BOOKS

9 major book events in Milwaukee this season, including Amor Towles, Anna Quindlen, Michelle Obama

Jim Higgins

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Popular writer Anna Quindlen will speak April 30 at the Wilson Center in Brookfield. Her new book is about grandparenting.

This spring, Milwaukeeans can delight in the appearance of one slugger after another.

Wait, you thought I meant the Brewers? That's Tom Haudricourt's department. I'm talking about the parade of name-brand writers visiting here, including popular columnist Anna Quindlen, historian Jon Meacham and, of course, former First Lady Michelle Obama.

We'll also see the launch of two new anthologies that star Milwaukee itself, as envisioned by local writers.

Here's a look, in chronological order, at some major local literary events in the coming weeks.

March 5: Eau Claire novelist Nickolas Butler ("Shotgun Lovesongs") returns with "Little Faith," a novel about a rural Wisconsin grandfather confronting his grown daughter's involvement in a radical church — and his inner struggle between doubt and a desire to believe in something. His novel was inspired in part by the death of a Weston child in 2008. Butler will speak at 7 p.m. at Milwaukee's Boswell Books, 2559 N. Downer Ave.

March 11: Speaking of Boswell Books, owner Daniel Goldin will emcee a conversation with one of his favorite writers, comic novelist Elinor Lipman, at 7 p.m. In her new novel, "Good Riddance," a heavily (and snarkily) annotated high school yearbook leads to all kinds of mayhem, some romantic.

March 13: In "An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago" (Nan A. Talese / Doubleday), Alex Kotlowitz reports with compassion and dignity the stories of people affected by violence. He writes about victims and shooters and their mothers, reporters and girlfriends and retired gang leaders. Kotlowitz, also the author of "There Are No Children Here," will speak at 7 p.m. at Boswell Books. This event is co-sponsored by Community Advocates Public Policy Institute and the City of Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention. Boswell requests people register for this event at kotlowitzmke.brownpapertickets.com.

March 14: Michelle Obama, the former first lady, will speak at 8 p.m. at the Miller High Life Theatre, 500 W. Kilbourn Ave., about her memoir "Becoming." Her past events on this tour have been in a conversation format; a moderator for her Milwaukee appearance has not been announced. Except for a few seats in the $650-$825 range, it's a sold-out show.

Amor Towles, author of "A Gentleman in Moscow," will visit Milwaukee on April 3 to help Boswell Books celebrate its 10th anniversary.

April 3: Amor Towles, the author of "A Gentleman in Moscow," will help Boswell Books celebrate its 10th anniversary with a 7 p.m. event at Turner Hall Ballroom, 1040 N. Phillips Ave. I'm moderating the Q&A portion of this event, which will include questions submitted by audience members. Tickets are $22 plus taxes and fees; that includes a paperback copy of "A Gentleman in Moscow." (Literacy Services of Wisconsin will be on hand to accept donated copies of "A Gentleman in Moscow" and find homes for them.) See pabsttheater.org/event/amortowles2019

April 14: What could be a more fitting date to launch "The Milwaukee Anthology" (Belt Publishing), edited by Justin Kern, than Milwaukee Day? This collection of short prose pieces and poems is a mosaic portrait of the city, from Sherman Park to south side taverns. Kern and contributors Todd Lazarski, Robert Earl Thomas, Paige Towers and my Journal Sentinel colleague James E. Causey will assemble for a 3 p.m. schmooze at Boswell Books. Another "Milwaukee Anthology" reading will take place at 7 p.m. April 24 at The Retreat, 2215 N. King Drive, with contributors Dasha Kelly, Pardeep Kaleka and Alex Rose.

April 30: Popular novelist and columnist Anna Quindlen will speak about "Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting," her new memoir about embracing this new role in life, at 7 p.m. at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, 19805 W Capitol Drive, Brookfield. Tickets, at $31, include a copy of her book. Visit quindlenwi.brownpapertickets.com.

Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham headlines the Friends of Milwaukee Public Library's annual Spring Literary Luncheon on May 9.

May 7: Editor Tim Hennessy celebrates publication of "Milwaukee Noir," the latest in Akashic Books' series of crime-fiction anthologies with local settings, with a 7 p.m. event at Boswell Books. The 14 "Milwaukee Noir" contributions include a Valerie Laken tale set in Downer Woods, a Derrick Harriell story set in Sherman Park and a Jennifer Morales story in Silver City. Laken, Morales, Larry Watson and other contributors will join Hennessy at the event.

May 9: Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham headlines the Friends of Milwaukee Public Library's annual Spring Literary Luncheon at 11 a.m. at The Wisconsin Club, 900 W. Wisconsin Ave. Meachem will talk about his book, "The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels," which considers how this country has overcome painful divisions in the past. This luncheon event is sold out. To be place on a waitlist in case tickets become available, email kapeter@mpl.org.