SCHOOL VISIT: Dear You, Dream Big!

Baptiste Paul

6:00pm - 7:00pm
A powerful, lyrical anthem of Black pride celebrating Black creativity, leadership, and innovation.

Funny Because It's True

Christine Wenc

7:00pm - 8:00pm
How a group of young misfits from flyover country unintentionally created a cultural phenomenon.

SCHOOL VISIT - Valiant Vel: Vel Phillips and the fight for fairness and equality

Jerrianne Hayslett, Aaron Boyd

1:00pm - 2:00pm
Provides a thorough look at an activist who dedicated her life to making the world a better place.

Show Don't Tell

Curtis Sittenfeld, Susanna Daniel

7:00pm - 8:00pm
A funny, fiercely intelligent collection exploring marriage, friendship, fame, and artistic ambition

Recording Available

The Good Mother Myth

Nancy Reddy, Jessica Calarco

7:00pm - 8:00pm
pulls back the curtain on the flawed social science behind our understanding of a "good" mom.

Recording Available

Creative Writing MFA Graduates Poetry Reading

Patrycja Humienik, Maryhilda Obasiota Ibe, Iqra Khan, juj e. lepe, Jonny Teklit, Andrew Chi Keong Yim

7:00pm - 8:00pm
A reading from the graduating UW-Madison MFA cohort in poetry.

Recording Available

The Backyard Bird Chronicles

Amy Tan

7:00pm - 8:00pm
Maps the passage of time through daily entries, thoughtful questions & beautiful original sketches.

Recording Available

The Dark Mirror

Samantha Shannon

7:00pm - 8:00pm
the highly anticipated fifth novel in Samantha Shannon bestselling Bone Season series.

Recording Available

Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism

Eve L. Ewing, Kai Pyle

7:00pm - 8:00pm
An eye-opening look at how American schools helped build and reinforce racial inequality

Recording Available

Plundered: How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America

Bernadette Atuahene

6:30pm
Puts a face on the pain of racist policies that have impoverished America's democracy

K-Drama School

Grace Jung

7:00pm - 8:00pm
offers a groundbreaking exploration into this singular form of entertainment.

Recording Available

A Forty Year Kiss

Nickolas Butler, Laura Anne Bird

7:00pm - 8:00pm
A small-town story about one couple's hard-won second chance at love, 40 years after their divorce.

Recording Available

SCHOOL VISIT: Into the Wind, Above the Clouds

Diane Endres-Ballweg

11:00am - 12:00pm
Becoming a pilot taught Ballweg about the limitless beauty of life from the skies.

The Snowbirds

Christina Clancy, Chloe Benjamin

7:00pm
An honest story of what it takes to commit to someone for a lifetime.

Recording Available

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess **Registration Now Closed**

Jeff Kinney

5:00pm - 6:00pm
This side splittingly relatable summer story is the funniest Wimpy Kid book yet!

Murder Girl

Heidi Armbruster

7:00pm - 8:00pm
A home-grown, world-premiere comedy about found family, old fashioneds & where to stow the roadkill.

Recording Available

Wisconsin People & Ideas 2024 Fiction and Poetry Contest Winners

Bob Wake, C. E. Perry, Linda Falkenstein, Diya Abbas, Han Raschka, Lisa Vihos

7:00pm - 8:00pm

Recording Available

The Bright Sword

Lev Grossman

1:30pm - 2:30pm
Imperfect men & women looking for a way to reforge a broken land in spite of being broken themselves

Recording Available

Night Magic

Leigh Ann Henion, Michelle Wildgen

12:00pm - 1:00pm
On this imperiled planet, nature’s magic still exists, often in the places we least expect it.

Recording Available

Polostan

Neal Stephenson

12:00pm - 1:00pm
an inventive, richly detailed, and deeply entertaining historical epic.

Recording Available

While You Were Out

Meg Kissinger

12:00pm - 1:00pm
explores the consequences of shame, botched public policy & the hope offered by new treatments.

Recording Available

A Season for That

Steve Hoffman, Judith Siers-Poisson

10:30am - 11:30am
Explores the beauty of a culture that is one with its landscape, and becoming one with that culture.

Blue Light Hours

Bruna Dantas Lobato, Mandy Moe Pwint Tu

10:30am - 11:30am
paints a powerful portrait of a mother and a daughter coming of age together and apart.

Recording Available

The Inner Clock

Lynne Peeples

10:30am - 11:30am
How the science of circadian rhythms can help you sleep better, feel happier, and improve health.

Recording Available

Feed the Planet

George Steinmetz

7:30pm - 8:30pm
Documents the global effort that puts food on our tables and transforms the surface of the Earth.

