One of the purposes of this weekend's Wisconsin Book Festival is to bring local authors to Wisconsin audiences and promote the state's literary heritage. This year, the second festival brings together plenty of authors from within the state. This year's presenters range from a northwoods EMT and essayist to Madison columnists and newspaper editors.
Jean Feraca, Wisconsin Public Radio's Distinguished Senior Broadcaster, said she welcomes the festival as a major cultural event. As a nationally known poet and author, Feraca credits the city of Madison for producing the festival.
\As a writer it always excites me to know that I'm living in a community that loves books and loves writers. It's thrilling,"" Feraca said.
John Nichols, a political writer for the magazine The Nation and author of ""Jews for Buchanan,"" shares Feraca's enthusiasm for the festival. He said he is glad to see the festival grow beyond its Madison roots.
""It looks like it's getting to be more and more of an impressive institution. What started as a hometown event has developed into a very nationally significant book festival,"" he said.
Michael Perry, an ambulance driver and a native of New Auburn, Wis. is making an appearance at the festival to promote the softcover edition of his book, ""Population: 485."" Perry sees the festival as a great opportunity to draw together active literature enthusiasts.
""Any time, in this day and age anybody at all is talking about books, is a great thing. The thing about books is that people have to show an active interest to track them down. They're competing with 500 channels and everything else in the world,"" Perry said.
Doug Moe, author of ""The World of Mike Royko"" and daily columnist for The Capital Times, said he thinks the festival is a fitting event for the city.
""The fact is that this city-and I'm sure the university is a big part of it-is a city of readers. It sure seems like it was done well and I think it has even more potential this year,"" Moe said.
For a complete list of authors and presenters, visit http://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org.
