Award-winning novelist Edward Underhill headlines opening night of 2026 Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books
Wisconsin Eagle/10349830

WAUKESHA, Wis. - WisconsinEagle -- The Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books returns to Carroll University on November 6 and 7 for the seventeenth year of this free community event for readers and writers. The festivities kick off with a reception for authors and writing contest winners from 5-7:00 p.m. on Friday, November 6 followed immediately by keynote speaker novelist Edward Underhill at 7:00 p.m. Following Underhill's remarks, the author will sit down for a conversation with Waukesha Mayor Alica Halvensleben. A book signing will follow.

Underhill, who grew up in the suburbs of Wisconsin, is the author of the novels The House of Now and Then, The In-Between Bookstore, In Case You Read This, This Changes Everything and Always the Almost. His books have been named Indie Next and ALA Rainbow List selections and LibraryReads Top 10 picks and appeared on numerous "best of the year" lists including YALSA, School Library Journal and Booklist.

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"As to the book titles to have on hand, it would be great to have both THE HOUSE OF NOW AND THEN and THE IN-BETWEEN BOOKSTORE, which are both of my adult titles. I also have the following young adult titles: IN CASE YOU READ THIS (which just won the Wisconsin Library Award for best young adult literature), THIS DAY CHANGES EVERYTHING, and ALWAYS THE ALMOST," says Underhill.

Day two of the festival will include over 50 authors in 20 panel discussions and presentations along with writing workshops from AllWriters' Workplace & Workshop for those pursuing their craft. In addition, Don Taylor Writers' Marketplace will provide a place for self-publishing authors and local organizations to exhibit. Featured authors appearing on Saturday, November 7 include James Cleary, Dasha Kelly Hamilton, Hannah Morrissey and Edward Underhill. Also featured are Waukesha's own author Kathie Giorgio and poet and activist Margaret Rozga. Programming runs from 9:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.

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Major event sponsors are Century Companies, the Maas Foundation, and Tony and Andrea Bryant. Community partner Books and Company will return to this year's event as the official festival bookseller. Author, poet and spoken word artist Kristian Zenz from West Allis is this year's Community Chair.

Founded in 2010, the Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books was created to bring a free, large-scale celebration of writing and reading to the greater Waukesha community that also recognized writers who live in or write about Wisconsin. Previously held at the UW-Waukesha (later UWM-Waukesha) campus, the event has been held at Carroll University since 2025.

For the full program visit www.sewibookfest.com