Art Cullen

This event is co-sponsored by L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

The small community of Storm Lake, Iowa, has changed dramatically over Art Cullen’s 30-year career in journalism. Cullen, co-owner of The Storm Lake Times and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Storm Lake: A Chronicle of Change, Resilience, and Hope from a Heartland Newspaper, recognizes that rural communities are profoundly challenged and that climate change is already hampering food production. But he has also identified solutions, if we can accept changes such as immigration and a more resilient agriculture.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of A Chronicle of Change, Resilience and Hope from a Heartland Newspaper available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.

ART CULLEN is editor of The Storm Lake Times in Storm Lake, Iowa, where he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 2017 for a series of editorials on surface water pollution in Iowa caused by agricultural drainage. He is the author of Storm Lake: A Chronicle of Change, Resilience and Hope from a Heartland Newspaper. He owns the twice-weekly newspaper with his brother, John, who serves as publisher. He also works with his wife, Dolores, a photographer, and son Tom, a reporter. He is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

artcullen.com

Mindy Mejia

This event is co-sponsored by L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

Crime fiction readers, particularly readers of heartland noir, know that something lies beneath the typical “Midwestern nice” facade. Some of the most seemingly innocent scenes can be rife with suspense; whether it is a blinding blizzard, peaceful pasture, or wandering woods, there is often no one around to hear you scream. Mindy Mejia will tell the tale of her journey into crime fiction, the inspiration for her books, and why she writes heartland noir.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of Leave No Trace available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.

MINDY MEJIA’s internationally-acclaimed heartland noir novels have been translated into over twenty languages. She’s the author of The Dragon Keeper and Everything You Want Me to Be, which was a People’s Best New Books Pick and listed in The Wall Street Journal’s Best New Mysteries. Her latest novel, Leave No Trace, was nominated for the Barry Award and was a finalist for the 2019 Minnesota Book Award for Genre Fiction. A graduate of the Hamline University MFA program, she lives and works in the Twin Cities.

mindymejia.com | Facebook | Twitter

Loretta Ellsworth

This event is co-sponsored by L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

Behind every tall tale is a little bit of fact. Many fiction authors find their work is influenced by history or their knowledge of a “real” place. Loretta Ellsworth, author of several young adult novels, will share the true history behind her first adult historical novel, Stars Over Clear Lake, which takes place at both the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, and the prisoner of war camp in Algona, Iowa.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of Stars Over Clear Lake available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.

LORETTA ELLSWORTH grew up in Iowa and is a former teacher and a graduate of Hamline University with an MFA in Writing for Children. She is the author of four novels for younger readers, including In Search of Mockingbird, which won the 2007 Midwest Bookseller’s Choice Honor Award in Children’s Literature, and was named to the 2008 New York Library’s Best Books for Teens list. Ellsworth’s first adult historical novel, Stars Over Clear Lake, is set in Clear Lake, Iowa during World War II. She currently resides in Lakeville, Minnesota.

www.lorettaellsworth.com

This event is co-sponsored by Lazy Monk Brewing and L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

Barstow & Grand seeks to fulfill a humble mission—to support the writers of the Chippewa Valley by offering an outlet for their creative writing, and to help them grow and professionalize their craft through the process of submission.

Issue #3 offers as broad and impressive a mix as Issues #1 and #2 did, with novice and professional writers, folks who have lived in the Chippewa Valley their entire lives and those who have joined our community from afar. The release party for Issue #3 will feature readings from the journal, including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, as well as commentary from the editors on the publication process and how the journal has grown in its third year. Stop down to hear some incredible writing, pick up an issue, enjoy a locally crafted beer (cash bar), and connect with the Chippewa Valley’s community of writers.

www.barstowandgrand.com

Leif Enger

This event is co-sponsored by Friends of the Chippewa Falls Public Library and the Heyde Center for the Arts

Storytelling is by nature a hopeful endeavor, and never more so than in times of division and anxiety. Using texts from novelists, poets, and screenwriters, Enger will discuss the Midwestern imagination, the magic of kite-flying, and the power of stories to inspire change.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of Virgil Wander available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.

LEIF ENGER was raised in Osakis, Minnesota, and worked as a reporter and producer for Minnesota Public Radio before writing his best-selling debut novel,  Peace Like a River, which won the Independent Publisher Book Award and was one of Los Angeles Times’s and Time Magazine’s Best Books of the Year. His second novel, So Brave, Young, and Handsome, was also a national best seller and a Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Award Honor Book for Fiction. His newest novel, Virgil Wander, was published in 2018. He and his wife Robin live in Minnesota.

