Booklovers from around the world can participate in events sponsored by Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books in the Fall of 2020
This year’s lineup will include the Century Fence sponsored student essay and poetry contests for middle and high school students, the Duane Stein short story contest for high school student throughout the state of Wisconsin, co-sponsorship of a Waukesha Reads panel and a partnership with Oconomowoc-based Books & Company who will host virtual presentations with five authors introducing new books.
The festival’s annual student writing contests support a goal to attract youth to the potential of the written word. This year, students are asked to write about a book that helped them reimagine and improve a situation in their life. Entries to the Century Fence sponsored poetry and essay contests are due October 1 to info@sewibookfest.com. The contest is open to middle and high school students in Waukesha and Milwaukee counties. The Duane Stein Short Story contest is open to all Wisconsin high school students. Email shortstorymatch@gmail.com for details. Entries are due October 1.
The Festival of Books will co-sponsor an author scholar panel with Waukesha Reads on Tuesday, October 27 at 6:30 p.m. Dr. Ellyn Lem, Professor of English and Gender Studies at UWM at Waukesha and author of Gray Matters: Finding Meaning in the Stories of Later Life will be joined by Carroll College professors and authors, Lilly Goren and Abby Markwyn. This panel can be viewed at http://youtube.com/waukeshareads.
Also in 2020, Festival of Books bookstore partner, Books & Company of Oconomowoc, will host three virtual author events planned for the festival. Visit https://www.booksco.com to register in advance for each event.
- Oct. 13 – Kathie Giorgio, Waukesha author, will launch, No Matter Which Way You Look, There Is More To See, a full-length poetry collection. Giorgio’s previous books include five novels, two short story collections, two poetry collections, and a collection of essays. She will share the program with her husband, Michael Giorgio, whose third novel, A Week of Criminal Happiness was released June 1, 2020.
- Oct. 20 – Jeanette Hurt, Milwaukee author, will launch The Wisconsin Cocktail Book published by the University of Wisconsin Press. This history of spirits in the Badger State will include a demonstration on how to make the perfect cocktail. Hurt has also authored Drink Like a Woman and The Joy of Cider.
- Nov. 7 – Ellyn Lem, Waukesha author and UWM at Waukesha professor of English and Gender studies will present Gray Matters: Finding Meaning in the Stories of Later Life, a book that she wrote following research with Waukesha area seniors. Lem will be joined by UWM Theater Professor and MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” recipient, Anne Basting, author of Creative Care: A Revolutionary Approach to Dementia and Elder Care.
2021 Keynote Novelist, Bestselling Author Elizabeth Berg
New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Berg will discuss her new book coming out this October! Join Ms. Berg from her home writing studio while she shares, I’ll Be Seeing You: A Memoir which follows the emotional and physical challenges she faced caring for her aging parents.
Praise for I’ll Be Seeing You
Elizabeth Berg’s characters jump right off the page and into your heart.
— Fannie Flagg, bestselling author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Entertaining…flawless dialogue…reading Elizabeth Berg is like eavesdropping on an intimate female chat.
— The New York Daily News
Berg’s writing is to literature what Chopin’s études are to music—measured, delicate, and impossible to walk away from until their completion.
— Entertainment Weekly
Ms. Berg has been honored with the NEBA Award, and her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Ladies’ Home Journal, Redbook, and The New York Times Magazine. With over 4 million copies of books in print, Ms. Berg has written nearly two dozen novels, multiple short story collections and works of nonfiction. Ms. Berg has been praised for “her ability to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, the remarkable in the everyday” (The Boston Globe). Her books include the Oprah Book Club Selection Open House, The Tapestry of Fortunes, The Dream Lover, Home Safe and The Last Time I Saw You. Recent novels include The Story of Arthur Truluv, its follow up, Night of Miracles, and her latest The Confession Club, all set in the community of Mason, Missouri. Three of her novels have been made into films, and many have been New York Times bestsellers.