New books keep rolling off the presses even on the tail end of a pandemic. And to celebrate, live readings are happening online over the next few months until local libraries, writers’ groups and bookstores can safely host events back onsite. Dotters Books co-owner Margaret Leonard recommends “saving the date”—and registering early—to be a part of these virtual audiences this month and next.
Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. CST – Lauren Fox in conversation with J Courtney Sullivan, hosted by Boswell Books in Milwaukee
Milwaukee-based author Lauren Fox’s new novel, Send for Me, is a beautiful version of historical fiction, set before and during World War II and generations later in Milwaukee. Fox weaves the letters of her great grandmother into her narrative, making this a very personal story of grief and loss and the unfathomable ocean of moving forward without the one you love.
Friday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. CST – Brit Bennett in conversation with Allyson Loomis, hosted by The Chippewa Valley Book Festival
Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half has been listed as one of the Top 10 Books of 2020 by New York Times and was longlisted for the National Book Award in fiction. Her propulsive sophomore project spans 40 years and the entire United States as two sisters, very light-skinned Black women, navigate their personal lives, one passing as white in California while the other marries a dark-skinned Black man on the East Coast and has a child before moving back to the small town in which she grew up. Bennett will be in conversation with Allyson Loomis, Associate Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Friday, March 12 at 7 p.m. CST – Brandon Taylor in conversation with Lopa Basu, hosted by The Chippewa Valley Book Festival
Real Life, Brandon Taylor’s debut novel, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He’s also the senior editor of Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading and a staff writer at Lit Hub. Real Life is the story of Wallace, a Black biochemistry graduate student attending a large midwestern university that is almost surely UW-Madison. The book takes place over one weekend and chronicles Wallace’s struggles to fit into the majority white, straight world of academia. In Taylor’s talented and compassionate hands, Wallace and all of his trauma are laid bare in such a vulnerable and visceral way that you can’t help but slow down and feel all of the pain and all of the hope that he clings to in equal measure. Taylor will be in conversation with Lopa Basu, Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin – Stout.