With fresh and flavorful recipes that are approachable, affordable, and appreciative of your time in the kitchen, Lidey Heuck’s meals shine with the love she has for food and the people she is feeding. Enjoy a menu from Cooking in Real Life alongside a conversation with Lidey about her path to publication, tips and tricks of the trade, favorite seasonal ingredients, and the pulse of the foodie industry today.

Presenter: Lidey Heuck

Moderator: Maureen Abood

Poetry stands aside from other writing, given its distinctive style. Though it has a set of codified terms that can be used in critical discussion, poetry is also pointedly unbound, thereby allowing both the writer and the reader to experience its intensity of expression. Poetic writing is evocative and emotive—its power concentrated in its often shorter form. These featured poets have also made it their playground, taking risks with the printed aesthetics, relationship to other mediums, and a refusal to be confined to an expected manner of verse. Their collections are rich, rapturous, ferocious, and dizzyingly rewarding for the reader.

Presenters: CAConrad, Victoria Chang

Moderator: Kaecey McCormick

The geography of our region is near and dear to us. It may be no great mystery to those who make their lives alongside the Great Lakes and Northwoods, that both woods and water possess an enviable majesty which make them ideal settings for novels. It is impossible for characters to be placed in these environments and remain unaffected by how dense and ancient forests or fiercely rushing rivers or the vast expanse of the sea shape their actions and temperaments. Writers who choose these backgrounds must be drawn to their inherent characteristics and harness the power of place to enrich their stories.

Presenters: Andrew J. Graff, Maxim Loskutoff, Tara Karr Roberts

Moderator: Kristen Rapin

In this workshop, participants join Kenneth Kraegel as he focuses on using detailed textures in art to add depth and interest to a picture. Learn about the tools and techniques of the trade, utilized to give the illusion of three-dimensional quality to a two-dimensional illustration on a piece of paper. Kenneth uses layers, patterns and much inspiration from flora and fauna to bring to life picture books in which readers imagine and delight.

Presenter: Kenneth Kraegel

Introduction: Rose Brickley

It is a feat how novelists infuse the outline of a character with a past, a present, a voice, and the nuances that usher them forth, fully-formed, from the page. What happens if that character is not alone? What if her past is the generations who came before—who made decisions that would reverberate to our heroine’s present? What if her voice echoes from her ancestors, yet she must find a way to stand apart? Not only do these writers steer readers through history, but they address deep-seated questions we all have about where we come from and what we carry with us.

Presenters: Catherine Newman, Kate Pearsall, Tara Karr Roberts

Moderator: Karen Nemecek

We feel obligated to like the heroes, but we don’t believe them if they’re flawless. We’re not supposed to like the villains, but we love to hate them. And this is really what it means to be human, isn’t it? We all exist in shades of grey—we make the wrong decisions for the right reasons, and compromise ourselves and others for an end that is never as we imagine it to be. Ranging from sweeping fantasy to historical spycraft to pulse-pounding thriller, these featured novels present a host of characters and circumstances which exemplify the complexities of having no clear moral response.

Presenters: Paolo Bacigalupi, Graham Moore, Nick Petrie

Moderator: Bess Bleyaert

Behind my alchemy there are layers of chemistry. In this workshop, participants use Ruth Whiting’s process for creating highly realistic illustrations as a template for going from rough sketches to finished work. This is a creative practice that is central to almost every discipline and can be interpreted in one’s own way. Together, you let go of the fear of making bad drawings and sketch with wild abandon! In this space, idea is everything and execution is immaterial. Bring your unrealized dreams. You will leave with nothing finished but something started. 

Paper and pencil will be provided, but participants are welcome to bring their own favorite sketching supplies as well.

Presenter: Ruth Whiting

Introduction: Elizabeth Fergus-Jean

Enjoy a beverage as you visit with presenters signing and personalizing their works. All presenters’ featured books, along with select backlist titles, will be available for sale at the pop-up bookstore, presented by Between the Covers. (Please note that Tiffany D. Jackson will not be available for signing at this event.)

