Fox Cities Book Festival

The Fox Cities Book Festival began in 2007 when Wisconsin's first Poet Laureate, Ellen Kort, thought the Fox Cities needed a book festival. With the help of local public libraries, the Fox Cities Book Festival has been connecting writers and readers for over a decade. Featured in six different communities in the Fox Cities, the Fox Cities Book Festival has been celebrating books and authors to build an engaged community of readers with free events that are always open to the public.

The Fox Cities Book Festival also supports education and access to author events for students. Each year the Festival works with multiple school districts to coordinate author visits. The Fox Cities Book Festival funds the travel costs associated with bringing the author in and helps to book multi-district events. This saves local school librarians budget funds and the time of coordinating a large scale author visit.  

Each April, the Fox Cities Book Festival also welcomes an author for their selected Fox Cities Reads book, a multi-community, one book program. Our first community read in 2006 was inspired by Mary McGrory's quote in the Washington Post, "The idea is that the city opens the same book closes it in greater harmony." In 2019, the Fox Cities Reads selection was, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, featuring two opportunities for community members see Dr. Matthew Desmond speak about his book.

In October, the Fox Cities Book Festival invites national, state, and local authors to share their work with our communities during our weeklong fall book festival. Spread throughout the Fox Cities at public libraries and other community gathering places, the Festival offers readings, workshops, panels, performances and more, all for free!