Meet the Authors
We're very excited to welcome the following authors to the 2024 Chippewa Valley Book Festival. Peruse the authors here and then hop over to the 2024 schedule of events to learn more about where and when you can meet them.
Mary Bergin
MARY BERGIN has traveled the world but is most likely to pay attention to her home turf, the often-overlooked Midwest U.S. The lifelong journalist lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and her awards include four Lowell Thomas honors, the highest recognition in North America for travel journalists.
Small-Town Wisconsin: Fun, Surprising and Exceptional Road Trips is Bergin’s sixth book. From 2002 to 2019, she produced a weekly and syndicated newspaper column about close-to-home travel and food. Some of Mary’s other work has been syndicated nationally through Tribune Content Agency and USA Today networks. She grew up on a farm in Sheboygan County and paid her way through college as a summer waitress at an Elkhart Lake resort.
Liam Callanan
LIAM CALLANAN is a writer and teacher. His novel, Paris by the Book, a national bestseller, was translated into multiple languages and won the Edna Ferber Prize. He’s also won the Hunt Prize, and his first novel, The Cloud Atlas, was a finalist for an Edgar Award. Liam’s work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Slate, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The San Francisco Chronicle, and he's recorded numerous essays for public radio. He's also taught for the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Arshay Cooper
ARSHAY COOPER is a rower, bestselling and award-winning author, A 2x Golden Oar recipient for his contributions to the sport of rowing, a motivational speaker, activist, and the protagonist of the film, A Most Beautiful Thing. Cooper grew up on the West Side of Chicago in a community surrounded by gangs and drugs. In 1997 he joined (and later became captain of) the country's first All-Black high school rowing team at Manley High School, an experience that changed his life. Arshay’s message has spread around the world and focuses on conversations around the film, digging into access and opportunity, and the importance of bringing people together.
Andrew J . Graff
ANDREW J. GRAFF is the author of the novel True North. His fiction and essays have appeared in Image and Dappled Things. Andrew grew up fishing, hiking, and hunting in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. After a tour of duty in Afghanistan, he earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
>> UNFORTUNATELY, GRAFF’S EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED <<
Gulchehra Hoja
GULCHEHRA HOJA, a distinguished journalist and author, has dedicated her life to shedding light on critical human rights issues and championing journalistic integrity. Her relentless pursuit of truth and justice has earned her widespread recognition and numerous accolades.
In 2019, Hoja was honored with the prestigious Magnitsky Human Rights Award for her unwavering commitment to upholding human rights and exposing the Chinese government’s crimes against humanity. In recognition of her exceptional bravery and resilience in the face of adversity, Hoja was bestowed with the Courage in Journalism Award by the International Women's Media Foundation in 2020.
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Hoja remains deeply committed to using her platform to effect positive change in society, whether through her investigative reporting or her literary works.
B.J. Hollars
B.J. HOLLARS is the author of several books, most recently Wisconsin for Kennedy: The Primary That Launched a President and Changed The Course of History, and Year of Plenty: A Family's Season of Grief. He and his film partner, Steve Dayton, have also completed a documentary When Rubber Hit the Road. He is the founder and executive director of the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild, as well as a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and a columnist for The Leader-Telegram. He lives a simple existence with his family.
Lori M. Lee
LORI M. LEE is the author of speculative novels and short stories. Her books include the award-winning Pahua and the Soul Stealer and its sequel Pahua and the Dragon’s Secret. Also, Forest of Souls, Broken Web, Calling of Light, and more. She’s also a contributor to the anthologies A Thousand Beginnings and Endings and Color Outside the Lines. She considers herself a unicorn fan, enjoys binging TV shows, and loves to write about magic, manipulation, and mayhem.
Meg Kissinger
MEG KISSINGER, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, will help you see and think about people with mental illness in a new light. Her engaging memoir, While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence, has been praised for its incisive reporting, boundless compassion and surprising humor. It was named as an editors’ choice by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Amazon, Goodreads and Independent Booksellers Association. Audible chose it as the Best of the Year.
Kissinger spent more than two decades traveling across the country to report on our nation’s failed mental health system. Her reporting led to change in state laws and the addition of hundreds of new supportive housing units for people with serious mental illness. She taught investigative reporting at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and is a trainer for the school’s Dart Center on Trauma and Journalism.
Kissinger lives in Milwaukee, Wis., along the shores of Lake Michigan, her favorite place to plunge, even on the coldest day in January.
Joshua Moehling
JOSHUA MOEHLING is the author of the Ben Packard mysteries. His debut novel, And There He Kept Her, was a 2023 Lammy Award nominee for Best Mystery, selected as the best mystery June 2022 by both Apple and Amazon editors, and was a Barnes and Noble Monthly Pick.
His second book, Where the Dead Sleep, has been reviewed by the New York Times, The Associated Press and more. Where the Dead Sleep was also a Target Book Club selection. The book got high praise from William Kent Krueger, who says, “With Where the Dead Sleep, Joshua Moehling solidifies his place as one of the best new voices in the mystery genre."
Josh grew up as an Army brat and moved all over the US and Germany. After attending college in South Dakota and Mankato, MN he moved to Minneapolis and began a career in the medical device industry.
Amy Pease
AMY PEASE is an alumna of the University of Wisconsin and the Madison Writer’s Studio, and works as a nurse practitioner, where she is a nationally recognized HIV specialist. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two children. Northwoods is her first novel.
Mona Susan Power
MONA SUSAN POWER is the author of four books of fiction: The Grass Dancer (awarded the PEN/Hemingway prize), Roofwalker, Sacred Wilderness, and A Council of Dolls (longlisted for the National Book Award, and Carol Shields Prize). Fellowships in support of her work include a Radcliffe Bunting Institute Fellowship, Princeton Hodder Fellowship, USA Artists Fellowship, and McKnight Fellowship. Her short stories and essays have been widely published in journals, and anthologies, and her essay, "Bloodthread," is forthcoming in The Georgia Review. Power is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, born and raised in Chicago. She currently lives in Minnesota.
Denise Sweet
DENISE “DEE” SWEET (Anishinaabe, White Earth) is Faculty Emerita, having taught Humanistic Studies, Creative Writing, and First Nations Studies for the UW-System. A publishing poet, her books of poetry include Know By Heart, Songs For Discharming, Days Of Obsidian, Days Of Grace, and Nitaawichige. Her poems have appeared in Sinister Wisdom, Women Brave in the Face of Danger, Another Chicago Magazine, Akwekón, Yellow Medicine Review, When The Light Of The World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through to name a few. She has received awards for her work as a writer and as an activist, including the 4-year appointment as Wisconsin’s second Poet Laureate (2004-2008) and she is currently serving as Poet Laureate in Bayfield, WI where she now resides.
Mercury Stardust
MERCURY STARDUST (she/they) is a professional home maintenance technician, performer, and award-winning activist. Known widely as the “Trans Handy Ma'am,” their unique brand of compassionate education in the Home Repair space has earned her Internet fame. With over 2.5 million followers on TikTok and over 750k followers on Instagram, Mercury spreads DIYknowledge with love. Their expertise includes rental maintenance, landlord negotiations, clogs, drywall, painting, minor electrical repairs, caulking, and more.
tiktok.com/@mercurystardust
instagram.com/mercurystardusttopz
mercurystardust.com
