Bennett, Butler among visiting authors this season
Milwaukee readers have plenty of reasons to venture outside this winter. A bounty of top novelists and writers will speak and sign books here.
Here’s a look at some — by no means all — intriguing book events in the near future.
Michael Tisserand, 2 p.m. Feb. 4. In “Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White” (Harper), New Orleans writer Tisserand explores the enduring legacy of the comic strip “Krazy Kat” and the life of its creator, Herriman (including the complicated story of his racial heritage and identification). Tisserand will speak at Boswell Books, 2559 N. Downer Ave.
Brit Bennett, 7 p.m. Feb. 6. In her widely praised and much discussed debut novel “The Mothers” (Riverhead), Bennett explores the life of a California teen who unexpectedly becomes pregnant after her mother’s suicide. One distinguishing feature of her novel: the choral comments of the church ladies of Upper Room Chapel. Boswell Books.
Elinor Lipman, 2 p.m. Feb. 19. Comic novelist Lipman will talk about her new book, “One Turpentine Lane” (HMH), in conversation with “Lake Effect” voice Bonnie North at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, 1111 E. Brown Deer Road, Bayside. Tickets ($26) include a signed book; $5 from each ticket goes to support the brownpapertickets.com/event/2724973nature center. Visit
or call (800) 838-3006. (P.S. I’m a big fan of her essay collection, “I Can’t Complain.”)
Kelly Jensen, 7 p.m. March 2. For “Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World” (Algonquin Young Readers), an anthology designed for readers 14 and older, Delavan writer-editor Jensen has pulled together original and reprinted essays, stories and artworks from both famous (Mindy Kaling, Roxane Gay) and less well-known but equally feisty contributors. The collection’s intriguing titles include “I Have Always Eaten the Bread,” “Dragging Myself into Self-Love” and “Great Girl Friendships in Fiction.” Boswell Books.
Christina Baker Kline, 2 p.m. March 5. The author of “Orphan Train” returns with “A Piece of the World” (William Morrow), a novel that imagines the life of the woman depicted in Andrew Wyeth’s famous painting “Christina’s World.” Kline will speak during a ticket event at Lynden Sculpture Garden, 2145 W. Brown Deer Road, River Hills. Tickets ($30, $25 for LSG members) include a signed copy of her novel. Visit lyndensculpturegarden.org /christinabakerkline or call (414) 4468794.
Will Schwalbe, 7 p.m. March 6. In his new “Books for Living” (Knopf), Schwalbe, author of “The End of Your Life Book Club,” connects books he has loved (“Stuart Little,” “Giovanni’s Room”) with the qualities he has learned from them. Boswell Books.
Nickolas Butler, 7 p.m. March 7. Eau Claire novelist Butler (“Shotgun Lovesongs”) will celebrate publication day of his new novel, “The Hearts of Men” (Ecco), at Milwaukee’s Boswell Books. “Hearts” opens with a 13year-old boy at camp making both a problematic discovery about his parents and an unexpected new friend, and follows him through a life-alerting crisis of adulthood.
Margaret George, 7 p.m. March 9. Madison writer George, whose masterful historical novels have featured Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and Cleopatra, now turns to “The Confessions of Young Nero” (Berkley), written as the notorious Roman emperor’s autobiography. She will speak and sign books at Boswell Books.
Dan Egan, 7 p.m. March 10. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Egan has won multiple awards for his coverage of environmental issues affecting Lake Michigan and its siblings. In “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes” (W.W. Norton), Egan dives deeper in the past and challenging future of the lakes. Boswell Books.
Jami Attenberg, 7 p.m. March 29. Attenberg, whose excellent novels include the suburban dramedy “The Middlesteins” and the historical “Saint Mazie,” swings by Milwaukee’s Boswell Books for a conversation with writer Wendy McClure about her new one, “All Grown Up” (HMH), about a single woman forging her way in the city.