Books

2011 Chippewa Valley Book Festival

2011’s featured writers deal in poetry, politics, and fantasy

Lindsey Matysik |

This year’s Chippewa Valley Book Festival features authors for every interest. The annual event, now in its 12th year, held throughout the Chippewa Valley celebrates authors with connections to the Midwest. For the politically informed reader, the festival features a Cuban dinner with Tom Gjelten. Gjelten works for NPR covering both global security and economic news. The dinner, called “Cuban History Through Cuban Rum: the Bacardi Story,” will be held at the Eau Claire Golf and Country Club in Altoona on October 21. For readers who prefer poetry, the festival hosts an event called the “Nadine St. Louis Memorial Poetry Conversation.” This event features several acclaimed poets, including both the Wisconsin and Eau Claire poet laureates, along with Max Garland and Connie Wanek. Another interesting author contributing to the festival this year is Susanna Daniel. Daniel’s debut novel, Stiltsville, received two awards from major online bookseller Amazon (Best Book of the Month and Best Debut of 2010). And last but not least, for the fan who loves fantasy fiction and would likely play Dungeons and Dragons in his/her basement, fantasy writer Patrick Rothfuss hosts an event called “Why Fantasy Matters.” Rothfuss, a highly acclaimed fantasy writer, has quite the dedicated fanbase – earlier this year on the radio he talked about how he had a fan who even showed him his signature tattooed on their body! With all these great writers and even more not mentioned, it would be hard to only attend one event.

12th Annual Chippewa Valley Book Festival • Oct. 15-23 • various locations and times • cvbookfest.org

12th Annual Chippewa Valley Book Festival • Oct. 15-23 • various locations and times • cvbookfest.org • This year’s Chippewa Valley Book Festival features authors for every interest. The annual event, now in its 12th year, held throughout the Chippewa Valley celebrates authors with connections to the Midwest. For the politically informed reader, the festival features a Cuban dinner with Tom Gjelten. Gjelten works for NPR covering both global security and economic news. The dinner, called “Cuban History Through Cuban Rum: the Bacardi Story,” will be held at the Eau Claire Golf and Country Club in Altoona on October 21. For readers who prefer poetry, the festival hosts an event called the “Nadine St. Louis Memorial Poetry Conversation.” This event features several acclaimed poets, including both the Wisconsin and Eau Claire poet laureates, along with Max Garland and Connie Wanek. Another interesting author contributing to the festival this year is Susanna Daniel. Daniel’s debut novel, Stiltsville, received two awards from major online bookseller Amazon (Best Book of the Month and Best Debut of 2010). And last but not least, for the fan who loves fantasy fiction and would likely play Dungeons and Dragons in his/her basement, fantasy writer Patrick Rothfuss hosts an event called “Why Fantasy Matters.” Rothfuss, a highly acclaimed fantasy writer, has quite the dedicated fanbase – earlier this year on the radio he talked about how he had a fan who even showed him his signature tattooed on their body! With all these great writers and even more not mentioned, it would be hard to only attend one event. – Lindsey Matysik