Godwin

Joseph O'Neill, Steven Wright

7:30pm - 8:30pm
investigates the legacy of colonialism in the context of family love and global capitalism.

Recording Available

New And Selected Poems

Marie Howe, Chessy Normile

7:30pm - 8:30pm
An indispensable collection of more than four decades of profound, luminous poetry.

Recording Available

Thank You, More Please

Lily Womble

7:30pm - 8:30pm
A proven guide to a confident & joyful dating life that makes the right relationship inevitable.

2000 Blacks

Ajibola Tolase, Natasha Oladokun

6:00pm - 7:00pm
probes the complexity of economic & politically motivated migration from Africa.

Recording Available

Margo's Got Money Troubles

Rufi Thorpe, Christina Clancy

6:00pm - 7:00pm
A playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative.

Recording Available

Nature's Writers: Mentored by the Land

Donald Clark, Andy Adams

6:00pm - 7:00pm
A unique & compelling story of the land and how it has inspired some of our greatest poets & authors

Tits Up

Sarah Thornton

6:00pm - 7:00pm
Connects concepts of bodily autonomy, gender equality, racial politics, and desire.

Recording Available

Beyond the Big Lie

Bill Adair

4:30pm - 5:30pm
unpacks the state of our politics but provides solutions to put an end to American political deceit.

Recording Available

Extra! Extra! Eat All About It!

Jane Conway and Randi Julia Ramsden

4:30pm - 5:30pm
offers a unique glimpse into the Midwestern culinary landscape between 1870 and 1930.

Float Up, Sing Down

Laird Hunt, Beth Nguyen

4:30pm - 5:30pm
is the story of a single day in one of Hunt’s most beloved and enduring landscapes.

Recording Available

STILL: The Art of Noticing

Mary Jo Hoffman

4:30pm - 5:30pm
traces an incredible undertaking, sharing breathtaking photographs from Hoffman’s enormous archive.

Too Good To Miss Poetry Reading: Extraordinary Poets With Wisconsin Ties

Cynthia Marie Hoffman, Alison Thumel, J.L. Conrad

4:30pm - 5:30pm
An evening of moving poetry by extraordinary poets with Wisconsin Ties.

Recording Available

Attack From Within

Barbara McQuade, David Maraniss

3:00pm - 4:00pm
shows us how to identify the ways disinformation is seeping into all facets of our society.

Recording Available

Forest of Noise

Mosab Abu Toha

3:00pm - 4:00pm
An urgent, extraordinary & arrestingly whimsical book, that brings us indelible art in a time of war

Recording Available

Malas

Marcela Fuentes

3:00pm - 4:00pm
A love letter to Tejano culture and community that helps these women discover what family means.

Recording Available

Writing the More-Than-Human World: A Reading and Conversation with Heather Swan and Catherine Jagoe

Catherine Jagoe, Heather Swan

3:00pm - 4:00pm
How to cultivate wonder and hope at a time of unparalleled ecological destruction.

The City in Glass

Nghi Vo

1:30pm - 2:30pm
An epic love story, of death and resurrection, memory and transformation, redemption and desire.

Recording Available

The Indian Card

Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz

1:30pm - 2:30pm
sheds light on finding a deeper sense of belonging amidst the ongoing fight for Native sovereignty.

Recording Available

The Insect Epiphany

Barrett Klein, Heather Swan

1:30pm - 2:30pm
proves that our world would look very different without insects, shaping what makes us human.

Women's Hotel

Daniel M. Lavery

1:30pm - 2:30pm
A poignant and funny novel about the residents of a women’s hotel in 1960's New York City.

Recording Available

**CANCELLED**: Madwoman

Chelsea Bieker

12:00pm - 1:00pm
A gripping story of motherhood and motherloss.

Safe

Mark Daley

12:00pm - 1:00pm
a deeply personal window into what happens when the universal longing for family faces bureaucracy.

Recording Available

The Morningside

Téa Obreht

12:00pm - 1:00pm
examines how people thrive in their imagination & how myths shape our families and our perceptions.

Recording Available

Turning to Stone

Marcia Bjornerud

12:00pm - 1:00pm
reveals how rocks are the hidden infrastructure that keep the planet functioning.

**CANCELLED**: We Were The Universe

Kimberly King Parsons, Chelsea Bieker

10:30am - 11:30am
A young mother, in denial after the death of her sister, navigates desire, guilt, and grief.

Frostbite

Nicola Twilley

10:30am - 11:30am
An engaging exploration of refrigeration & how it has remade our entire relationship with food.

