Milwaukee
Book Festival
Oct. 9 – Oct. 18, 2009
www.milwaukeebookfestival.org
The beginning of October often marks a time of change in Wisconsin, from the colors of leaves on the trees to the sweaters and coats emerging from the backs of closets. But since 2002, one October mainstay has been the Milwaukee Book Festival. And this year’s festival again welcomes local and national authors reading and discussing works of poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Sponsored by Carroll University, Literacy Services of Wisconsin, Marquette University, Milwaukee Public Library, RedBird-RedOak Writing, UW-Milwaukee, Woodland Pattern Book Center, Boswell Book Co. and Next Chapter Bookshop, the events will run Oct. 9-18 and give us many reasons to visit Milwaukee’s varied, intoxicating bookstores. (Jenni Kiekow)
Friday, Oct. 9, 7 p.m.
Boswell Book Co. Presents: David Rhodes
Boswell Book Co., 2559 N. Downer Ave.
www.boswellbooks.com or (414) 332-1181
Admission is free
Wisconsin writer and Milkweed Prize winner David Rhodes’ most recent novel, Driftless, explores the small town of Woods, Wis. After receiving an MFA in writing from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Rhodes published three novels in rapid succession: The Last Fair Deal Going Down (1972), The Easter House (1974) and Rock Island Line (1975).
Saturday, Oct. 10, 2 p.m.
Milwaukee Book Festival Kickoff Event
Woodland Pattern Book Center Presents: Wendell Berry
Urban Ecology Center, 1500 E. Park Place
www.woodlandpattern.org or (414) 263-5001
$8 general admission/$7 students or seniors/$6 members
Author of 50 books of fiction, poetry and essays, the award-winning Wendell Berry will read from his latest essay collection, Bringing It to the Table: On Farming and Food, and from his forthcoming collection of poems, Leavings.
Berry has farmed a hillside in his native Henry County, Ky., for more than 40 years. Drawn from more than 30 years of work, Bringing It to the Table is essential reading for anyone who cares about what they eat. The essays address such concerns as: How does organic measure up against locally grown? What are the differences between small and large farms and how does that affect what you put on your dinner table? What can you do to support sustainable agriculture? Bringing It to the Table is poised to become a favorite for anyone passionate about food.
Monday, Oct. 12, 4 p.m.
Marquette University Presents: Susan Neville
Marquette University, Alumni Memorial Union, Room 227, 15th and Wells streets
www.marquette.edu/English or (414) 288-7179
Admission is free
Susan Neville will read from her luminous nonfiction writings, which run the gamut from visiting Hummer factories and Goth nights for teenagers to studying the painting of religious icons to contemplating our relationship to landscapes. Marked by curiosity, intelligence and humor, her work takes readers to fascinating places we would seldom venture on our own. This event is sponsored by the university’s Centennial Celebration of Women at Marquette, Office of Student Development and Department of English.
Neville is the author of five works of creative nonfiction: Fabrication: Essays on Making Things and Making Meaning; Iconography: A Writer's Meditation; Sailing the Inland Sea: On Writing, Literature, and Land; Indiana Winter; and Twilight in Arcadia. Her prize-winning collections of short fiction include In the House of Blue Lights and Invention of Flight. Her stories have appeared in a Pushcart Prize anthology and other collections. She holds the Demia Butler Chair at Butler University.
Monday, Oct. 12, 7 p.m.
UWM Union Programming and the Union Activities Board present: Zombie Survival Techniques with Max Brooks, Author of The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
UWM Union, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., Wisconsin Room, Second Level
Info: (414) 229-3111 or lcpardee@uwm.edu
Admission is free
Max Brooks is considered one of the world’s foremost zombie-preparedness experts. His tireless search for the living dead and ways to eradicate them has taken him across the world. In his visit to UWM, he will help raise awareness of and prepare you with the latest zombie survival techniques.
After working for the BBC in Great Britain and East Africa, Max Brooks began writing The Zombie Survival Guide. Brooks, a former Emmy Award-winning writer for “Saturday Night Live,” lives in New York City. He is currently at work on his next release, The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks.
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 5:30 p.m.
Milwaukee Central Library Presents: Vampire Stories
Central Library’s Richard E. and Lucile Krug Rare Books Room, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave.
www.mpl.org or (414) 286-3031.
Admission is free
Do you like to sink your teeth into a good vampire story? Does your blood race in anticipation of the next book in the Twilight series or episode of HBO’s “True Blood?” If so, you’re invited to join this book discussion group of all things vampire (including books, films, folklore and television). The free discussion will be moderated by a librarian and include a round-table format in which you can talk about anything related to vampires.
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 7:30 p.m.
Carroll University Presents: Sorrel King
Dorothy Goff Frisch Recital Hall in Shattuck Music Center, 218 N. East Ave., Waukesha
www.carrollu.edu or (262) 524-7262
Admission is free
Sorrel King founded the Josie King Foundation with her husband in 2002 after their daughter, Josie, died as a result of medical errors the year before. The foundation supports innovative programs that influence the way safety is incorporated into medical care.
In her recently published memoir, Josie's Story, King writes about her daughter, the medical errors that led to Josie’s death, the family’s struggles with grief, her foray into the health care industry as a patient safety advocate and the safety improvements that have come about in Josie's memory.
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 6:30 p.m.
ACLU of Wisconsin, Woodland Pattern Book Center, and Wisconsin Center for the Book Present: Banned Books Night
Woodland Pattern Book Center, 720 E. Locust St.
www.woodlandpattern.org or (414) 263-5001
Admission is free
Join us for a celebration of beloved banned books and a discussion about censorship attempts in Wisconsin. After a short presentation, excerpts from the “hot” books will be read.
