MilwaukeeBook Festival
Oct. 9 – Oct. 18, 2009
www.milwaukeebookfestival.org
The beginning of October often marks a time of changein Wisconsin,from the colors of leaves on the trees to the sweaters and coats emerging fromthe backs of closets. But since 2002, one October mainstay has been theMilwaukee Book Festival. And this year’s festival again welcomes local andnational authors reading and discussing works of poetry, fiction andnonfiction. 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 ChapterBookshop, the events will run Oct. 9-18 and give us many reasons to visitMilwaukee’s varied, intoxicating bookstores. (Jenni Kiekow)
Friday,Oct. 9, 7 p.m.
BoswellBook Co. Presents: David Rhodes
BoswellBook Co., 2559 N. Downer Ave.
www.boswellbooks.comor (414) 332-1181
Admissionis free
Wisconsin writer and Milkweed Prize winner DavidRhodes’ most recent novel, Driftless,explores the small town of Woods, Wis. After receiving an MFA in writing fromthe University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Rhodespublished three novels in rapid succession:The Last Fair Deal Going Down (1972), TheEaster House (1974) and Rock IslandLine (1975).
Saturday,Oct. 10, 2 p.m.
Milwaukee Book Festival Kickoff Event
Woodland Pattern Book Center Presents: Wendell Berry
UrbanEcology Center, 1500 E. Park Place
www.woodlandpattern.orgor (414) 263-5001
$8general admission/$7 students or seniors/$6 members
Author of50 books of fiction, poetry and essays, the award-winning Wendell Berry willread from his latest essay collection, BringingIt to the Table: On Farming and Food, and from his forthcoming collectionof poems, Leavings.
Berry has farmed a hillsidein his native Henry County, Ky., for more than 40 years. Drawn from more than30 years of work, Bringing It to theTable is essential reading for anyone who cares about what they eat. Theessays address such concerns as: How does organic measure up against locallygrown? What are the differences between small and large farms and how does thataffect what you put on your dinner table? What can you do to supportsustainable agriculture? Bringing It tothe Table is poised to become a favorite for anyone passionate about food.
Monday,Oct. 12, 4 p.m.
Marquette University Presents: Susan Neville
MarquetteUniversity, Alumni MemorialUnion, Room 227, 15th andWells streets
www.marquette.edu/Englishor (414) 288-7179
Admissionis free
Susan Neville will read from her luminous nonfiction writings, which runthe gamut from visiting Hummer factories and Goth nights for teenagers tostudying the painting of religious icons to contemplating our relationship tolandscapes. Marked by curiosity, intelligence and humor, her work takes readersto fascinating places we would seldom venture on our own. This event issponsored by the university’s Centennial Celebration of Women at Marquette, Office ofStudent Development and Department of English.
Neville is the author offive 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. Herprize-winning collections of short fiction include In the House of Blue Lights and Inventionof Flight. Her stories have appeared in a Pushcart Prize anthology andother collections. Sheholds the Demia Butler Chair at Butler University.
Monday,Oct. 12, 7 p.m.
UWMUnion Programming and the Union Activities Board present: ZombieSurvival Techniques with Max Brooks, Author of The Zombie Survival Guide and WorldWar Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
UWMUnion, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., Wisconsin Room, SecondLevel
Info:(414) 229-3111or lcpardee@uwm.edu
Admissionis free
Max Brooks is consideredone of the world’s foremost zombie-preparedness experts. His tireless searchfor 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 thelatest zombie survival techniques.
After working for the BBC in Great Britainand East Africa, Max Brooks began writing The Zombie Survival Guide. Brooks, aformer Emmy Award-winning writer for “Saturday Night Live,” lives in New York City. He iscurrently at work on his next release, TheZombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks.
Tuesday, Oct.13, 5:30 p.m.
Milwaukee Central Library Presents: Vampire Stories
Central Library’sRichard E. and Lucile Krug Rare Books Room, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave.
www.mpl.org or (414) 286-3031.
Admission isfree
Do you like to sink yourteeth into a good vampire story? Does your blood race in anticipation of thenext book in the Twilight series orepisode of HBO’s “True Blood?” If so, you’re invited to join this bookdiscussion group of all things vampire (including books, films, folklore and television). The free discussion will be moderatedby a librarian and include a round-table format in which you can talk aboutanything related to vampires.
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 7:30 p.m.
Carroll UniversityPresents: 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 theJosie King Foundation with her husband in 2002 after their daughter, Josie,died as a result of medical errors the year before. The foundation supportsinnovative programs that influence the way safety is incorporated into medicalcare.
In her recentlypublished 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 apatient safety advocate and the safety improvements that have come about inJosie's memory.
Wednesday,Oct. 14, 6:30 p.m.
ACLU of Wisconsin, WoodlandPattern BookCenter, and Wisconsin Centerfor the Book Present: Banned Books Night
Woodland Pattern Book Center, 720 E. Locust St.
www.woodlandpattern.orgor (414) 263-5001
Admissionis free
Join us for a celebration of beloved banned books and a discussion aboutcensorship attempts in Wisconsin.After a short presentation, excerpts from the “hot” books will be read.