Recording Available

Lola

Karla Arenas Valenti

10:30am - 11:30am
A simmering tale of magic, adventure, and the extraordinary bond between a brother and sister.

Recording Available

Spooky Lakes

Geo Rutherford

10:30am - 11:30am
plumbs the depths of 25 unusual lakes around the world.

We Read Youth Voices Writing Contest: Authors Reception

Diya Dhawal, Grace Huang , Nora Moran, Ash Gartler

9:30am - 10:30am
A celebration of this year's WE READ Youth Voices writing contest winners.

Bluff

Danez Smith

9:00pm - 10:00pm
A manifesto about artistic resilience when the places we most love are burning.

Recording Available

Creation Lake

Rachel Kushner, Chloe Benjamin

7:30pm - 8:30pm
A work of high art, high comedy, and unforgettable pleasure.

Recording Available

Defectors

Paola Ramos

7:30pm - 8:30pm
Explores how race, identity & political trauma influence far-right sentiment among Latino voters.

Recording Available

Hampton Heights

Dan Kois

7:30pm - 8:30pm
A tender horror-comedy about camaraderie, bravery, vulnerability, and growing up.

Recording Available

I Heard There Was a Secret Chord

Daniel Levitin

6:00pm - 7:00pm
Across cultures, sound and rhythm have been used to ease suffering, promote healing & calm the mind.

Recording Available

Minority Rule

Ari Berman

6:00pm - 7:00pm
exposes the long history of the conflict between white supremacy and multiracial democracy.

Recording Available

One of Our Kind

Nicola Yoon

6:00pm - 7:00pm
explores the ways freedom is complicated by the presumptions we make about ourselves and each other.

Recording Available

Still Waters

Matt Goldman, Mindy Mejia

6:00pm - 7:00pm
A gripping, emotional thrill ride on grief and uncovering the past before it’s too late.

Recording Available

The Elements of Marie Curie

Dava Sobel

5:00pm - 6:00pm
illuminates the life and enduring influence of one of the most consequential figures of our time.

Recording Available

A World Of Hurt

Mindy Mejia, Matt Goldman

4:30pm - 5:30pm
delves into survivor’s guilt and fleshes out the lives continued by the ones left behind.

Recording Available

The Volcano Daughters

Gina María Balibrera, Jennifer Morales

4:30pm - 5:30pm
charts a new history and mythology of El Salvador, fiercely bringing forth urgent voices.

Recording Available

We Had Fun and Nobody Died

Peter Jest , David Luhrssen

4:30pm - 5:30pm
provides a rare window into the music industry from a promoter’s perspective.

Recording Available

Chasing the Stars

James Lattis, Kelly Tyrrell, Doug Moe

4:00pm - 5:00pm
Explore the stories of Wisconsin astronomers who've helped us better understand our universe.

Recording Available

2024 Charlotte Zolotow Lecture: Meg Medina - The Way In and the Way Out: Writing Picture Books in Contentious Times

Meg Medina

7:30pm - 8:30pm

Holding It Together

Jessica Calarco

7:00pm - 8:00pm
is a bold call to demand the institutional change that each of us deserves.

Recording Available

Their Divine Fires

Wendy Chen

7:00pm - 8:00pm
A story about what our ancestors will, and won’t, tell us.

Recording Available

There Are (NO) Stupid Questions...In Science

Leah Elson

7:00pm - 8:00pm
Easy-to-understand and delightfully cheeky explanations for scientific and medical quandaries.

Recording Available

Barons

Austin Frerick

5:30pm - 6:30pm
tells the stories of 7 corporate titans, their rise to power, and the consequences for everyone else

Recording Available

Transforming School Food Politics Around The World

Jennifer Gaddis, Dr. Sarah A. Robert

5:30pm - 6:30pm
sets the stage to reimagine school food as part of the infrastructure of daily life.

Recording Available

Writing Our Lineages: Solace And Sisterhood In Memoir

Tessa Hulls, Margaret Juhae Lee, Zara Chowdhary

5:30pm - 6:30pm
Three debut memoirists discuss their works about unspoken multi-generational family histories.

Recording Available

UW-Madison Go Big Read: Sitting Pretty

Rebekah Taussig

7:00pm - 8:30pm
Challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind & relentless.

2024 Midwest Video Poetry Fest: Night 2

Deshawn McKinney

7:00pm - 8:00pm
An evening of films including original poems, experimental works, animation, translations, and more.

2024 Midwest Video Poetry Fest: Night 1

Erika Meitner

7:00pm - 8:00pm
An evening of films including original poems, experimental works, animation, translations, and more.