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 7 p.m.
Boswell Book Co. Presents: Anne Basting, Author of Forget Memory: Creating Better Lives for People with Dementia
Boswell Book Co., 2559 N. Downer Ave.
www.boswellbooks.com or (414) 332-1181
Admission is free
Memory loss can be one of the most terrifying aspects of a diagnosis of dementia. Yet the fear and dread of losing our memory can make the experience of the disease worse than it needs to be, according to cultural critic and playwright Anne Davis Basting. She says: Forget memory. Emphasize instead the importance of activities that focus on the present to improve the lives of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Bold, optimistic and innovative, Basting’s cultural critique offers a vision for changing the way we care for people with memory loss.
Basting is director of the Center on Age & Community and an associate professor in Peck School of the Arts’ Department of Theatre, where she teaches storytelling and playwriting.
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 8 p.m.
Lyrical Sanctuary Presents: Raymond Luczak, Author of Eyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay & Lesbian Reader
UWM Union, Fireside Lounge, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.
www.sociocultural.uwm.edu or (414) 229-6998
Admission is free
Lyrical Sanctuary is an open mic series that encourages poets, singers, rappers, visual artists and other performers to express themselves. Tonight it welcomes author and poet Raymond Luczak, best known for such books as Eyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay & Lesbian Reader and St. Michael's Fall, a collection of poems about growing up deaf and Catholic.
A sign language interpreter will be provided.
Thursday, Oct. 15, 7 p.m.
RedBird-RedOak Writing Presents: Studio Open House & Grand Reopening
Marian Center for Nonprofits, 3195 S. Superior St., Suite 429
www.redbirdredoak.com or kim@redbirdredoak.com, (414) 881-7276
Admission is free
Offering workshops and critique groups for all ages and levels, RedBird-RedOak Writing supports writers in the greater Milwaukee area. Following the combined traditions of Redbird Studios and Red Oak Young Writers, this writing community helps participants make their writing dreams come true. Tonight they invite you to expand your network of writing friends and meet the coaches who make their programs unique.
Thursday, Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m.
UW-Milwaukee Presents: A Multimedia Evening of Ekphrastic Poetry with Jesse Lee Kercheval, Author of Cinema Muto
UWM, Curtin Hall, Room 175, 3243 N. Downer Ave.
Info: mywebspace.wisc.edu/jlkerche/web or (414) 229-6991
Admission is free
In Cinema Muto, Jesse Lee Kercheval examines the enduring themes of time, mortality and love as revealed through the power of silent film. Following the annual Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Italy, these poems are love letters to the evocative power of silent cinema. During this unique presentation, Kercheval will not only read and discuss her book, but also screen selections from silent films that inspired her work.
Kercheval is the Sally Mead Hands Bascom Professor of English and the director of the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing at UW-Madison. The author of nine books and two chapbooks of fiction, poetry and nonfiction, she is the recipient of numerous prizes and fellowships and publishes regularly in national and international magazines.
Friday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m.
Next Chapter Bookshop Presents: John Eisenberg
Next Chapter Bookshop, 10976 N. Port Washington Road, Mequon
www.nextchapterbookshop.com or (262) 241-6220
Admission is free
Mark the 50th anniversary of Vince Lombardi’s first year in Green Bay with author John Eisenberg. That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory chronicles Lombardi’s remarkable first year as head coach, when he transformed a team of underachievers into winners.
Eisenberg, an award-winning sports columnist for TheBaltimore Sun, has authored seven books, including My Guy Barbaro and The Great Match Race.
Saturday, Oct. 17, 2 p.m.
Boswell Book Co. Presents: Council for Wisconsin Writers 2009 Winners’ Reading
Boswell Book Co., 2559 N. Downer Ave.
www.boswellbooks.com or (414) 332-1181
Admission is free
The Council for Wisconsin Writers (CWW) is dedicated to promoting local, state and national awareness of Wisconsin's literary heritage and encouraging excellence among today's Wisconsin writers.
In this program, a selection of the most recent first-place winners in fiction, nonfiction and poetry categories will read from their works and answer questions. Readers include Ingrid Kallick, David McGlynn, Pat Schmatz and Susan Firer.
Sunday, Oct. 18, 2 p.m.
Woodland Pattern Book Center Presents: K. Silem Mohammad, Patrick Durgin and Jen Hofer
Woodland Pattern Book Center, 720 E. Locust St.
www.woodlandpattern.org or (414) 263-5001
$8 general admission/$7 students or seniors/$6 members
Jen Hofer is a poet, translator, interpreter, teacher, knitter and urban cyclist. Her recent publications include The Route, sexoPUROsexoVELOZ and translations from Mexican poets Dolores Dorantes and Laura Solórzano. She lives in Los Angeles, where recently she has made hand-sewn quilts out of paper as part of the “Natural Habitats” project.
K. Silem Mohammad is author of Deer Head Nation, A Thousand Devils, Breathalyzer and The Front. He is currently working on a project titled The Sonnagrams—anagrams of all 154 of Shakespeare’s sonnets. He co-edits the poetry magazine Abraham Lincoln and teaches at Southern Oregon University.
Patrick Durgin has collaborated with Jen Hofer since 1998 to produce The Route. On his own, Durgin has published Imitation Poems and Color Music. He edited the selected works of Hannah Weiner, Hannah Weiner's Open House. Other recent publications include essays on "post-ableist poetics" in Contemporary Women's Writing and the Journal of Modern Literature. He lives in Chicago, teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is hard at work on a play.
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