UntitledTown Book and Author Festival

JON KERSTETTER received his medical degree from the Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minnesota, and his MFA degree from Ashland University in Ohio. He served as a combat physician and flight surgeon for the U.S. Army and completed three combat tours in Iraq. His writing has appeared in The Best American Essays, River Teeth, and other literary journals.

He will read from Crossings, a Doctor-Soldier's Story with signing to follow.

History has allowed writers for centuries to turn real life events into dynamic prose, poetry and fiction... and more. From Broadway's Hamilton to Hillary Jordan's Mudbound to George RR Martin's Game Of Thrones (Starks and Lannisters -- try the Yorks and the Lancasters!) to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (which took its inspiration from  Beowulf but also the battle at the Somme, the Boer War and more), real life facts are often not only stranger than fiction, it's often the inspiration for some of our most fantastical tales.

Our esteemed panel will talk about the ways that their work is inspired by history, how you can mine the archives for your next big idea. This is a must for the history buff and the rising star novelist.

This curated panel session will be moderated by UWGB chair of the History department Dr. Heidi  Sherman.

The Great Green Bay Fire of September 20, 1880, destroyed more buildings than any other fire in this city’s entire history. About 100 buildings burned including sixty homes, a church, a few businesses with the remainder being out-buildings.
 
The fire began when burning coal embers from a ship on the Fox River ignited a saw dust pile behind a wood mill on South Washington St. In spite of efforts by the Green Bay Fire Department, strong winds spread the flames from building to building, block to block eventually covering nearly a mile.

Siegel will give a presentation about the Great Fire of 1880, taken from his book Forces of Change, Events That Led To The Development Of The Green Bay Fire Department, 1836-1895. Afterwards, he will give a guided tour of the fire area, including the origin site, significant firefighting locations, destroyed buildings sites and highlight five extant buildings that were directly threatened by the flames in 1880, using the UntitledTown trolley (minimal walking required). 

Reserve your tickets in this workshop by using our free ticketing system.

Feeling stumped or stagnant? Have an idea, but don’t know where to start? Not a “writing from ideas” kind of writer? In this workshop we’ll explore ways of tricking ourselves into writing. We’ll create language banks, dig up gluts of memory, and then hunt for the narrative hiding in these resources. We’ll also look at writers who have developed unique methods of generating work and mimic these efforts at spinning raw material into stories.

Our scheduling tool is merely to help you organize your UntitledTown personal schedule and does not guarantee you a place in any presentation, workshop, or session. Because we know this will be a popular event, we've allowed you to guarantee your spot here using our free ticketing system. This is first come, first served and registrants names and email addresses will be shared with the author.

Reserve your tickets in this workshop by using our free ticketing system.

For fans of Ice Age creatures and history buffs alike, this is a family-friendly event for kids and adults alike, featuring a reading from the novel Journeys; An Ice Age Adventure and the chance to create your very own mastodon!

Learn the seven key elements to all historical fiction writing. This session will outline the importance of historical fiction, how it's crafted, and how PBS has made this genre popular through programs like Poldark, Victoria, and Wolf Hall.

Jon Kerstetter will be conducting a 30 minute signing of his book, Crossings: a Doctor-Soldier's Story at the UntitledTown book fair. The Reader's Loft will have copies of Jon's book on hand for purchase at the fair.

Too often history books get a bad rap. Boring! Yawn! Snore! Don’t let that happen to your book.
You have spent months (maybe years) researching a historical person or event. You have an army of facts and a unique and persuasive thesis. Now the challenge is to write a book that will transport readers back in time instead of putting them to sleep.
In this workshop, we’ll explore and practice creative writing strategies to achieve the following:
• Hook the reader with powerful openings that include character, conflict, and momentum.
• Communicate facts and arguments through vivid writing and specific details in order to bring history to life.
We’ll dissect different types of historical nonfiction including picture books, educational text, and narrative nonfiction. If participants have a current project, they should bring some research notes and a draft of their work, but this is not necessary. Everyone will be provided with a historical document and have the opportunity to apply each writing strategy we discuss.

Wendy McClure is the author of the Wanderville series, The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie, and several other books for adults and children. She is a Senior Editor at Albert Whitman and Company, where she acquires and edits picture books, middle grade, and young adult fiction. She will be talking about The Wilder Life and also will highlight her work for children as well.

This unmoderated lunch session will allow historical non-fiction writers and enthusiasts to connect for coffee, chat and more.

Writing poetry from complicated layers of history involves a fascinating process of sorting through archival documents including speeches, editorial cartoons, letters, and popular magazine stories. Learn about writing poetry through historical research from one of Wisconsin's most esteemed poets, Margaret Rozga.