Monday Event Post--Garrison Keillor Tonight, Austin Kleon Tomorrow, Plus Michael Hall at the Shorewood Public Library, Eva Augustin Rumpf, Mary "Peetie" Bassom, Steven Galloway, Bill Hillman, Storytime with Jannis, and Next Week's Preview of Joseph Ellwanger.

Monday, May 5, 7 pm, at the UWM Union, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd:
Garrison Keillor, author of The Keillor Reader.

Boswell Book Company and the UWM Bookstore are proud to present the multitalented master storyteller, Garrison Keillor, for a ticketed event at the UWM Union Ballroom, co-sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio and Milwaukee Public Radio. Best known as the founder and host of A Prairie
Home Companion, Keillor will present and discuss his latest book, The Keillor Reader, a collection of his many, varied pursuits in the spirit of The Viking Portable Library.

This event is co-sponsored by 89.7 WUWM, Milwaukee Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Radio. A Prairie Home Companion is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2014.

Here's the CBS This Morning interview with Garrison Keillor that aired a few days ago. "My favorite moment is 5 o'clock Central Time on a Saturday, and all of the work is now done. ... And the piano plays, and I sing the theme song, 'Hear that old piano from down the avenue.' And you've got two hours and you're free."

Will-call tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets through 2 pm today. After that, we will be selling walk-up tickets at the door.

Tuesday, May 6, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Austin Kleon, author of Show Your Work and Steal Like an Artist.
Co-sponsored by The Milwaukee Business Journal and 800-ceo-read.

The New York Times bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon, shares the secrets to success with his latest, Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered, which Publishers Weekly calls “sassy and spot-on.” Written as a response to the most frequently asked question from his Steal Like an Artist tour, Show Your Work! is an accessible, inspiring book that will motivate you to use the digital community as your platform for networking, workshopping, and getting published.

Ellen Fagg Weist writes in the Salt Lake City Tribune: "Kleon is mostly self-trained as an illustrator, yet it’s the simplicity of his graphics that draws attention to his straightforward proclamations about creativity and digital publishing. He considers his work picture books for adults, but says they aren’t just for creative types. The ideas can be used by anybody doing work they want to get noticed. Imagine a plumber, he says, opening an Instagram account and posting how-tos about how to fix a faucet or other skills."

This year’s opening keynote speaker at SXSW Interactive Festival in 2014, Austin Kleon’s work has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, PBS NewsHour, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He speaks frequently about creativity in the digital age for organizations such as Pixar, Google, SXSW, TEDx, and The Economist.

Thursday, May 8, 4 pm, at the Shorewood Public Library, 3920 North Murray Ave. 53211:
Michael Hall, author of It's an Orange Aardvark.

Michael Hall is the creator of the nationally best-selling picture book My Heart Is Like a Zoo, as well as the acclaimed Perfect Square and Cat Tale.

Meet author and illustrator Michael Hall at the Shorewood Public Library to talk about and sign copies of his latest picture book, It’s an Orange Aardvark!, which will delight audiences from 4 to 10. School Library Journal notes that Hall's got “an illustration style reminiscent of Lois Ehlert's and storytelling style similar to Eric Carle's" while Kirkus Reviews praises It's an Orange Aardvark as "suspenseful and entertaining; all-around great fun." The event will be accompanied by an session of crafting with Miss Heide.

Here's the trailer for It's an Orange Aardvark.

Thursday, May 8, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Eva Augustin Rumpf, author of In Liberty's Name.

Eva Augustin Rumpf is a former newspaper reporter and university journalism instructor. She is author of the memoir Reclamation: Memories from a New Orleans Girlhood and the satiric novel Prot U. Her newest novel, In Liberty's Name, is inspired by the story of her French ancestors and the thousands of other French émigrés who survived two bloody revolutions and played a major role in reviving Creole culture in New Orleans in the early 19th century.

“From the chaotic streets of Paris during the French Revolution to the turbulent plantations in what would become Haiti, and then on to adventures in Cuba and New Orleans, In Liberty’s Name is a sweeping story of adventure, passion, intrigue and heartbreak. With rich historical details, indelible characters and a gripping narrative, Eva Augustin Rumpf has given us a compelling look at some of the most riveting events in history.” —Paul Salsini, author of A Tuscan Trilogy

"This fascinating story leaves us in admiration of human resilience in the face of crushing adversity, whether two hundred years ago or in the political upheavals of the twenty-first century." --Gabrielle Verdier, Professor emerita of French, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Friday, May 9, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Mary Basson, author of Saving Kandinsky.

Just in time to get you excited for the Milwaukee Art Museum’s summer retrospective exhibition of Wassily Kandinsky, local author Mary Basson will read from and sign copies of her latest novel, Saving Kandinsky, a tale of romantic collaboration and courage in the face of personal and historical crisis.

