Past Events:
2025
Thursday, April 10, 2025 at 7:00 pm
UWM at Waukesha, Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
1500 N. University Drive, Waukesha
“Can America’s Public Schools and Colleges be Fixed?“ Perspectives from Former U.S. Secretaries of Education and authors, Arne Duncan and Margaret Spellings. Hosted by UWM at Waukesha and sponsored by the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership
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2024
Friday, December 6, 6:00 pm
UWM at Waukesha
1500 N. University Drive, Waukesha
Awards Ceremony for The Lillian Boese Award for Writing Excellence
Thursday, November 14, 12:00 noon
UWM at Waukesha Commons
1500 N. University Drive, Waukesha
Darrin Bell, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the acclaimed book, The Talk
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Friday, November 8, 7:00 pm
UWM at Waukesha Commons
1500 N. University Drive, Waukesha
Student Writing Contest Awards and Lillian Boese Memorial Evening
Thursday, October 10, 7:00 pm
Books & Company
1039 Summit Avenue, Oconomowoc
Kathie Giorgio in conversation with Maggie Ginsberg as Kathie launches her new novel Don’t Let Me Keep You
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ALL EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. SOME EVENTS WILL REQUIRE REGISTRATION
15th YEAR BRINGS CELEBRATION AND CHANGES TO THE SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
Four Events Planned for 2024-2025
Major New Sponsor Needed
When the UW Regents announced that UWM at Waukesha would close in June 2025, the Executive Committee of the Festival of Books knew they had a job ahead. UWM at Waukesha’s Foundation has been the primary sponsor of the Festival since its inception in 2009. The Festival was to provide outreach from the UWM-W to the to public, to showcase the many authors on the faculty and to promote literacy in the community. UWM at Waukesha’s large connected campus offered an event with a hundred authors under one roof. The Festival has been held annually since 2010.
In the spring, the Board of the Foundation contacted Festival founder Laraine O’Brien for help in determining the future of the Festival. She contacted about 40 people who had worked on the Festival over the years. About 20 of those people have been meeting for the past few months. The group decided to continue the Festival with celebration events this year and seek a new sponsor for a full festival next year, in 2025. The committee hopes to announce a new sponsor before the end of 2024 so that work can begin on a complete Festival for the Fall of 2025. Festival events that will not be held this year are the Keynotes, the Author Panels, the ALLWRITERS Workshop, the Don Taylor Writers Market and Exhibits.
Please learn more About Us. If you would like to help support our Festival, you can Donate or Volunteer.