Dorothy Chan

This event is co-sponsored by L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

Join Dorothy Chan, the newest assistant professor of creative writing at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, as she reads from her latest collection of poetry, Revenge of the Asian Woman. Continuing with the themes of food, sexuality, culture, and fetishes developed in her previous collections, the reading will showcase Chan’s latest work as well as her reverence for pop culture, kitsch, and excess.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of Revenge of the Asian Woman available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.

DOROTHY CHAN is the author of Revenge of the Asian Woman, Attack of the Fifty-Foot Centerfold, and the chapbook Chinatown Sonnets. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The American Poetry Review, Academy of American Poets, The Cincinnati Review, Diode Poetry Journal, Quarterly West, and elsewhere. She is the Poetry Editor of Hobart and an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.

dorothypoetry.com

Anna Lee Huber

This event is co-sponsored by Altoona Public Library.

When someone mentions female spies, especially during the era of World War I, often the only names they can recall are either the notorious femme fatale Mata Hari or the saintly nurse Edith Cavell. However, the real role of women in espionage was far more varied and prevalent. These real unsung heroes of the Great War formed the basis for  Anna Lee Huber’s fictional heroine—Verity Kent—and parts of their tales and exploits have found their way onto the page in her adventures. Huber will explore the fact and fiction behind these female secret agents, explore the spy rings with which they worked behind enemy lines, and examine their lives after the guns fell silent.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of Treacherous Is the Night available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.

ANNA LEE HUBER, winner of the 2018 Daphne du Maurier Award, is author of the national best-selling Lady Darby Mysteries, the Verity Kent Mysteries, and the Gothic Myths series, as well as the forthcoming anthology The Deadly Hours. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in music and minored in psychology. 

annaleehuber.com

Neel Patel

>> Due to a family emergency, this event has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for understanding.

This event is co-sponsored by the University of Wisconsin–Stout.

This program will discuss the importance of turning peripheral characters into primary ones, both its challenges and delights. Gain a better understanding of the impact literature, television, and film have on shaping the identities of people from different walks of life.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of If You See Me, Don’t Say Hi available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.

NEEL PATEL is an author and screenwriter who grew up in Champaign, Illinois. His writing has appeared in ELLE India, on Buzzfeed, and other publications. His first book, If You See Me, Don’t Say Hi, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice pick and an NPR Best Book of 2018. He lives in Los Angeles, where he is developing a television series and writing a novel.

neelnpatel.com

Kelly Jensen

This event is co-sponsored by the Katherine S. Schneider Disability Issues Forum and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Foundation. Captioning and sign language interpreting will be provided by the L. E. Phillips Family Foundation. Sally Webb has provided additional support.

While roughly 20% of Americans live with a mental illness, more than half of those who suffer have gone untreated for the past year. Kelly Jensen, author of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation about Mental Health, will talk about her own experiences with depression and anxiety as well as where and how she decided to get help for herself when she turned 30. Using what she learned from her own life, Jensen will discuss where and how to talk about mental health, as well as tools and resources for cracking open those discussions.

>> The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire Bookstore will have copies of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation about Mental Health for sale at a reception and book signing in the Davies Center immediately after the event. Light refreshments will be available.

KELLY JENSEN is a former teen librarian who worked in several public libraries before pursuing a full-time career in writing and editing. Her current position is with Book Riot, where she focuses on talking about young adult literature in all of its manifestations. Her books include Here We Are: Feminism for The Real World and (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation about Mental Health, a collection of art, essays, and words to launch a powerful and important conversation about mental health. It was named a best book of 2018 by the Washington Post and earned a Schneider Family Book Award Honor.

Tanya Lee Stone

This event is co-sponsored by L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library and the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire McIntyre Library.

Why are 130 million girls around the globe not being educated, and what can we do about it? Inspired by the film of the same name, Tanya Lee Stone's Girl Rising tackles these questions. Stone will explore how educating girls is the single most powerful tool we have to make our world a safer, healthier, more functional place. She will unpack the major obstacles to education, including where and why they happen and how we can easily be activists. Q&A invited.

This talk will include a mini-screening (one chapter) of the film.

>> The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire Bookstore will have copies of Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time for sale at a reception and book signing in the Davies Center immediately after the event. Light refreshments will be available.

TANYA LEE STONE is passionate about telling the unsung true stories of people who have been left out of our histories. Her work has earned an NAACP Image Award, Robert F. Sibert Medal, Bank Street Award, and many other honors including NPR Best Books, Boston Globe-Horn Book, Publishers Weekly Best Books, Washington Post's Best New Reads, Smithsonian Magazine Best Books, Chicago Public Library Best Books, and multiple state awards. Stone is on the faculty of Champlain College and frequently travels as a guest speaker.

Molly Patterson

This event is co-sponsored by the Menomonie Public Library.

