Wroblewski: Bob Carmichael, Garcia: Henry Jorgenson, Debevec-McKenney: Michael Doyle Olson
From left: David Wroblewski, Jessie Garcia and Sasha Debevec-McKenney.
From left: David Wroblewski, Jessie Garcia and Sasha Debevec-McKenney.
The Wisconsin Book Festival’s Fall Celebration always lives up to its name, with appearances by a significant number of authors with state ties. In addition to Rochester-based Jane Hamilton (whose new novel, The Phoebe Variations, hit shelves in late September; see interview), this year’s roster includes more novelists, as well as nonfiction writers and poets. Here are some highlights, listed by order of appearance over the four-day weekend.
• Jessie Garcia: Oct. 23 at 5:30 p.m. in Central Library’s Lower-Level Program Room (201 W. Mifflin St.)
The Madison native and former Channel 3 sports anchor is now news director at CBS 58 in Milwaukee. She generated buzz earlier this year with her debut novel, The Business Trip, a twisty thriller about two women who seemingly have nothing — yet everything — in common.
• Doug Bradley: Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. in the Discovery Building’s DeLuca Forum (330 N. Orchard St.)
The co-author of Rolling Stone’s 2015 music book of the year, We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War (with UW-Madison professor emeritus Craig Werner) shares his own soundtrack in The Tracks of My Years: A Music-Based Memoir. A combat correspondent for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, Bradley worked for more than three decades in communications, media and public relations at UW-Madison.
• David Wroblewski: Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in Central Library’s Community Room 301
Wroblewski was born in Oconomowoc, earned a degree in computer science at UW-Madison and went on to write two Oprah Book Club picks: 2008’s The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (a loose retelling of Hamlet set in rural Wisconsin) and its prequel, last year’s Familiaris. He now lives in Colorado.
• Sasha Debevec-McKenney: Oct. 24 at 9 p.m. in Central Library’s Community Rooms 301 & 302
Joy Is My Middle Name — of which free copies will be distributed to attendees — is the debut poetry collection from the 2020-21 Jay C. and Ruth Halls Poetry Fellow at UW-Madison. Weaving the political and the personal, McKenney delivers her accessible work in an intimate, assured and conversational voice.
• Frank Bures: Oct. 25 at 10:30 a.m. in the Discovery Building’s DeLuca Forum
As a writer for Madison Magazine, Bures won six Milwaukee Press Club awards in the early 2000s. His latest book, Pushing the River: An Epic Battle, A Lost History, a Near Death, and Other True Canoeing Stories, collects his pieces about navigating the mighty Mississippi River. Bures now lives in Minneapolis.
• Dean Robbins: Oct. 25 at 10:30 a.m. at the Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium (816 State St.)
The former Isthmus editor has achieved acclaim for his picture books about historical heroes, but Robbins believes adults need heroes, too. In Wisconsin Idols: 100 Heroes Who Changed the State, the World, and Me, published in April, he presents short yet well researched and highly readable essays about men and women who have inspired him — all with a significant Wisconsin connection who also made a transformative impact on the broader world.
• Curt Meine: Oct. 25 at 1:30 p.m. in Central Library’s Community Room 302
Sauk County-based Meine is a senior fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation who edited the new book, We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy, featuring writing by late Iowa farmer, conservationist and policymaker Paul Johnson. He will join Minnesota-based rural advocate and attorney Sonja Trom Eayrs for a presentation titled “Fight for Rural America: Confronting Big Ag and Building a Model for Protecting the Land and Its People.”
• Scott Spoolman, Betsy Korbinyr and Randy Hoffman: Oct. 25 at 4:30 p.m. at the Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium
This trio of state nature writers will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Wisconsin State Park System by sharing their experiences writing Wisconsin State Parks: Extraordinary Stories of Geology and Natural History (Spoolman), Time, Beauty, and Grief: A Hike Through Wisconsin’s 50 State Parks (Korbinyr), and Great Nature Wisconsin: A Guide for Nature Immersion in Wisconsin (Hoffman).
• Dexter Patterson: Oct. 26 at 10:30 a.m. in Central Library’s Community Room 301
Patterson, co-founder of Wisconsin’s BIPOC Birding Club, has written Birds of the Great Lakes. The fun guide features more than 100 commonly seen birds in the region, with an emphasis on habitat sustainability. Free copies will be distributed to attendees.
Other Wisconsin writers will be featured on panels about Asian poetry in the Midwest, cheesemaking in the Driftless Region, gender roles in the home, and the value of fresh and saltwater fish. See wisconsinbookfestival.org for more details on these and all Fall Celebration events.