Sharing its title and approachability with abstract artist Agnes Martin’s series of paintings, Victoria Chang’s latest collection is as much about seeing art as it is about using art and poetry as a mode to see the world differently. For readers willing to participate in their exploration, there is a complexity in both style and theme that is edifying. Marilyn Chin’s poems may come across as slyly playing with the form, but reader beware—these poems have teeth! Taking on historic and contemporary societal battles, Marilyn plumbs her own heritage for the root of her fierce talent. Q&A and signing to follow both readings.

Presenters: Victoria Chang, Marilyn Chin

Introductions: Skip Renker

Move over Merlin! The only wizardry here is the ease with which our presenters weave a touch of the spiritual, supernatural and mythical into their stories. Grounded in historical period, the foibles of average characters, the passage of generations, and the fundamental search for something better; these novels employ otherworldly elements to expand and challenge our notions of what we know and what we think we know. You don’t need to be a fantasy-lover to fall for the mystery and allure of what a little magic can bring to a novel.

Presenters: Sarah Penner, Julia Phillips, J. Courtney Sullivan

Moderator: Erinn Hartman

CAConrad rethinks several etymologies of “soma” in order to create a poetic discipline that reforms the mind-body connection and completely immerses the practitioner. Anne Curzan brings us the history of words and our rituals and traditions around them, leading us along the path of how language changes and how we can embrace that change. And Elyse Graham calls to the forefront some unlikely heroes of World War II—not politicians nor generals, but those who studied the humanities and rewrote “intelligence” on many levels. While seemingly disparate, the featured books celebrate the exploratory, transformational and defiant power of language. 

Presenters: CAConrad, Anne Curzan, Elyse Graham

Moderator: Lillian Li

There are few greater experiences for a reader than to be partway into a story only to discover that you have been fully swept up in the writer’s imagination. You inhabit this (oftentimes) fantasy world of the author’s creation, yet you understand the geography and the inhabitants and their language, and the smells and rules and dangers as unwaveringly as if it was the place outside your own front door. There are tricks to making the unbelievable believable and to building worlds that become effortless to occupy. Great writers make us want to return to them again and again.

Presenters: Soman Chainani, Craig Kofi Farmer, Ben Guterson, Darcie Little Badger

Moderator: Melissa Weisberg

There is no end to the advice disseminated to writers. Sorry, Mr. Twain, but not everyone needs to write what they know. In fact, the facets and subgenres of nonfiction are made all the more interesting when authors write about the truth they hope to discover, or to explore some particular research they have unearthed, or to share a personal journey to which readers may relate. It is fascinating to learn what sets nonfiction writers on their paths and how they decide how much of themselves is left on the page too.

Presenters: Douglas Brunt, David Coggins

Moderator: Craig Fehrman

Our planet is remarkably resilient. For better or worse, so are its inhabitants. Through a mix of fiction and nonfiction, we learn what it means to cling to life on the precipice of a world in rebellion. A genius recluse in Montana’s old-growth forest feels the inevitability of technology creep ever closer, tipping him into madness. Plant life adapts and improvises in all environments, with a sentient intelligence that is awe-inspiring and unpretentious. Our demand for resources and our belief that we can control the elements catapults us to a disastrous future. The tipping point is now. What do we owe life on Earth?

Presenters: Maxim Loskutoff, Zoe Schlanger, John Vaillant

Moderator: Jef Fisher

Growing ever upward from the pages of their latest collection, CAConrad’s poems offer hope for the future, in celebrating those creatures who share the planet with us. Both electrifying in the messages they carry and invigorating in their physical forms, these poems remind us that much like a boomerang, our actions in this life return to us. Like Schrödinger’s cat, Kaecey McCormick’s poems explore ideas that exist and do not exist simultaneously. Wrapped in both the truths and fictions of feminism, faithlessness and force, Kaecey’s work manages to make the personal universal. Q&A and signing to follow both readings.

