Profiles of participating authors in the Festival of Books.
Jacquelyn Mitchard is the author of the number one New York Times bestselling novel, The Deep End of the Ocean — chosen as the first book for Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club and named by USA Today in 2007 as one of the most influential books of the past 25 years, Read more
John Koethe was born in San Diego in 1945 and educated at Princeton and Harvard Universities. He has published eight books of poetry, including FALLING WATER (HarperCollins, 1997), which received the Kingsley Tufts Award, and NINETY-FIFTH STREET (HarperCollins, 2009), which received the Lenore Marshall Prize from the Academy of American Read more
Bruce Dethlefsen has been appointed Wisconsin Poet Laureate for 2011-2012. His mission is to promote Wisconsin poets and poetry. He is the author of two chapbooks, Decent Reed and Something Near the Dance Floor, which won the Posner Award Honorable Mention. His latest book of poems, Unexpected Shiny Things, is published Read more
Robert Goldsborough has been a writer and editor in Chicago for almost half a century. He spent more than 20 years each with the Chicago Tribune (where he was Sunday Magazine Editor for seven years) and Advertising Age, the national marketing publication, where he was a writer and editor. He Read more
Margaret Pfeiffer is a practicing cardiac nutritionist and a board certified clinical lipid specialist. On staff with ProHealth Care Regional Heart and Vascular Center, Margaret works in Preventive Cardiology at Waukesha Memorial Hospital. She has provided practical nutrition solutions to cardiac rehabilitation patients for more than 15 years. A Registered Read more
John Gurda is a Milwaukee-born writer and historian who has been studying his hometown since 1972. He is the author of nineteen books, including histories of Milwaukee-area neighborhoods, industries, and places of worship. The Making of Milwaukee is Gurda’s most ambitious effort. With 450 pages and more than 500 illustrations, Read more
Raised in Washington State by parents who ground their own whole wheat flour, baked fresh bread every weekend, and regularly planned meals using Frances Moore Lappé’s vegetarian manifesto Diet for a Small Planet, Danielle developed an appreciation for healthy eating at an early age. A vegetable enthusiast with a passion Read more
Dean A. Kowalski received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is currently an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha. Specializing in the philosophy of religion, he has published research articles in such journals as Religious Studies and Philosophy and Theology. He is the author of Read more
Laura Schaefer is the author of The Teashop Girls (Simon & Schuster, 2008), a novel for young readers set in Madison, Wisconsin. She got her start as a contributor to the University of Wisconsin’s student paper The Daily Cardinal as its book reviewer and literature page editor. Laura went on Read more
Kai has been a performing artist for over 15 years, she holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theater Directing and Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she also studied Kinesiology and Movement. She has been a featured storyteller at the Taste of Chicago, African Festival of Read more