Chippewa Valley Book Festival
Celebrate literary art on October 21-25, 2025!
The Chippewa Valley Book Festival is a celebration of the written word and the way literature impacts human experiences. Come join fellow book lovers for author readings, book signings, and other events throughout this 5-day festival in October. Registration will be available in September. Immerse yourself in literary art at the following Chippewa Valley Book Festival 2025 events! Click here to see the full schedule.
Meal Event & Speaking Event: Wisconsin Chefs, Farmers, and the Magic of Locally Produced Food
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 @ 5 PM & Wednesday, October 22, 2025 @ 11 AM
Description: Wisconsin-focused cookbook author, Lori Fredrich, will be hosting a cozy evening for food enthusiasts at one of Eau Claire's hottest restaurants, The Good Wives.
Location: L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library and the Good Wives restaurant
>> Learn More & Register Here
Eww!! The Grosset Jobs Throughout History
Wednesday, October 22, 2025 | 5-6 PM (In-Person Only)
Description: Get ready for laughs, learning, and a whole lot of “eww!” as author CHRISTINE VIRNIG dives into the stinkiest, slimiest, and most surprising jobs from history featured in her book Waist-Deep in Dung: A Stomach-Churning Look at the Grossest Jobs Throughout History. From poop scoopers to grave robbers to TP holders, Christine brings history to life through gross-out fun and fascinating facts. This event is intended for school-age children, teens, and their families. We’ll offer hands-on *super gross* activities and *super gross* food tasting inspired by the book.
Location: L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library
>> Learn More & Register Here
A Change in Scenery: The Snowbirds
Thursday, October 23, 2025 | 5:45-6:45 PM
Description: Does place change us? Author Christina Clancy’s new novel, The Snowbirds, explores a Midwestern couple’s attempt to work on their relationship and trade the harsh midwestern winter for sunshine and warmth in Palm Springs. Clancy will explore topics such as change, escape, midlife, relationships, and the power of place.
Location: L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library | Riverview Room
>> Learn More & Register Here
If You Don't Laugh You'll Cry: Writing a Comic Memoir About Motherhood
Thursday, October 23, 2025 | 7:15-8:15 PM
Description: Sometimes, laughter really is the best medicine. This is what Mary Catherine Starr learned back in 2020 when she started making comics about motherhood and sharing them to Instagram. Five years later, she published her first book, a comic memoir all about her marriage and her journey through the early years of parenting. In this talk, Mary Catherine will share her story—including why her messages about the double standards of parenting and the mental load of motherhood have struck a chord with so many parents all over the world—and she’ll discuss the creative process of writing and drawing a very personal, illustrated memoir about the most challenging parts of motherhood and marriage.
Location: L.E. Phillips Memorial Library | Riverview Room
>> Learn More & Register Here
Poetry and Conversation
Friday, October 24, 2025 | 7:15-8:15 PM
Description: This event is the Nadine St. Louis Memorial Poetry Conversation 2025. Poems and conversation with current Wisconsin Poet Laureate, Brenda Cárdenas, moderated by Max Garland
Location: L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library | Riverview Room
>> Learn More & Register Here
Author Leif Enger discusses "I Cheerfully Refuse"
Saturday, October 25, 2025 | 9:30 - 10:30 AM
Description: Bestselling, award-winning novelist, LEIF ENGER, a story-teller “of great humanity and huge heart” (Minneapolis Star Tribune), will discuss his most recent novel, I Cheerfully Refuse.Set in a not-too-distant America roiled by climate change and societal collapse, I Cheerfully Refuse is the tale of a bereaved and pursued musician, the affable Rainy, who sets sail across Lake Superior in search of his departed, bookseller wife. The Gulliver-like challenges of life on a turbulent sea grow into something wide and wild, sweeping up friends and foes alike in its strengthening wake. I Cheerfully Refuse is a harrowing nautical tale buoyed by beauty and unexpected kindness—a symphony against despair and a rallying cry for the future.
Location: L.E. Phillips Memorial Library | Riverview Room
>> Learn More & Register Here
Creating Cash Blackbear: Understanding the Woman Behind the Badge
Saturday, October 25, 2025 | 11 AM - 12 PM
Description: Marcie Rendon, a celebrated member of the White Earth Nation and award‑winning playwright and poet, will delve into the creation of her breakout character, Cash Blackbear—a tough, intuitive young Ojibwe woman whose roots in rural 1970s Minnesota have resonated deeply with Midwestern readers. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of Rendon’s process for crafting authentic Native American characters—mothers, laborers, survivors—imbued with grit, insight, and cultural resonance.
Location: L.E. Phillips Memorial Library | Riverview Room
>> Learn More & Register Here
Dickey Chapelle: Defending Democracy Through Journalism
Saturday, October 25, 2025 | 1-2 PM
Description: From Iwo Jima to Vietnam, Dickey Chapelle reported from the front lines of the world’s most consequential struggles for freedom, fearlessly pursuing the truth no matter how deeply buried. Unlike many of her peers who blindly believed the government’s line, Dickey insisted on witnessing world events with her own eyes even if that meant marching through the jungles of Cuba or jumping out of a plane over Southeast Asia, pioneering a new era of investigative journalism in the process. In her talk, author of First to the Front author Lorissa Rinehart goes beyond the page to explore the remarkable legacy of this unsung American hero and her unwavering defense of democracy and her fight against government censorship abroad and at home. Today, as independent media fights to rebuild the ‘Fourth Estate,’ Dickey’s groundbreaking journalism and steadfast commitment to freedom for all is more urgently relevant than ever.
Location: L.E. Phillips Memorial Library | Riverview Room
>> Learn More & Register Here
Reflections of a Daugher as the Caregiver of Her Mother
Saturday, October 25, 2025 | 2:30 - 3:30 PM
Description: Harjani will share her deeply personal journey as a caregiver—a path that ultimately led to the creation of her powerful book, Postcards from Within: Random Ramblings of an Ordinary Human. Reflecting on the emotional, practical, and spiritual lessons learned through caregiving, Harjani will reveal how the experience shaped her perspective and her writing.Through stories both personal and universal, she will explore the idea that caregiving is not just a role, but a shared human experience—one that touches all of us in different ways. Whether you're a current caregiver, have been one, or anticipate taking on that role in the future, this event offers a meaningful opportunity to connect, reflect, and be inspired.
Location: L.E. Phillips Memorial Library | Riverview Room
>> Learn More & Register Here
Music in the Age of Streaming
Saturday, October 25, 2025 | 4-5 PM
Description: Liz Pelly is the author of Mood Machine, a critical investigation into the origins of Spotify and the impacts of streaming on music and culture. Drawing on over 100 interviews with musicians and industry insiders, Pelly’s book takes readers to the inner workings of today’s highly consolidated record business, showing what has changed as music has become increasingly playlisted, personalized, and autoplayed. In this session, she will be joined by local musician Siri Undlin of Humbird for a conversation aimed at demystifying the contemporary streaming model, its impacts on creative labor and artistry, and how music fans can contribute to more equitable cultural ecosystems.
Location: L.E. Phillips Memorial Library | Riverview Room
>> Learn More & Register Here