madisonians Chloe Krug Benjamin and Kara Candito for readings from their new books.

To Rise Again at a Decent Hour

Joshua Ferris

6:00 PM - Come to A Room of One's Own Bookstore to see New York Times Bestselling author, Joshua Ferris read!

Going Somewhere Ride & Read

Brian Benson

1:00 PM - Ride with the author from Pinney Library to Central and hear Brian Benson read from his new memoir

Read-a-Romance Month Book Discussions

7:00 PM - August is Read-a-Romance month. We're celebrating with four romance genre discussions.

The Body in Bodega Bay

Betsy Draine

7:00 PM - These Wisconsin authors join us to present the second novel in their exciting mystery series

Take It Off the Shelf!

Forward Theater Company

7:00 PM - Celebrate Banned Books Week (September 21-27) with Forward Theatre’s Take It Off the Shelf! Banned B

The Quirks in Circus Quirkus

Erin Soderberg

10:30 AM - Celebrate Central Library's 1st Anniversary with a reading from this fun tale of a quirky family!

A Sudden Light

Garth Stein

7:30 PM - Join New York Times-bestselling author Garth Stein for a reading from his stirring new novel.

2014 Charlotte Zolotow Lecture

Paul Fleischman

7:30 PM - Paul Fleischman discusses his career as a children's book author and relationship with his editor

Elementary School Thursday

Gustafer Yellowgold, Susan Apps-Bodilly, Julie Mata

9:00 AM - Elementary School Thursday has been postponed. We will reschedule this event for later in the year.

StoryBook: Warrington Colescott’s Venice

Rick Axsom

12:30 PM - Richard H. Axsom will engage artist Warrington Colescott in a conversation about "Death of Venice"

Ginkgo: The Tree That Time Forgot

Sir Peter Crane

3:30 PM - World renowned botanist, Sir Peter Crane, teaches us about a prehistoric tree thriving in our midst.

Bending the Frame

Fred Ritchin

4:00 PM - How are innovative practitioners using imagery today in response to our most pressing issues.

Barracuda in the Attic

Kipp Friedman

5:00 PM - A tribute to growing up in a family of artists swept up in the whirlwind of the NYC arts scene.

How Not to Be Wrong

Jordan Ellenberg

5:30 PM - Jordan Ellenberg shows us how Math touches everything we do.

Devil's Lake Reading

Danielle Evans, Rebecca Dunham

6:30 PM - Deveil's Lake Driftless Prize judges, Danielle Evans and Rebecca Dunham, read from their work.

Delancey: A Man, A Woman, A Restaurant, A Marriage

Molly Wizenberg

6:30 PM - Join the author of this funny, frank, & tender memoir about a pizza restaurant and a young marriage.

A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico

Amy Greenberg

7:00 PM - Amy S. Greenberg's definitive history of the oft-forgotten 1846 conflict paints

To Dwell in Darkness

Deborah Crombie

7:30 PM - New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie presents her new novel To Dwell in Darkness

Passing the Mic/All Elements Hip Hop Arts Showcase featuring Midwest Hip Hop All Stars

First Wave, reg e gaines, Chinaka Hodge

8:00 PM - OMAI presents a special evening with reg e gaines, Chinaka Hodge, and the Midwest Hip Hop All Stars

High School Friday 2014

First Wave, Jordan Ellenberg

9:00 AM - High School Friday brings 150 students to the Festival for a full school day of book programming.

Performance Poetry 2014

First Wave

5:00 PM - This event will point to some of the ways back, bring "page" poets and "stage" poets together.

We Make Beer

Sean Lewis

5:00 PM - An eye-opening journey into craft beer–making in America, and what you can find in the quest to brew

A Good Year

Andrea Potos, Evie Robillard, Katrin Talbot, Rosemary Zurlo-Cuva

5:00 PM - Four vastly different Madison poets, all with new chapbooks to celebrate.

Missing Class: How Seeing Class Cultures Can Strengthen Social Movement Groups

Betsy Leondar-Wright

5:30 PM - Written for activists & social scientists, the book describes class differences in paths to activism

Where Are Children's Books Going?

B. G. Hennessy

5:30 PM - A lecture on the future of children's books to celebrate the grand opening of the new CCBC!

Snow in May

Kseniya Melnik

5:30 PM - A Siberian town with darkly fascinating history teems with life in this luminous story collection.

