Wisconsin Book Festival 25th Fall Celebration Event Highlights
MADISON, Wis. (Wednesday, September 9, 2026) –The Wisconsin Book Festival celebrates a milestone 25 years of bringing storytellers and story lovers together at the 25th Annual Fall Celebration on October 15-18, 2026. More than 80 authors will take part in over 55 events at Central Library and other venues over four packed days of free author events that are open to the public. In addition to bestselling and award-winning authors, 54 authors have ties to Wisconsin.
Event Highlights
Brenda Cárdenas, Oscar Mireles + Angie Trudell Vasquez | Friday, October 16 Wisconsin Poet Laureate Brenda Cárdenas joins former Madison Poets Laureate Oscar Mireles and Angie Trudell Vasquez for “Current and Former Poets Laureate in Wisconsin: A 25th Anniversary Reading," celebrating Wisconsin poetry and the festival's 25th anniversary. Friday, October 16, 7:30 p.m., Central Library, Lower-Level Program Room.
Roz Chast + Jason Adam Katzenstein | Friday, October 16 #1 New York Times bestselling author Roz Chast and fellow New Yorker cartoonist Jason Adam Katzenstein bring their brilliantly relatable humor to The Two Saddest Kitchens, a new comics conversation about clutter, culinary aspirations and the decidedly imperfect kitchens we actually inhabit. Friday, October 16, 7:30 p.m., Central Library, Community Rooms 301 & 302.
Deesha Philyaw | Saturday, October 17 PEN/Faulkner award-winner and National Book Award finalist Deesha Philyaw discusses her unflinchingly funny, frank, and packed with surprising turns novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, which is about a wife of a popular and powerful megachurch pastor upending her charmed “rags-to-Rolex" life when her secret past comes roaring into the spotlight. Saturday, October 17, 3 p.m., Central Library, Community Room 301.
Ben Wikler | Saturday, October 17 Madison native and former Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair, Ben Wikler, discusses his New York Times bestseller This Is The Plan, drawing on decades of organizing and Wisconsin's fiercely contested political landscape to offer a practical roadmap for protecting American democracy. Saturday, October 17, 6 p.m., Central Library, Community Rooms 301 & 302.
Scott Simon | Sunday, October 18 Beloved NPR Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon shares Ulysses S. Cat And Other Animals I Have Known, a warm, witty collection of stories about the memorable animals he has encountered at home and around the world and the extraordinary bonds between people and animals. Sunday, October 18, 12 p.m., Central Library, Community Rooms 301 & 302.
Wisconsin Book Festival's 25th Annual Fall Celebration, a partnership between Madison Public Library and Madison Public Library Foundation, will take place on October 15-18, 2026 at Central Library (201 W. Mifflin Street), Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (227 State Street), and the Discovery Building (330 N. Orchard Street) on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We want to thank our supporting Signature Sponsor, the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation for their continued support over 25 years.
For a full schedule of more than 55 events, visit the Wisconsin Book Festival website.
About the Wisconsin Book Festival
The Wisconsin Book Festival, presented by Madison Public Library in partnership with Madison Public Library Foundation, brings authors and readers together through free, year-round author events sparking conversations that matter. Each year, the festival presents a dynamic lineup of bestselling, award-winning, and emerging writers across fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, with programming for readers of all ages. Learn more about festival programming at wisconsinbookfestival.org. Find bonus content on the festival's Facebook page and Instagram @wibookfest. You can also access archived event recordings on its Crowdcast page.
About Madison Public Library
With more than 1.4 million annual visitors across nine library locations each year, Madison Public Library's tradition of promoting education, literacy and community involvement has enriched the City of Madison for 150 years. Visit the library online at www.madisonpubliclibrary.org and @madisonpubliclibrary on Facebook and Instagram.
About Madison Public Library Foundation
Madison Public Library Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that provides critical support to Madison Public Library resulting in free programs and resources to the hundreds of thousands of adults, children, and youth in the Madison area. Through fundraising, advocacy, and capital campaigns, the Library Foundation strengthens the Library's work and promotes greater awareness of its valuable resources. Learn how to support Madison's libraries at mplfoundation.org, and at @mplfoundation on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.