Wisconsin Book Festival A Madison Favorite

                           

Wear the old coat and buy the new book.
    ~ Austin Phelps ~ 

( My latest acquisitions while on State Street  Saturday afternoon are pictured above.)

It is hard to believe that the Wisconsin Book Festival is now six years old.  I suspect many of us made a mental note as the month of October approached that the long weekend of books and authors was nearing.   I also suspect that many of us have our insert from the local paper marked with the authors we wish to hear, and the various places where the events are being held.  If you are like me you have also made plans to hook up with friends along the way.  I think carbing up with friends for this event is half the fun!

It seems only yesterday at one of the festivals I sat in Canterbury Books and heard Edmund Morris give a brilliant talk on his book “Theodore Rex”.  ( State Representative Scott Jensen had introduced him that night to an overflow audience.)   It seems that some rabble-rouser in that crowd asked Morris to contrast TR with GW.  After the laughter passed…………

On another occasion Garry Wills who had written “Why I Am A Catholic” answered a very direct question (from that same rabble-rouser) about gay rights and the Church that seemed to unsettle some of the audience.  Wills, being both a class act and an intelligent man answered with clarity, though the Pope might not have agreed.

The topics and ideas during the Book Festival are always lively and diverse.  The choices are akin to a buffet on a cruise ship with the long weekend just the perfect recipe for the hungry mind.  While all events are free it is a good idea to help support this event to insure that it is a longtime event in our community.

As we look forward to the festival we might recall with fondness the bookstores that are not around any more.  Canterbury, which was the perfect coffee and sweet stop while browsing books on State Street, is now just a memory.  While that cozy and warm place is gone, the book festival remains a promising time for book lovers. 

This year the book fest takes place October 10-14, with a theme that seems so appropriate given the times in which we now live.

In honor of the Festival’s theme of “Domestic Tranquility,” speakers at the 2007 Wisconsin Book Festival will explore historical and present-day issues regarding this concept. What begets tranquility? Who decides what is “domestic”? And what role does the government play in protecting it?

From immigration and border disputes, to violence and the right to bear arms, to religion and public life — novelists, poets, journalists, and others will gather to explore what a tranquil home might look like to them.

         My home is where my books are. 
                                            ~ Ellen Thompson ~

While all events are free it is a good idea to help support this event to insure that it is a longtime event in our community.

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