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.

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

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.

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