Wednesday,Oct. 14, 7 p.m.
BoswellBook Co. Presents: Anne Basting, Author of ForgetMemory: Creating Better Lives for People with Dementia
BoswellBook Co., 2559 N. Downer Ave.
www.boswellbooks.comor (414) 332-1181
Admissionis free
Memory loss can be one of the most terrifying aspectsof a diagnosis of dementia. Yet the fear and dread of losing our memory canmake the experience of the disease worse than it needs to be, according tocultural critic and playwright Anne Davis Basting. She says: Forget memory.Emphasize instead the importance of activities that focus on the present toimprove the lives of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Bold,optimistic and innovative, Basting’s cultural critique offers a vision forchanging the way we care for people with memory loss.
Basting is director of the Center onAge & Community and an associate professor in Peck Schoolof the Arts’ Department of Theatre, where she teaches storytelling andplaywriting.
Wednesday,Oct. 14, 8 p.m.
LyricalSanctuary Presents: Raymond Luczak, Author of Eyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay &Lesbian Reader
UWM Union, Fireside Lounge, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.
www.sociocultural.uwm.eduor (414) 229-6998
Admission isfree
Lyrical Sanctuary is anopen mic series that encourages poets, singers, rappers, visual artists andother performers to express themselves. Tonight it welcomes author and poetRaymond Luczak, best known for such books as Eyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay& Lesbian Reader and St. Michael's Fall, a collection of poemsabout growing up deaf and Catholic.
Asign language interpreter will be provided.
Thursday,Oct. 15, 7 p.m.
RedBird-RedOakWriting Presents: Studio Open House & Grand Reopening
Marian Center for Nonprofits, 3195 S. Superior St., Suite 429
www.redbirdredoak.comor kim@redbirdredoak.com, (414) 881-7276
Admissionis free
Offering workshops and critique groups for all ages and levels,RedBird-RedOak Writing supports writers in the greater Milwaukee area. Following the combinedtraditions of Redbird Studios and Red Oak Young Writers, this writing communityhelps participants make their writing dreams come true. Tonight they invite youto expand your network of writing friends and meet the coaches who make theirprograms unique.
Thursday,Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m.
UW-MilwaukeePresents: 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
Admissionis free
In Cinema Muto,Jesse Lee Kercheval examines the enduring themes of time, mortality and love asrevealed through the power of silent film. Following the annual Le Giornate delCinema Muto in Italy, these poems are love letters to the evocative power ofsilent cinema. During this unique presentation, Kercheval will not only readand discuss her book, but also screen selections from silent films thatinspired her work.
Kercheval is the Sally Mead Hands Bascom Professor ofEnglish 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 regularlyin national and international magazines.
Friday,Oct. 16, 7 p.m.
NextChapter Bookshop Presents: John Eisenberg
NextChapter Bookshop, 10976 N. Port Washington Road, Mequon
www.nextchapterbookshop.comor (262) 241-6220
Admissionis free
Mark the 50th anniversary ofVince Lombardi’s first year in Green Bay with author John Eisenberg. That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Tookthe Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory chroniclesLombardi’s remarkable first year as head coach, when he transformed a team ofunderachievers into winners.
Eisenberg, an award-winning sports columnist for TheBaltimore Sun, hasauthored seven books, including My GuyBarbaro and The Great Match Race.
Saturday,Oct. 17, 2 p.m.
BoswellBook Co. Presents: Council for Wisconsin Writers 2009 Winners’ Reading
BoswellBook Co., 2559 N. Downer Ave.
www.boswellbooks.comor (414) 332-1181
Admissionis free
TheCouncil for Wisconsin Writers (CWW) is dedicated to promoting local, state andnational awareness of Wisconsin's literary heritage and encouraging excellenceamong today's Wisconsin writers.
Inthis program, a selection of the most recent first-place winners in fiction,nonfiction and poetry categories will read from their works and answerquestions. Readers include IngridKallick, David McGlynn, Pat Schmatz and Susan Firer.
Sunday,Oct. 18, 2 p.m.
Woodland Pattern Book Center Presents: K. Silem Mohammad, PatrickDurgin and Jen Hofer
WoodlandPattern Book Center, 720 E. Locust St.
www.woodlandpattern.orgor (414) 263-5001
$8general admission/$7 students or seniors/$6 members
Jen Hofer is a poet, translator,interpreter, teacher, knitter and urban cyclist. Her recent publicationsinclude The Route, sexoPUROsexoVELOZ and translations fromMexican 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 HeadNation, A Thousand Devils, Breathalyzer and The Front. He is currently working on a project titled The Sonnagramsanagrams of all 154 ofShakespeare’s sonnets. He co-edits the poetry magazine Abraham Lincoln and teaches at Southern Oregon University.
PatrickDurgin has collaborated with Jen Hofer since 1998 to produce The Route. On his own, Durgin haspublished Imitation Poems and Color Music. He edited the selectedworks of Hannah Weiner, Hannah Weiner'sOpen House. Other recent publications include essays on "post-ableistpoetics" in Contemporary Women'sWriting and the Journal of ModernLiterature. He lives in Chicago, teaches at the School ofthe Art Institute of Chicago and is hard at work on a play.
