The Central Wisconsin Book Festival is Back!
The 2025 Central Wisconsin Book Festival brings a wide range of writers, from local and unpublished to internationally-known, to the area Sept. 25-27 with events in Stevens Point, Wausau, and Wisconsin Rapids. The Portage County Public Library will host five of the nearly 20 events at its Stevens Point Branch, 1001 Main St. on Friday the 26th and Saturday the 27th.
The Central Wisconsin Book Festival, now in its ninth year, takes place annually around the last weekend in September. The goal is to celebrate the written word by providing lovers of literature in Central Wisconsin and beyond with a chance to hear and meet a multitude of authors – some they know, some they don’t – over the course of several days.
A handful of featured guests at the 2025 festival include:
Jon Hickey in Wausau, sharing tribal politics, personal experiences, and insights from his acclaimed debut novel, "Big Chief."
Author, humorist, bandleader, and celebrated Wisconsinite Michael Perry, in Wisconsin Rapids.
Award-winning novelist Rebecca Kanner, who will dive into her gripping new thriller, "The Last One Seen," in Wausau.
Another Wisconsin favorite, bestselling author Nickolas Butler, in Stevens Point the evening of Sept. 26 to talk about his new novel, "A Forty Year Kiss." (This is Butler's first festival appearance in Stevens Point!)
Saturday's schedule of events at the Portage County Public Library include a meet-and-greet Author Fair with 10 local writers from 8:00-9:30am; author Allen Eskens discussing his new novel "The Quiet Librarian" at 10am; and James Card to talk about his new nonfiction book "Chainsaw Love" at 11:30am. (Book sales and signings are part of the festivities for Butler, Eskens, and Card.) The library will finish the day's events with an Open Mic Poetry session starting at 1:00pm.
Click here to view and download a full schedule of all the 2025 Central Wisconsin Book Festival events.
All Central Wisconsin Book Festival events are free thanks to the generous support of local foundations, businesses, and non-profits. For more information about the festival, go to www.mcpl.us/cwbf or call 715-261-7235.