Wisconsin People & Ideas Writing Contest Reading 2014

Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, & Letters

5:30 PM - Reading by winners of the Wisconsin People & Ideas magazine statewide fiction and poetry contests.

Underground: New and Selected Poems

Jim Moore

7:00 PM - Underground is the long overdue career retrospective of Jim Moore, a poet of great depth.

Dappled Things

Robin Chapman

7:00 PM - Dappled Things pairs the poetry of Robin Chapman with the photogravures of Peter Miller.

Daring: My Passages

Gail Sheehy

7:30 PM - A fascinating, no-holds-barred memoir and testament to guts, resilience, smarts, and daring.

Science of the Supper Club

Terese Allen, Ron Faiola, Robin Shepard

8:00 PM - Wisconsin Book Festival authors share their perspectives on Wisconsin's culinary legacy.

Monsters of Poetry 2014

Monsters of Poetry

8:00 PM - Monsters of Poetry Reading Series presents 4 great authors!

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory

Caitlin Doughty

9:00 PM - Join mortician & author Caitlin Doughty for stories from her new book on life in the death business.

2014 Friends of UW Libraries Semiannual Book Sales

Friends of UW Libraries

10:00 AM - One of the largest used-book sales in Wisconsin

Eyes Wide Open

Paul Fleischman

10:00 AM - Giving readers 14 and up the briefing they need to comprehend their moment in history.

Armed with Nonviolence: Stories from the Fight for Human Rights

Ann Bausum

10:30 AM - This program for teens & adults explores uses of nonviolent resistance in the fight for human rights

Vintage

Susan Gloss

10:30 AM - At Hourglass Vintage in Madison, Wisconsin, every item in the boutique has a story to tell.

Alamo Doughboy

Jennifer Rude Klett

11:00 AM - A solid military history, told through family interviews, Army histories, letters, & service records

A Christmas Wish for Corduroy

B. G. Hennessy

11:00 AM - A heartwarming story about the power of hope, perseverance, and friendship.

Difficult Fruit

Lauren Alleyne

11:00 AM - A collection of poems about self-knowledge, of fighting for and winning personhood as a woman.

Sisterland and the Madison Writers' Studio Conversation

Curtis Sittenfeld, Susanna Daniel, Michelle Wildgen, Mary Kay Zuravleff

11:30 AM - A novel about the obligation we have towards others and the responsibility we take for our actions.

My Family and Other Hazards

June Melby

12:00 PM - A heartwarming memoir about saying goodbye to a childhood home - in this case, a mini golf course.

The Sleeve Waves

Angela Sorby

12:00 PM - the poems in The Sleeve Waves meditate on how almost everything comes to us in waves.

Double Exposure

Bridget Birdsall

1:00 PM - A stunning young adult novel that brings to light complex gender issues and teenage insecurities.

The Innovative State: How New Technologies Can Transform Government

Aneesh Chopra

1:30 PM - America's first Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra describes a new revolution in America.

Painted Cities

Alexai Galaviz-Budziszewski

1:30 PM - Author Alexai Galaviz-Budziszewski shares from his book of stories about the city.

Son of Fortune

Victoria McKernan

1:30 PM - An unforgettable YA novel about a boy's dangerous life importing guano.

Further Joy

John Brandon

2:30 PM - A stunning assortment of men and women at the edge of possibility.

Feminism Unfinished: A Short, Surprising History of American Women's Movements

Linda Gordon, Astrid Henry

3:00 PM - The American women’s movement is shrouded in myth. Feminism Unfinished is a much-needed corrective.

Seventh Generation Earth Ethics: Native Voices of Wisconsin

Patty Loew

3:00 PM - UW-Madison Professor Patty Loew presents her book about Wisconsin's Native people and sustainability

2014 South Asia Book Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature Ceremony

Elizabeth Suneby, Jennifer Bradbury, Farhana Zia

3:00 PM - This year's ceremony honors Elizabeth Suneby, Jennifer Bradbury, and Farhana Zia

How to Sell Your Novel

Chloe Benjamin, Ashley Ream, Judith Claire Mitchell

3:30 PM - Three Madison authors discuss a novel's path to publication with readings by each author.

Marketplace of the Marvelous

Erika Janik

4:00 PM - Discover how unorthodox nineteenth-century methods influence modern-day medical theory and practice.

Man Alive!

