Profiles of participating authors in the Festival of Books.
Jonathan Kasparek earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003 and has written several books and articles on Wisconsin history. A work based on his dissertation, Fighting Son: A Biography of Philip F. La Follette won first place in the political science category at the 2006 Read more…
Sandra Kring lives in central Wisconsin. Her debut novel, Carry Me Home, was a Book Sense Notable Pick and a 2005 Midwest Booksellers Choice Award nominee. The Book of Bright Ideas was Target’s Bookmarked pick for the summer of ’06, and named to the New York Public Library’s Books for Read more…
JoAnn Early Macken’s newest picture books are Waiting Out the Storm (Candlewick Press, 2010) and Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move (Holiday House, 2008). Baby Says, “Moo!” will be published by Disney-Hyperion Books in spring 2011. JoAnn has also written an assortment of poems, several articles for writers, and Read more…
Jim Kokoris is the author of three novels, The Rich Part of Life, Sister North and the recently released The Pursuit of Other Interests, He is also a humorist. More than a dozen of his essays have appeared in The Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine and The Chicago Tribune Op/Ed page. Read more…
Peggy Tromblay’s children’s writing includes everything from picture books to novels. Her award-winning work has appeared in various children’s magazines, Writer’s Digest, and The Institute of Children’s Literature’s anthology on revision. Children’s Writer newsletter describes her work as a “great example of humor.” When Peggy’s not writing for kids, she’s Read more…
Stephen D. Sullivan is the award-winning author of more than 30 published books and has worked on more comics and game material than he can easily count. He has been in publishing since 1980, when he moved to Wisconsin to join the Dungeons & Dragons development team. Steve has worked Read more…
There are things which Chris Keefe hates more than bios, though he is hard pressed to think of any now. Chris’ two alien parents crash landed in Madison in the 1950’s, Chris was born 15 or so years later after his parents finally hit upon the right concoction to grow Read more…
John Galligan is the author of The Wind Knot (February, 2011), fourth in a series of mysteries featuring a wandering trout bum who becomes a reluctanct sleuth when bodies turn up on the stream. The first in the series, The Nail Knot, is “a real treat” (Library Journal) set in Read more…
ELLEN M. KOZAK is a Milwaukee copyright, publishing and media lawyer and the author of several pseudonymous novels, many articles, and three nonfiction books: From Pen to Print: The Secrets of Getting Published Successfully (winner of the Council for Wisconsin Writers Award for best 1990 non-fiction book), Every Writer’s Guide Read more…
Liam Callanan is a novelist, essayist and creator of the Poetry Everywhere animated film series. He teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, whose English department he will chair next year.