This year's
WI Book Festival theme is "Beliefs." Events of particular interest to plant and insect researchers:
Wednesday, September 29 | 3:30-6 PM
Venue: Wisconsin Union Theater/Memorial Union
Please join us for a special program to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and to explore Wisconsin's historic and continuing legacy of conservation leadership and innovation. Featured speakers will include Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan of the USDA, USDA NRCS Chief Dave White, and Neil Maher, Rutgers University historian and author of
Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement.
Wednesday, September 29 | 5:30-6:30 PM
Venue: A Room of One's Own Feminist Bookstore
Are humans merely animals or are we something more? Our beliefs about where we stand in the chain of creation shape both our sense of identity and our actions.
The Beast Within, by Joyce Salisbury, examines the moment in the West when our confident assertion of our superiority gave way to our awareness of the bestial lurking within our humanity.
Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology by David Abram draws readers ever deeper into their animal senses, showing that from the awakened perspective of the human animal, awareness is not an exclusive possession of our species but a lucid quality of the biosphere itself-- a quality in which we, along with the oaks and the spiders, steadily participate.
Season of Water and Ice,
Wednesday, September 29 | 5:30-6:30 PM
Venue: Quivey's Grove
Sometime after turning fifty, Donald Lystra wrote and published his first novel:
Season of Water and Ice, a poignant coming-of-age tale set in 1950s rural northern Michigan. The accolades haven’t stopped, and his work has received Special Mention in the Pushcart Prize anthology. Lystra joins Jerry Apps in a special location, Quivey’s Grove, chosen because the barn appears in Apps’
Barns of Wisconsin. Apps will also present a selection of his books, including
Cranberry Red and
The Travels of Increase Joseph, which chronicle the joys and challenges of farm life with his trademark blend of gentle humor, drama and storytelling.
Thursday, September 30 | 7:30-9 PM
Venue: Promenade Hall/Overture
This townhall-style meeting led by
Moral Ground editors Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael P. Nelson gathers people for an evening of music, readings by contributing authors Curt Meine and Gary Nabhan, and a guided audience discussion about our obligations to justice and compassion.
Friday, October 1 | 5:30-6:30 PM
Venue: Wisconsin Studio/Overture
Long before "CSI" became common parlance, two intrepid scientists defined the art of crime scene investigation and elevated forensic chemistry into a formidable science, establishing a legacy for future generations. UW professor and Pulitzer Prize winner Deborah Blum, writing with the high style and skill for suspense that is characteristic of the very best mystery fiction, shares the untold story of how poison rocked Jazz Age New York City. In
A Poisoner's Handbook Blum draws from highly original research to track the fascinating, perilous days when a pair of forensic scientists began their trailblazing chemical detective work, fighting to end an era when untraceable poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime.
Friday, October 1 | 8-9 PM
Venue: Madison Public Library-Main Branch
Dwindling resources. Massive population shifts. Natural disasters. Epidemics. Drought. Rising sea levels. Plummeting agricultural yields. Crashing economies. These are some of the expected consequences of climate change in the decades ahead, and any of them could tip the world towards conflict. In
Climate Wars, geopolitical analyst Gwynne Dyer gives us a terrifying glimpse of the not-so-distant future, when climate change will force the world's powers into a desperate struggle for advantage and even survival.
Saturday, October 2 | 10-11:30 AM
Venue: Promenade Hall/Overture
As a climate scientist and a Christian, committed to truth in both science and faith, Katharine Hayhoe balances passion with civility to present a compelling case for why addressing climate change is a part of what it means to be a Christian today. Co-written with her husband, pastor Andrew Farley,
A Climate for Change untangles the complex science and tackles many long-held misconceptions about global warming.
Atoms and Eden,God and Nature
Saturday, October 2 | 3-4:30 PM
Venue: Promenade Hall/Overture
The relationship between science and religion is a subject that has grown increasingly visible-- and controversial-- in the world today. In
Atoms and Eden, Peabody Award-winning journalist Steve Paulson (of
To the Best of Our Knowledge) presents twenty interviews with some of the most prominent scientists, religious figures, and intellectuals of the day. Ronald Numbers, historian of science and medicine at the UW-Madison, also addresses the complicated relationship between science and religion. Author of
The Creationists, a history of the modern revival of creationism, and co-editor of the collection
God and Nature, Numbers tangles with many questions relating to faith, fact, and fiction.
A Short History of Wisconsin,
Sunday, October 3 | 12-1:30 PM
Venue: Wisconsin Studio/Overture
With
A Short History of Wisconsin, Erika Janik packs several centuries of Wisconsin's remarkable past into two hundred lively pages, recounting the landscapes, people, and traditions that have made this state the multi-faceted place it is today. Bill Lueders' newest release showcases twenty years of in-depth stories, from a retrospective on
The Progressive's H-bomb case to a profile on Tommy Thompson, plus columns about events in Madison and the state.
Every Natural Fact: Five Seasons of Open-Air Parenting,
Sunday, October 3 | 12:30 - 2:00 PM
Venue: A Room of One's Own Feminist Bookstore
Every Natural Fact by Amy Lou Jenkins is a narrative of nature outings across the state of Wisconsin. A mother and son explore parallels in the world of people and nature. These explorations of natural history, flora and fauna, and parenting themes demonstrate that the mythic thread that winds through everything can still be found, even in a world of wounds. Ride along with Alice Honeywell and Bobbi Montgomery as they embrace retirement with gusto and live their dream. Pedaling
Across America By Bicycle they test and deepen their friendship, defy aches and pains, experience the varied beauties of their country, and discover the challenges and satisfaction of a scaled-down lifestyle. Join this dynamic duo as they face scorching sun, driving rain, buffeting winds, equipment failures, killer hills, wild fires, and even a plague of grasshoppers.
[Adapted from WI Book Festival website]