Going beyond simple distinctions of first- and third-person and using the author’s novel Rebellion as an example, this talk will illuminate the benefits of employing diverse perspectives in novel writing.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of Rebellion available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.
 

MOLLY PATTERSON was born in St. Louis and lived in China for several years. Her work has appeared in several magazines, including The Atlantic Monthly and The Iowa Review. She was the 2012-2013 Writer-in-Residence at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., and is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. Her debut novel, Rebellion, was published by Harper (HarperCollins) in 2017.

www.mollypattersonwriter.com

Heather Swan

This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Chippewa Falls Public Library.

Heather’s hopeful book introduces us to an interdisciplinary force of people from all over the world working to change the fate of pollinators and to make the world a healthier place for humans too.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of Where Honeybees Thrive: Stories from the Field available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.
 

HEATHER SWAN'S creative nonfiction has appeared in Aeon, ISLE, Resilience, About Place Journal, and Edge Effects. Her poetry has appeared in such places as Poet Lore, Raleigh Review, Phoebe, Basalt, Midwestern Gothic, Cold Mountain Review, The Hopper, and About Place Journal. Her book Where Honeybees Thrive: Stories from the Field (Penn State Press, 2017) received the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award from Northland College. She teaches at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

William Kent Krueger

This event is co-sponsored by the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

Join William Kent Krueger for a consideration of the importance of stories, how they shape our understanding of the world and inspire us to become the people we want to be.

WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER is the author of the New York Times best-selling Cork O’Connor mystery series, set in the great Northwoods of Minnesota.  His work has received numerous awards, including the Edgar Award for Best Novel for his 2013 release, Ordinary Grace.  He lives in Saint Paul, a city he dearly loves, and does all his creative writing in local, author-friendly coffee shops.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of Desolation Mountain available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.

www.williamkentkrueger.com

Thomas W. Pearson

This event is co-sponsored by the Fall Creek Public Library.

Professor Pearson will discuss how anthropological research was used in writing his book about the impact of frac sand mining on sense of place, community, and local democracy in our area.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of When the Hills Are Gone: Frac Sand Mining and the Struggle for Community available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.
 

THOMAS W. PEARSON is associate professor of anthropology and assistant director of the Honors College at UW–Stout. He is the author of When the Hills Are Gone: Frac Sand Mining and the Struggle for Community, published by the University of Minnesota Press. His writing has also appeared in several academic journals, including American Anthropologist, Cultural Anthropology, American Ethnologist, and Human Organization. He lives in Menomonie, Wisconsin.

Twitter: @AnthroPearson
 

Patricia Skalka

This event is co-sponsored by the Altoona Public Library.

When a character evolves from curmudgeon to hero, how do readers respond, and why?

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of Death Rides the Ferry available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.
 

PATRICIA SKALKA won the Edna Ferber Fiction Award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers for Death in Cold Water, the third of her Dave Cubiak Door County Mysteries. The series began with Death Stalks Door County, and continued with Death at Gills Rock, and, most recently, Death Rides the Ferry.

A former Reader’s Digest staff writer, Skalka is also the author of several nonfiction books. She is a member of The Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, Wisconsin Writers Association, and Society of Midland Authors. She lives in Chicago and Door County.

www.patriciaskalka.com
 

Patricia McConnell

This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

Patricia McConnell, former co-host of WPR’s Calling All Pets, will share the true story of her beloved border collie, Willie, and how helping him overcome his issues led to her finding resolution to her own traumas.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of The Education of Will available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.
 

PATRICIA McCONNELL, PhD, CAAB, is an ethologist who has consulted with pet owners for over twenty five years. She taught "The Biology and Philosophy of Human/Animal Relationships” at the UW–Madison for over two decades and speaks around the world about canine behavior and training. Dr. McConnell is the author of thirteen books on animal training and behavior, as well as her newest book, The Education of Will: Healing a Dog, Facing My Fears, Reclaiming My Life, a memoir about healing from trauma in both people and dogs. Patricia and her husband live with their working border collies Willie and Maggie, and her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Tootsie, along with a very spoiled flock of sheep.

www.patriciamcconnell.com  |  www.theotherendoftheleash.com

Twitter: @McConnellWrites

Peter Geye

This event is co-sponsored by the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

The author will discuss the evolution of his last two novels. He will also read from Wintering and the final installment of the Eide Family Trilogy, Northernmost, due out in 2020.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of Wintering available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.
 

PETER GEYE is the award-winning author of Safe from the Sea, The Lighthouse Road, and Wintering. Peter received his MFA from the University of New Orleans and his PhD from Western Michigan University, where he was editor of Third Coast. He is the author of three acclaimed novels set in a fictionalized northern Minnesota town of Gunflint. The most recent book in the series, Wintering, was awarded the 2017 Minnesota Book Award for Fiction. Geye was born and raised in Minneapolis and continues to live there with his wife and three children.

www.petergeye.com

Leah Weiss

This event is co-sponsored by the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

Leah Weiss explains her process of tapping into the cadence and rhythm of the remote mountain voices of North Carolina.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of If the Creek Don’t Rise available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.
 

