Authors galore are set to visit, including Roy, Sedaris, See
Get ready for a bumper crop of bigname authors and prize-winning writers visiting the Milwaukee area in the coming weeks.
Spring also brings the launch event for a novel by a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor that might have the right ingredients to become a national hit.
One high-profile event is already sold out: Susan Cain’s March 12 talk at the Wauwatosa Public Library Foundation’s annual Spring Leadership Luncheon. Cain is author of “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.”
Here’s a look at some (by no means all) top literary events on the local calendar in the near future:
April 3: Local writer Liam Callanan’s new novel “Paris by the Book” has two ingredients that make many readers and booksellers swoon: Paris, and a bookstore! Callanan, an associate professor of English at UWM, will celebrate with a launch event at Boswell Books, 2559 N. Downer Ave. This event also serves as Boswell’s ninth birthday party. 7 p.m.
April 9: Newbery winner Kwame Alexander visits Boswell with musical collaborator Randy Preston on behalf of “Rebound,” a novel in verse for readers 10 and older that’s a prequel to “The Crossover.” 6:30 p.m. While admission is free, registration is recommended: alexandermke.bpt.me.
April 10: Shorewood Reads 2018 caps off its public discussion of Emily St. John Mandel’s post-apocalyptic novel “Station Eleven” with a visit by the author; she will speak and answer questions at 7 p.m. at Shorewood Village Center, 3920 N. Murray Ave. “Station Eleven” won the UK’s Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science-fiction novel in 2015.
April 19: Lisa See, whose popular novels illuminate Chinese-American and Chinese experience and history, will speak at 7 p.m. at UWM’s Golda Meir Library, 2311 E. Hartford Ave. Her recent novel, “The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane,” connects the stories of a girl in a rural tea-growing enclave and an American adoptee.
April 20: Humorist-essayist David Sedaris returns to the Riverside Theater, 116 W. Wisconsin Ave., for an 8 p.m. performance. His latest book is “Theft by Finding,” a collection of diary excerpts from 1977-2002, taking him from his dysfunctional youth through early fame with snark, wit and trenchant observations. Tickets are $52 and $57. Visit pabsttheater.org or call (414) 2863663.
April 23: In a ticketed event, Meg Wolitzer talks about her new novel “The Female Persuasion” with Wisconsin novelist Jane Hamilton (”The Excellent Lombards”) at 7 p.m. at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, 1111 E. Brown Deer Road, Bayside. Tickets, at $30, include a copy of Wolitzer’s novel: wolitzer.bpt.me.
May 2: Nobody blends the outlandish and the otherworldly like comic novelist Christopher Moore. He’ll
visit Boswell Books at 7 p.m. to promote his new novel, “Noir,” which spoofs private-eye tales as well as Roswellian men in black. Tickets, at $30, also include a copy of “Noir”: mooremke18.bpt.me.
May 6: Paula McLain visits Brookfield’s Wilson Center, 19805 W. Capitol Drive, at 3 p.m. to talk about her new novel, “Love and Ruin,” a story about intrepid war correspondent Martha Gellhorn and that dude she married, Ernest Hemingway. McLain’s earlier books include “The Paris Wife.” Tickets, at $32, including a copy of “Love and Ruin”: visit mclain.bpt.me.
May 8: Man Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy will speak at 7 p.m. at the UWM Union, 2200 W. Kenwood Blvd., on the paperback tour for her novel “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.” She is equally well known for her political activism.
May 11: Luís Alberto Urrea headlines the Spring Literary Luncheon, the Friends of Milwaukee Public Library’s biggest annual fundraising event. Urrea will talk about his new novel, “The House of Broken Angels,” a big family saga that spans the U.S.-Mexico border. Urrea’s literary honors include an Edgar award for best mystery story and an American Book Award for his memoir “Nobody’s Son: Notes From an American Life.” The event begins at 11 a.m. at the Wisconsin Club, 900 W. Wisconsin Ave. Tickets are $75; registration is required. Call (414) 286-8720 or visit mpl.org.