Arts & Entertainment
2nd Annual Festival of Books Brings Authors for Children, Adults
This Waukesha event inspired both aspiring authors as well as readers.
A flurry of authors, volunteers and book lovers gathered this weekend to partipate in the second annual Festival of Books at UW-Waukesha.
According to co-chair Kathleen Eull, this event began after Laraine O’Brien, of sponsor UW Waukesha Foundation, attended a festival at the University of Arizona in Tucson several years ago. The book festival at UW Waukesha follows their model and is all located entirely on campus instead of spread out like UW Madison’s event.
O’Brien had been looking for a way to showcase the campus and local talent. A group was formed with Kathleen Eull, of UW Waukesha Foundation Board, and Norm Bruce, of Martha Merrell’s Books and Café, as co-chairs. The group grew from there.
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“We found there were a lot of people really excited about doing something like this here," Eull said.
The festival is broken into two main components: the adult program and the children and young adult program. In the children and young adult program, there is story time with volunteer librarians reading. New this year were three teen authors to talk to young adults about what it’s like to publish for the first time, Eull said.
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“We try and really have something for every reading taste,” Eull said about the adult program.
Event goers attended these programs put on by authors, many who have Wisconsin connections. The programs depend on the author, but were generally a mix of lecture and audience questions. The authors also did book signings after their programs, whether you bought or brought their book with you.
There were many authors in attendance. One of them was Lesley Kagen, whose first book, Whistling in the Dark came out in 2007, followed by Land of a Hundred Wonders in 2008, Tomorrow River in May of this year and the sequel to Whistling in the Dark, Good Graces, to come out in September.
“I think most writers are born to write," said Kagen during her program. "They are wired that way.”
Also in attendance was Deborah Chamberlain, whose first book, Orange Picnic, came out in 2009. It is a story of two teenage couples in the 1960s. The men are sent to Vietnam and both were killed. Chamberlain was one of the girlfriends.
“My goal was to put a finished book in the hands of my boyfriend’s mother,” she said.
Kathie Giorgio, owner of was in attendance as was her husband, Michael Giorgio. Her first book, The Home for Wayward Clocks, came out in February of this year. Some of the studio’s students were in attendance, including Diane Valentine. When asked why she was there, she said, “We [she and her husband] came last year and it was so good.”
In addition to the sea of books, event goers were also able to purchase food, beverages and tote bags for their loot. For walking pleasure, there were also musical performances by various groups, including the Windy Hill Vocal Jazz Ensemble.
Friday night also showcased the keynote speaker, William Kent Krueger, who writes a mystery series. While the event is a bit sparse on Fridays, it jumped into full gear on Saturdays with additional book signings and programs.