Presenters: CAConrad, Kaecey McCormick

Introductions: Skip Renker

Ancient humans found ways to share information and stories through sounds, eventually developing into language. Then, came depictions of the world through art. Millenia later saw the first illuminated manuscripts. Now we have infinite mediums at our disposal, but many creators still choose to blend words and pictures as in comics and graphic novels. How do they strike a balance between text and images? How do they decide what action unfolds in the spaces between the panels and in the reader’s imagination? How do they make decisions about layout and color? And just how long does it take to complete one book?

Presenters: Vera Brosgol, Sarah Mai, Stephen Shaskan

Moderator: Rose Brickley

We know we’re not alone here when we say that—while we love a good protagonist—it’s often the sidekicks, understated best friends, found family members, wise creatures, voices from beyond, and even the more-than-meets-the-eye enemies who worm their way into our hearts. It can be a hard ask for the hero of the story to rely on other characters, but it is these others who often call forth the traits and reveal the truths that the title role needs. With their help, our main characters solve the mysteries, achieve their goals and—most importantly—discover who it is they want to be.

Presenters: Darcie Little Badger, Amy Pease, Anton Treuer

Moderator: Sarah Baughman

Please remain seated. Adventure awaits from the comfort of your favorite reading chair. Whether through exhaustive research, travel to far-flung locales, prose driven by heartbreak and hope, or a healthy dose of looking death in the eye; our presenters’ works bring the thrill. Travel to Everest basecamp with hundreds of climbers who reach the summit yearly—many of them guides, and many others paying for the privilege. Endure patient discovery and loss as fly fishing becomes a metaphor for life. And weather storms both man- and nature-made, as a couple turns to whitewater rafting to save their marriage. Buckle up!

Presenters: Will Cockrell, David Coggins, Andrew J. Graff

Moderator: Glen Young

It’s 1087 and another plague runs amok. What is humble Brother Nicephorus to do but steal the bones of Saint Nicholas, rumored to heal the sick? And who better to steal them than the bewitching treasure hunter, Tyun? Based on real events, Nicked is a caper that champions the miraculous in every day. Now enter the world of Navola, a richly-imagined, fantasyland akin to Renaissance Italy. Money is power and only the prominent families possess it, giving them dominion and influence over all society. But ancient forces may hold the secret to their undoing. Celebrate these brilliant minds who never cease to reinvent themselves.

Presenters: M.T. Anderson, Paolo Bacigalupi

Moderator: Sam Krowchenko

The advantages in efficiency of Rudolf Diesel’s internal combustion engine are impossible to ignore and have guided untold advances in society since the turn of the 20th century. How do buses transport passengers? How did that avocado from California arrive on your plate? How is overseas trade powered? The answer is the diesel engine. It is no coincidence that the period in history which birthed Diesel’s invention was also the overture to The Great War. Creative and destructive power go hand-in-hand. Join Douglas Brunt as he discusses these points, along with the mystery of Diesel’s suspicious demise and the author’s investigation into the case.

Presenter: Douglas Brunt

Introduction: Craig Fehrman

Go on an illustrative adventure from spontaneous ink and charcoal line drawing to bold digital block printing to warm and vibrant hues that echo the text. This trio of artists have extensive backgrounds in the arts that have led them to their featured picture books, which brim with whimsy, imagination and hilarity for children and adults alike. Spend some time in the creative process as these illustrators demonstrate how they get from blank page to the bound works of art you hold in your hands.

Presenters: Lucy Ruth Cummins, Jess Hannigan, Bee Johnson

Introductions: Elizabeth Fergus-Jean

In his debut novel, Abraham Chang brings us Young Wang, the charismatic nerd who charts his life in vinyl and comic books. Young also obsessively relies on Chinese numerology, just waiting for lucky girlfriend number seven. But what if number six is “the one and only”? Anne Curzan is no stranger to having a lifelong passion, as exemplified in her deep dive into the English language. Where does it come from? How does it change? Who makes decisions about grammar? And when, for land’s sakes, can we just let it go? Come for a fresh take on your ABCs and 123s!

