As we near the end of 2021, we’re reflecting on a great year for the Wisconsin Book Festival. We were so excited to host some events in person and are looking forward to continuing with more in-person programming in 2022. We hosted 73 virtual and in-person events this year, and more than 14,000 people attended!
Looking ahead at 2022, we already have a few exciting author talks lined up. Carnegie Medal finalist Lauren Groff will join us at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 3, at Central Library to discuss her novel, Matrix, a defiant and timely exploration of the raw power of female creativity in a corrupted world. Equally alive to the sacred and the profane, Matrix gathers currents of violence, sensuality and religious ecstasy in a mesmerizing portrait of consuming passion, aberrant faith, and a woman that history moves both through and around.
On Thursday, February 24, at 7 p.m., the acclaimed Jericho Brown will present his Pulitzer Prize-winning collection, The Tradition, which questions why and how we’ve become accustomed to terror: in the bedroom, the classroom, the workplace and the movie theater. From mass shootings to rape to the murder of unarmed people by police, Brown interrupts complacency by locating each emergency in the garden of the body, where living things grow and wither — or survive. This event will also take place at Central Library.
Finally, we’d like to express our gratitude to our sponsors — including Signature Sponsor Marvin J. Levy — and our members and attendees for another great year. See you in 2022!