Mary Kay Zuravleff

4:30 PM - A warm, funny, and profoundly original novel about a family dealing with disaster.

Alena

Rachel Pastan

5:30 PM - Listen to author Rachel Pastan as she shares from her evocative new novel Alena.

House of Coates Revisited: Lester B. Morrison, Little Brown Mushroom, and Other Lost Broken Men

Brad Zellar

5:30 PM -

All the Light We Cannot See

Anthony Doerr

6:00 PM - A beautiful WWII novel about the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

Wisconsin Book Festival Arts Reception

Andy Adams, Laura Damon-Moore, Filter Photo Festival

6:30 PM - Spend the early evening on the third floor celebrating photography, art, and library programs!

The Liar's Wife

Mary Gordon

7:30 PM - Mary Gordon presents four wonderful novellas of Americans abroad and Europeans in America.

NerdNite

Jordan Ellenberg

8:00 PM - Nerds and non-nerds alike gather to meet, drink and learn something new.

OMAI’s Passing the Mic Tribute Showcase

Chinaka Hodge, Dasha Kelly

8:00 PM - Tribute showcase and tribute honoring Nakila Robinson and the children of Central America.

101 Two-Letter Words

Stephin Merritt

9:00 PM - From Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields comes a unique, witty book about 2-letter words!

PhotoBook Exhibition

Filter Photo Festival

9:00 AM - A survey exhibition of the contemporary photo book presented by FilterPhoro Festival

The FlakPhoto Booklist

Andy Adams

9:00 AM - FlakPhoto creator, Andy Adams, selects photo book highlights from the Library's collections

Perimeter: A Contemporary Portrait of Lake Michigan

Kevin Miyazaki

9:30 AM - "A contemporary portrait of Lake Michigan" from Wisconsin photographer Kevin Miyazaki.

Run for Literacy

Literacy Network

10:30 AM - Money raised from this scenic run will support Literacy Network’s programs in Dane County.

Photos From Home

Michael Forster Rothbart, Danny Wilcox Frazier, Scott Strazzante

11:00 AM - 3 documentary photographers explore home and how lives change when the home/land changes.

How Many Words is a Picture Really Worth? Writing From Photographs

Brad Zellar

11:00 AM - In this workshop, Brad Zellar will lead participants in creating their own writing/photo books.

The Scavengers

Michael Perry

11:00 AM - Check out this imaginative and hilarious middle grade novel from a NYT-bestselling Wisconsin author.

The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County

Jerry Apps

12:30 PM - The latest installation in the Ames County saga takes on the duel between preservation and progress.

The Dog Year

Ann Garvin

12:30 PM - Check out this Wisconsin author's heartwarming novel involving a four-legged friend.

It's an Orange Aardvark

Michael Hall

1:00 PM - Michael Hall delivers a funny and suspenseful story about colors, ants, aardvarks, and rainbows!

2014 Friends of the Madison Public Library Book Sale

Friends of Madison Public Library

1:00 PM - The Friends of the Madison Public Library will be hosting a book sale at our Book Store at Central!

Studying Wisconsin

Paul G. Hayes, Martha Bergland

6:30 PM - The life of Increase Lapham, early chronicler of plants, rocks, rivers, & all things Wisconsin.

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

Atul Gawande

7:00 PM - In Being Mortal, Atul Gawande tackles how medicine can not only improve life but also its ending.

Go Big Read Keynote Lecture

Shiza Shahid

7:00 PM - Shiza Shahid gives the Go Big Read keynote speech about I Am Malala.

2014 Madison Print & Resist

11:00 AM - Madison Print & Resist is a one-day show of posters, stickers, zines, journals, and books.

The Final Silence

Stuart Neville

7:00 PM - Northern Ireland author Stuart Neville discusses his new book, "The Final Silence" at Mystery to Me.

Created Equal: Risking Everything: The Story of Freedom Summer

Michael Edmonds

6:30 PM - The UW-Madison's Freedom Summer archives provided rich material for this book of eyewitness accounts

Committee of One

Patricia Holt

7:00 PM - The Wisconsin Book Festival and the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project presents Patricia Holt

Edges

Leora Skolkin-Smith

7:00 PM - travel back to an Israel before walls separated Arab from Jew and be transported by this novel

The Slow Regard of Silent Things

Patrick Rothfuss

7:00 PM - Rothfuss brings us into the world of one of The Kingkiller Chronicle’s most enigmatic characters