LEAH WEISS is a best-selling author born in North Carolina and raised near the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Her debut novel, If the Creek Don’t Rise, released in August of 2017, was selected as an Indie Next, Southern Indie Booksellers' Choice Book for 2017 and Library Reads. Her short stories have been published in magazines and online magazines such as The Simple Life, Every Day Fiction, and Deep South Magazine. In 2015, she retired from a her career of twenty-four years as Executive Assistant to the Headmaster at Virginia Episcopal School. She lives in Virginia with her husband and enjoys writing, traveling, hiking, and speaking to book clubs.

www.leahweiss.com

Miriam Karmel

This event is co-sponsored by the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.

Author Miriam Karmel will make an unapologetic case for the short story as a form that is neither a novel in miniature, nor a prelude to something big.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of Subtle Variations and Other Stories available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.
 

MIRIAM KARMEL’s stories have appeared in Bellevue Literary Review, Water~Stone Review, Passages North, Coe Review, Moment Magazine, and more. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including Minnesota Monthly’s Tamarack Award for her short story, The Queen of Love. Her story, The King of Marvin Gardens was anthologized in Milkweed Edition’s Fiction on a Stick (2008).  Being Esther (Milkweed Editions), her debut novel, was published in 2013.

Subtle Variations and Other Stories (Holy Cow! Press), was published in October 2017. It was the winning selection in the inaugural First Fiction contest, sponsored by Holy Cow! Press of Duluth, Minnesota and the Lindquist & Vennum Foundation.

Jesse Lee Kercheval and Karen Kovacik

This event is the Nadine St. Louis Memorial Poetry Conversation 2018.

Jesse Lee Kercheval and Karen Kovacik, along with a chorus of Eau Claire area poets and lovers of poetry, will read from their recent anthologies and translations of Polish and Uruguayan poets in a celebration of world poetry and a conversation between continents and countries.

>> Our book sales committee will have copies of América Invertida: An Anthology of Emerging Uruguayan Poets and Scattering the Dark available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.

JESSE LEE KERCHEVAL's recent translations include The Invisible Bridge: Selected Poems of Circe Maia and Fable of an Inconsolable Man by Javier Etchevarren. She is the editor of América Invertida: An Anthology of Emerging Uruguayan Poets and Earth, Sky and Water: A Bilingual Anthology of Environmental Poems. In addition, she has authored fourteen books of poetry and prose including The Alice Stories, winner of the Prairie Schooner Fiction Book Prize and the memoir Space, winner of the Alex Award from the American Library Association. She is the Zona Gale Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

www.jlkercheval.com  

KAREN KOVACIK is the author of the poetry collections Metropolis Burning, Beyond the Velvet Curtain, and Nixon and I. Her work as a poet and translator has received numerous honors, including the Charity Randall Citation from the International Poetry Forum, a fellowship in literary translation from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Fulbright Research Grant to Poland. In 2013, White Pine Press published her book-length translation of Agnieszka Kuciak’s Distant Lands: An Anthology of Poets Who Don’t Exist.  She is the editor of the anthology of Polish women poets, Scattering the Dark (White Pine, 2016). Professor of English at Indiana University-Purdue University–Indianapolis, she served as Indiana’s Poet Laureate from 2012-2014.

www.karenkovacik.net

Kathy Nimmer

This event is co-sponsored by the Katherine S. Schneider Disability Issues Forum and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Foundation. Captioning and sign language interpreting will be provided by the L. E. Phillips Family Foundation. Sally Webb has provided additional support.

Kathy Nimmer shares stories of the children she has encountered in twenty-six years of teaching, as well as the assistance dogs who have partnered with her and others with disabilities. You will laugh, cry, and realize how much our lives are made better when we recognize the power that both young people and dogs have to change our lives.

KATHY NIMMER is the 2015 Indiana Teacher of the Year and a finalist for 2015 National Teacher of the Year. Recently, she received the Dollywood Foundation’s Chasing Rainbows Award and the NFB’s Blind Educator of the Year Award. Through a Lilly Teacher Fellowship, Kathy wrote and published an anthology called Two Plus Four Equals One: Celebrating the Partnership of People with Disabilities and Their Assistance Dogs. This followed a book of poetry called Minutes in the Dark, Eternity in the Light. Kathy teaches writing, mentors new teachers, and speaks at numerous events. She earned her BA in English Education from Trinity Christian College in 1991 and her MA from Purdue University in 1992.