The Wisconsin Book Festival, presented by Madison Public Library in partnership with Madison Public Library Foundation, presents free, public author events that celebrate books and spark conversations. Each year, the festival creates a robust schedule of accomplished and new writers whose fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books appeal to all ages of readers. The festival presents stand-alone events throughout the year with a culminating celebration each fall. The 24th annual Fall Celebration dates are October 23-26, 2025.
The festival is committed to presenting a mix of in-person and virtual events that are free and accessible to the public, with select events live streamed and archived on Crowdcast.
The Wisconsin Humanities Council founded the festival in 2001; Madison Public Library and Madison Public Library Foundation took over festival leadership in 2013. Under the auspices of the library and former Festival Director Conor Moran, the festival transformed into a year-round series of author events. Assuming festival leadership opened new opportunities for the library to connect with authors, publishers, media, and book lovers throughout the year. Partnerships keep the festival strong and provide fresh perspectives to continue the literary conversation in Madison.
In Winter 2023, Jane Rotonda became Festival Director. She works with many local organizations and small businesses — from UW–Madison departments and Madison nonprofits to independent booksellers — to create new partnerships that expand the festival’s programming reach and amplify underrepresented voices.
Since 2013, the festival has hosted more than 900 writers, including:
- Amor Towles, author of New York Times best-selling novel A Gentleman in Moscow
- Charles Yu, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction for Interior Chinatown
- Chloe Benjamin, Madison-based winner of the 2014 Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award for The Anatomy of Dreams and New York Times best-selling author of The Immortalists
- Pushcart Prize recipient Celeste Ng
- Many UW-Madison graduates, such as 2021 USA Writing Fellow, Danez Smith, and Booker Prize finalist, Brandon Taylor
- U.S. Senator and 2016 Presidential Candidate Elizabeth Warren
- Pulitzer Prize winners David Maraniss, Jane Smiley, and Anthony Doerr
- The world’s best-selling author, James Patterson
- Two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo
- Acclaimed food writer and cooking expert Mark Bittman
- Ambassador Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize winner and one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People for 2004
- Sarah Broom, author of National Book Award-winning memoir The Yellow House
- Political leader, voting rights activist, and New York Times best-selling author Stacey Abrams
- Tommy Orange, winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award and American Book Award for There There
- Numerous local and debut authors