As they paint together on the Bavarian mountainside, young Gabriele (Ella) Münter falls in love with her married teacher, Wassily Kandinsky. While their illicit love faces the disapproval of early 20th century European society, the two artists forge a partnership that will offer the world its first taste of Abstract Expressionism. Along with Alexei Jawlensky, Franz Marc, and other members of the Blue Rider, Münter and Kandinsky give birth to something truly new in art. Yet the delights of that heady time together are not to last, certainly not past the time of the Nazi purge of “Degenerate Art.” That period will test Ella’s mettle as well as her dedication to art and to love.

Mary “Peetie” Basson serves as a Docent at the Milwaukee Art Museum that houses the largest collection of paintings by Gabriele Münter in North America. For 39 years she taught Upper School English and served as an administrator at the University School of Milwaukee.

Saturday, May 10, 2 pm, at Boswell:
Steven Galloway, author of The Confabulist and The Cellist of Sarajevo.

Following the wild success of The Cellist of Sarajevo, we welcome award-winning author Steven Galloway to Boswell to present his much-anticipated new novel, The Confabulist. Concerning legendary Wisconsin escape artist Harry Houdini, The Confabulist is a tale of magic and memory, truth and illusion, and the ways that love, hope, and grief can—for better or worse—alter what we perceive and believe.

Into the extraordinary life and sudden death of Harry Houdini, The Confabulist weaves the story of Martin Strauss, an ordinary man whose fate seems forever tied to that of the legendary magician. With a cast of memorable characters—from the Romanov family, to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Spiritualists, to the heads of the Secret Service and Scotland Yard—Galloway’s vivid and expansive narrative is a page-turning read that gives the reader a front-row view of the role of magic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and of the underestimated power of illusion (and delusion) in our own memories and accounts of ourselves. As the story unfolds, we’re challenged to decipher for ourselves what is real and what is a conjuring, and the novel becomes a moving magic trick of its own.

Here is Mike Fischer's review of The Confabulist in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. More about the book in the Vancouver Sun and Toronto Star.

Steven Galloway lives in British Columbia and teaches creative writing at the University of British Columbia.

Go out for dinner or something and come back for...

Saturday, May 10, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Bill Hillman, author of The Old Neighborhood.

Boswell Book Company is proud to announce the arrival of Union Construction Laborer, Chicago Golden Glove Champion, one-time gang affiliate, and award-winning Chicago author, Bill Hillmann, who will set aside his gloves to introduce his debut novel, The Old Neighborhood, for a reading and signing. A fascinating person who has rubbed elbows and thrown punches with people from shadowed to well-lit corners of the globe, you don’t want to miss your chance to meet this supremely gifted storyteller!

The Old Neighborhood is the story of a bright and sensitive teen named Joe Walsh who is the youngest member of a big, mixed-race Chicago family. After Joe witnesses his heroin-addicted oldest brother commit a brutal gangland murder, his friends and loved ones systematically drag him deeper into a deep pit of violence that reaches a bloody impasse when his elder sister begins dating a rival gang member. The Old Neighborhood is a sociological exploration of urban life and a tale which explores the great white flight from urban centers in America before the turn of the century, while simultaneously unveiling surprising insights into the origins of modern street gangs. Boswellian Mel says: “Reminiscent of Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land, Bill Hillmann’s singular voice captures the pain and confusion of adolescence with stunning accuracy while rendering the cacophony of Chicago’s city streets into soul-stirring poetry.”

“A raucous but soulful account of growing up on the mean streets of Chicago, and the choices kids are forced to make on a daily basis. This cool, incendiary rites of passage novel is the real deal.” —Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting

Sunday, May 11, 11 am, at Boswell:
April showers bring May Story Time! This month,Jannis will read Tap Tap Boom Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle and a few more stories on the themes of rain showers and thunderstorms. Perfect for ages 18 months and up, pop in and start your Mother’s Day off right with Story Time!

Monday, May 12, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Joseph Ellwanger, author of Strength for the Struggle: Insights from the Civil Rights Movement and Urban Ministry.

Strength for the Struggle: Insights from the Civil Rights Movement and Urban Ministry is a collection of stories, and lessons learned, from the three congregations Joseph Ellwanger served in a pastoral capacity over the past 55 years and from his involvement in the Civil Rights movement in Birmingham and Selma, Alabama, in the 1960's and in the peace and justice movement in Milwaukee 1967 to the present.

Joseph Ellwanger was pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, a small African American congregation in Birmingham, Alabama, from 1958 to 1967. He served as pastor of Cross Lutheran, on the near north side of Milwaukee, 1967-2001. And he has served in assisting pastoral capacities at Hephatha Lutheran, also on the near north side of Milwaukee, since 2002. He worked as an organizer with WISDOM, a network of congregation-based justice organizations in Wisconsin, from 2002 to 2012.