6x6 Reading Series: Home

Six readers will read original work for six minutes each. This time, the theme is "Home." Readers will be: Julie Lepp, August Rubrecht, Charlie Schaefer, Katie Venit, Julian Emerson, and Sara Bryan. Hosted by Jan Carroll.

The Volume One Gallery (Inside The Local Store) 205 N. Dewey St., Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Deborah Tobola Book Signing: Hummingbird in Underworld

Alternating between tales of creating theatre in prison and her own story, Hummingbird in Underworld takes readers on an unforgettable literary journey—one that is frank, funny, and fascinating. From Booklist: “With open-mindedness and empathy, Tobola explores how systemic issues play out in individuals’ lives as they grasp for light in the darkness.”

The Volume One Gallery (Inside The Local Store) 205 N. Dewey St., Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

BJ Hollars Author Visit

Midwestern Strange chronicles B.J. Hollars’s exploration of the mythic, lesser-known oddities of flyover country.

Chippewa Falls Public Library 105 W Central St., Chippewa Falls

Cost: FREE

Campfire Stories: A Night of Fact, Fiction, & Fire

A "night of fact, fiction, and fire." Local writers, storytellers, and songwriters present an intimate taste of our local literary community. Get a craft drink and join in around the campfire, stories begin at 8pm. Rain or shine.

The Oxbow Hotel 516 Galloway St., Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Age: All Ages

Local Lit: Off the Page

Local Author, former Eau Claire poet laureate, and Professor Emeritus, Bruce Taylor, exposes audiences to a variety of writers from the Chippewa Valley (sometimes beyond): poets, spoken word artists, essayists, fiction writers. dramatists, children's writers and journalists have all previously appeared.

The Volume One Gallery (Inside The Local Store) 205 N. Dewey St., Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Into the Black Sea, Stories of Darkness and Light

Part theater, part storytelling, part music, Into the Black Sea features tales of friends, relatives, literary figures, folk heroes and McMullin himself. The effect is at once funny, tragic, hopeful and inspiring.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation 421 S. Farwell St., Eau Claire

Cost: $15 suggested donation

Age: Teens and up

Midwestern Strange: A Reading, Conversation, and Book Release with B.J. Hollars

From bipedal wolves to giant turtles to pancake-flipping space aliens, the world--and the midwest, in particular--is full of strangeness. Join B.J. Hollars for a reading and conversation on his latest book, which recounts his year spent "embracing the strange" and living to tell of it.

The Volume One Gallery (Inside The Local Store) 205 N. Dewey St., Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Memoir Writing: A Six Session Workshop

For anyone interested in writing, even beginners. The instructors will provide encouragement, guidance, and practice in “life writing” in the following genres: autobiographies, blogs, family histories, journals, memoirs, and personal essays. Discover the pleasure and rewards of lifelong writing

The Heyde Center for the Arts 3 South High St., Chippewa Falls

Cost: $119

Age: All Ages

Authors R.R. Campbell and Nathan Hopp at The Local Store

Join Wisconsin speculative fiction authors R.R. Campbell and Nathan Hopp at The Local Store, where they'll be reading from their novels Imminent Dawn and The Adventures of Peter Gray, respectively. The authors will also take questions from attendees and will have books available for sale and to sign.

The Volume One Gallery (Inside The Local Store) 205 N. Dewey St., Eau Claire

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Meet the School Authors: Book Sale & Signing

Students, parents and the entire community are invited to create lasting memories by meeting award winning authors presenting in area schools during the Chippewa Valley Book Festival. Begin a collection of personally autographed books for yourself or a young person you love. Visiting authors listed online.

Memorial High School 2225 Keith St., Eau Claire

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time

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.

L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library 400 Eau Claire St, Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Don’t Call Me Crazy: Navigating Mental Health with Compassion, Understanding, and Honesty

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, where and how she decided to get help for herself when she turned 30.

UWEC Schofield Auditorium 105 Garfield Ave, Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Local Lit: Off the Page

Local Author, former Eau Claire poet laureate, and Professor Emeritus, Bruce Taylor, exposes audiences to a variety of writers from the Chippewa Valley (sometimes beyond): poets, spoken word artists, essayists, fiction writers. dramatists, children's writers and journalists have all previously appeared.

The Volume One Gallery (Inside The Local Store) 205 N. Dewey St., Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Making the Unseen, Seen: Giving Voice to Diverse Characters in Fiction and Beyond

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.

UW-Stout Memorial Student Center Ballrooms 302 10th Ave, Menomonie

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Mrs. Bond: The True Role of Female Spies During the First World War

Featuring the research done for her work of fiction, author Anna Lee Huber will explore the fact and fiction behind the female secret agents of WWI, the spy rings with which they worked behind enemy lines, and examine their lives after the guns fell silent.

Altoona Public Library 1303 Lynn Ave., Altoona

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Long Way Round: Through the Heartland by River

Inspired by a mythic Round River, John Hildebrand set off in a small boat to rediscover his home state of Wisconsin. The program will combine photographs, discussion, and short excerpts from the book as Hildebrand shares the sense of both wonder and belonging he discovered through his travels.

Pablo Center at the Confluence 120 Graham Avenue, Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate

During the depths of World War II, Frenchman Marcel Heuzé mailed letters to his wife and three young daughters from a labor camp in Berlin. "Marcel's Letters" details author and type designer Carolyn Porter's quest to put together the pieces of Marcel's life after finding them in a bundle in an antique shop.