Presenters: Abraham Chang, Anne Curzan

Moderator: Kent Case

Beginning at 11:45, authors are introduced at 15-minute intervals to read selections from their featured works. This is a come-and-go session, where attendees may simply sit and listen or enjoy their lunch.

Presenters:
Nick Petrie (11:45 am)
Stephen Shaskan (12:00 pm)
Tiffany D. Jackson (12:15 pm)
Graham Moore (12:30 pm)
Patrick Ness (12:45 pm)
Cristina Henriquez (1:00 pm)
Soman Chainani (1:15 pm)

Introductions: Trina Hayes

The concept of “voice” has long been employed and executed by novelists. Alongside elements like narrative and character, the personality of a piece of writing is organic in fiction. When the category of memoir burgeoned, voice became a natural trait of these works as well. Much more recently have writers, critics, booksellers and others in the trade sincerely begun to place value in the role of voice in nonfiction, a genre traditionally based in research, footnotes and bibliography, without an iota of the author’s disposition shining through. Our presenters share how they deal in facts, but simultaneously impart their identities in their work.

Presenters: Bianca Bosker, Zoe Schlanger

Moderator: Hollye Jacobs

Bianca Bosker is no longer able to attend this session.

Readers both young and old will delight in hearing our acclaimed picture book author-illustrators present their latest stories aloud. Q&A and signing to follow both readings.

Presenters: Kenneth Kraegel, Ruth Whiting

Introductions: Mike Frampus

What drives us to the outdoors? For some it is the quest for solitude or a means to disappear from our troubles. For others it is sport or adventure or freedom from the distractions of modernity. Still others long to commune with the earth and her creatures and even the memory of those who walked the paths before us. All wanderers with hearts and minds and eyes open are met with wonder and amazement. This is Mother Nature’s promise to us. Nearly as powerful as the experience of actually being outside is entering the world as it comes to us from the imaginations of writers.

Presenters: M.T. Anderson, David Coggins, Anton Treuer

Moderator: Scott Hill

Romance has stepped fully into the limelight and is now taken as seriously as its popularity deserves. From romantasy to regency, romcom to red hot, the genre has something for everyone! But nobody writes love stories with more authenticity than Rainbow Rowell. From the title characters of her beloved Eleanor & Park to Shiloh and Cary, best friends who owe themselves more in Slow Dance, Rainbow has spent a career perfecting the art of the slow burn. Relationships are flawed and messy and love doesn’t ignite at first sight. The characters fight for a happy ending, and as readers we can’t help but fight for them too.

Presenter: Rainbow Rowell

Introduction: Alison DeCamp

It’s the journey, not the destination. But what happens if you don’t know where you’re headed or how to get there? Whether it’s Imogen, who learns that she may love her best friend more than she loves her ally title. Or Ororo Monroe, a pickpocket with uncanny abilities and a power that she can either run from or run towards. Or Sarah, your average college freshman, full of hope but soon riddled with doubt about her future. Or even Zeke, a monitor lizard navigating the misery of hopeless unpopularity at school. The passage to something true must always begin on the inside.

Presenters: Becky Albertalli, Tiffany D. Jackson, Sarah Mai, Patrick Ness

Moderator: Amanda Rzicznek

All stages of adolescence come with a unique set of ups and downs. It requires a special person to write for each of those stages. Our middle grade presenters make books for young people who are not only fully stepping into their own as independent readers, but as independent thinkers and humans too. They are entrusted with minds ready to be molded, hearts ready to feel everything, and readers ready to find themselves in the pages of their favorite books. Learn how these creators take on such an awesome responsibility and how they approach storytelling for young readers coming into their own.

Presenters: Vera Brosgol, Craig Kofi Farmer, Ben Guterson

Moderators: Lisa Blanchard & Bennett Chambers

Readers both young and old will delight in hearing our acclaimed picture book author-illustrators present their latest stories aloud. Q&A and signing to follow all three readings.

Presenters: Lucy Ruth Cummins, Jess Hannigan, Bee Johnson

Introductions: Mike Frampus