Lunch for Libraries with Jesmyn Ward

Tuesday, May 5, 2026, 12 – 1:15 p.m. at Monona Terrace

Our 15th annual Lunch for Libraries fundraiser takes place Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at Monona Terrace Convention Center! Tickets are now sold out, and no tickets will be available at the door.

If you weren’t able to join us this year, we’d still love to share the experience with you. A video recording of the event will be available in June on the Wisconsin Book Festival website.

Lunch for Libraries is Madison Public Library Foundation’s signature spring fundraising event. Your ticket supports Wisconsin Book Festival’s free, year-round programs that bring readers and authors together.

Know Before You Go

We encourage you to plan your travel to the venue in advance, so that you can arrive between 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and not miss any part of the program. Below please find guidance to help you.

Construction

Construction on John Nolen Drive will impact your commute to the venue. Click for more information about the project’s current impact on traffic flows. You may want to plan an alternate route.

The Monona Terrace parking lot will also be under construction, and the entrance to the parking ramp from John Nolen will be closed.

This construction, and other concurrent events at the Terrace, will severely limit available parking in the Terrace ramp.

Parking

Due to construction and concurrent events, the Monona Terrace parking lot will not be a reliable parking option for this event.

If you are driving, we strongly recommend you plan to park elsewhere.

We recommend that guests plan to utilize the paid parking available at the Block 89 Ramp at 10 E. Doty Street and/or the Wilson Street Garage at 20 E. Wilson Street. Nearby street parking may also be available.

Click these links for real-time hourly parking availability and additional information about parking from the City of Madison.

Other Considerations

Guests requiring physical assistance should use the Terrace parking entrance on Wilson Street for drop-off. Volunteers will be available at the entry to Monona Terrace to provide support for those who need physical assistance getting into the venue. Drivers for those guests will be offered maps to alternative lots to park in, as needed.

If you choose to drive, please consider parking farther away if you have the time and ability to walk a greater distance to the venue.

Please also consider using Metro Transit, carpooling with other guests, using ridesharing apps, or biking, if able. You can learn about the location of the nine bicycle parking racks at the Terrace by clicking directions and parking information here.

About the Book and Author

This year’s featured speaker will be Jesmyn Ward, two-time National Book Award–winning author of On Witness and Respair.

In this powerful collection of essays and speeches, Ward blends personal history, literary reflection, and social witness to explore grief, resilience, Black motherhood, and the enduring power of storytelling in the face of personal and collective loss. Ward will reflect on the writers and experiences that have shaped her voice, as well as the role of literature as both testimony and survival.

Jesmyn Ward received her MFA from the University of Michigan and is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, a Stegner Fellowship, the Strauss Living Prize, and the 2022 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. She has won the National Book Award for Fiction twice—for Salvage the Bones and Sing, Unburied, Sing. Her memoir Men We Reaped was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and received the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize and the Media for a Just Society Award. Ward is currently a professor of creative writing at Tulane University and lives in Mississippi.

Support Year-Round Programming

Ward’s reflections on storytelling as witness echoes Wisconsin Book Festival’s goal to make transformative literary voices accessible to all. Your Lunch for Libraries ticket supports free, year-round literary programs that bring readers and authors together.

Celebrating its 25th year, Wisconsin Book Festival champions local literary talent and brings nationally recognized authors into our community for conversations that bring readers and writers together.

Event Details

Lunch for Libraries check-in and networking begins at 11:00 a.m., guests can flow to their tables at 11:30 a.m., and the program will run from noon–1:15 p.m.

Have more questions? Email events@mplfoundation.org or call 608.266.6318 for more information, to inquire about sponsorship, or to request an accommodation.