Fall Creek Public Library 122 E Lincoln Ave, Fall Creek

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate

During the depths of World War II, Frenchman Marcel Heuzé mailed letters to his wife and three young daughters from a labor camp in Berlin. "Marcel's Letters" details author and type designer Carolyn Porter's quest to put together the pieces of Marcel's life after finding them in a bundle in an antique shop.

Menomonie Public Library 600 Wolske Bay Rd, Menomonie

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Revenge of the Asian Woman: A Reading with Dorothy Chan

Dorothy Chan, the newest Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at UWEC, reads from her newest collection of poetry. 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.

L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library 400 Eau Claire St, Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: The Optimist at Midnight

Storytelling is by nature a hopeful endeavor, never more 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.

The Heyde Center for the Arts 3 South High St., Chippewa Falls

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Barstow & Grand: Issue #3 Release Reading

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.

Lazy Monk Brewing, LLC 97 West Madison Street, Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: "Small Animals": Parenting in the Age of Fear

Building on her own harrowing experiences, Brooks will reveal how expectations of parents have changed over the course of a single generation, and how these expectations—fueled by fear rather than reality—pressure mothers to report one another.

Pablo Center at the Confluence 120 Graham Avenue, Eau Claire

Cost: FREE, ticket required

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Active Voices: Poetry and Social Justice

Two Wisconsin Poets Laureate, Kim Blaeser (2015–2016) and Margaret Rozga (2019–2020) will read from their recent work and engage in dialogue about their poetry, its sources, and the roles they see it enacting in the world. They will welcome questions and comments from the audience.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation 421 S. Farwell St., Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: An Evening With the Authors Featuring B.J. Hollars

Enjoy the opportunity to meet and mingle with some of the festival authors with delicious food ahead of B.J. Hollars’s presentation: Things that Go Bump When You Write: On Monsters, Martians and the Search for the Truth in the Strange.

Forage 930 Galloway St., Building 13, Suite 212, Eau Claire

Cost: $35 includes presentation and buffet

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Ballrooms and POW Camps

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.

L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library 400 Eau Claire St, Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: The Heart of Noir

Crime fiction readers, particularly readers of heartland noir, know that something lies beneath the typical “Midwestern nice” facade. Mindy Mejia will tell the tale of her journey into crime fiction, the inspiration for her books, and why she writes heartland noir.

L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library 400 Eau Claire St, Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Change and Resilience in the Heartland

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 now.

L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library 400 Eau Claire St, Eau Claire

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: A Verbal Feast of the Fest, served by ecWIT

The ecWIT gals are back by popular demand for a reader’s theater performance of adapted excerpts from a sampling of this year’s festival authors. Without costumes or elaborate props, the stripped-down performance is sure to add a whole new dimension to the characters and stories.

Pablo Center at the Confluence 120 Graham Avenue, Eau Claire

Cost: FREE, but ticket required

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: The Great Believers: Where Fiction Meets History

Rebecca Makkai’s novel The Great Believers (a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer in fiction and the 2018 National Book Award) deals in large part with the AIDS epidemic in 1980s Chicago. In this talk, she will read from the book and discuss its origins, stemming from her own experience growing up as a Chicagoan child during the epidemic.

Pablo Center at the Confluence 120 Graham Avenue, Eau Claire

Cost: $10

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: Young Writers Showcase: A Creative Writing Competition for Young Writers

Students who have been chosen from the writing competition will read their winning entries from the stage of the Grand Theater. The celebration includes poetry and prose from students in grades 3-8, and each participant receives a gift certificate to buy a book of their choice from Dotters Bookstore.

The Grand Theatre 102 W. Grand Ave., Eau Claire

Cost: FREE

Chippewa Valley Book Festival: "Cooking My Way Home" with Beth Dooley, Literary + Food Event

In foraging for goodness we look to traditional foodways as well as innovative technology to create a regenerative landscape which nourishes and delights. Dooley will impart an understanding of and appreciation for the New Agricultural Land Ethic. Sample recipes from Dooley's writing, prepared by the chefs at Forage.

Forage 930 Galloway St., Building 13, Suite 212, Eau Claire

Cost: $20 includes presentation and food sampling

Sound and Stories: Toil & Trouble

It was a dark and stormy night...and one filled with songs and stories! Join local writers, storytellers, and musicians as they share tales of horror and hilarity. A Chippewa Valley Writers Guild production.

Pablo Center at the Confluence 120 Graham Avenue, Eau Claire

Cost: $5

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: The Ship, the Storm, and the Song

Steve Ackerman, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, an expert in the area of satellite meteorology, a field largely invented at UW–Madison. He is well known as an accomplished researcher, teacher and communicator of the science of weather and climate.

Augusta Memorial Public Library 113 North Stone St, Augusta

Cost: FREE

Age: All Ages

Feast & Famine: Questions in a Time of Plenty

An evening of dramatic readings complied and performed by ecWIT.

Pablo Center at the Confluence 120 Graham Avenue, Eau Claire

Cost: $5

Leanne Brown

Author of Good and Cheap, the NY Times Bestselling Cookbook that began as a personal passion and became an international movement.

Pablo Center at the Confluence 120 Graham Avenue, Eau Claire

Cost: $5