Madison BookBeat

On this edition of Madison BookBeat, host Sara Batkie talks with author Pernille Ipsen about the new translation of her memoir, My Seven Mothers (University of Minnesota Press.) On New Year’s Eve in Copenhagen in 1972, seven women had a child together: one gave birth and six others attended. They had met a year earlier at a feminist women’s camp on a small island and now, with about twenty other women’s liberationists, they occupied three dilapidated apartment buildings in the center of Copenhagen. One became the country’s first Women’s House, the nerve center of the Women’s Movement in Denmark, and the other two were women-only communal living spaces that were Pernille Ipsen’s first home. In this intimate portrait of life during the exhilarating early days of women’s liberation in Scandinavia and dramatic social change around the globe, she tells the stories of these seven women, her seven mothers. Recounting her mothers’ history—from the passions and beliefs they shared to the political divisions over sexual identity that ultimately split them apart—Ipsen captures the individuality of each of her mothers as well as the common experiences that drew them together. As she deftly reflects the practical and emotional realities of her mothers’ women-centered life, Ipsen presents an engrossing picture of intersecting lives that, half a century ago, raised questions we still grapple with today: What is a family? Who is a woman? And who gets to decide? A chronicle of gender, sexuality, and feminism as it was constructed, contested, and lived, My Seven Mothers is an eye-opening account of the challenges and possibilities connected with liberation and radical social change during the 1970s. In this time of fierce struggles over family, sexuality, and child-rearing, it reminds us that new worlds are always possible. Pernille Ipsen was professor of gender and women’s studies and history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for fifteen years and is now a full-time writer. The Danish-language version of this book, Et åbent øjeblik (An open moment), was published in 2020 and was awarded the Montana Prize for literature, one of Denmark’s top literary prizes.

Stu Levitan welcomes Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride for a conversation about his new book A City on the Edge: Pandemic, Protest and  Polarization. It's a gripping and insightful first-person account of what it was like to be the newly elected chief executive of a Wisconsin city during the twin traumas of 2020 – the onset of COVID and the murder of George Floyd.  In particular, a city with its own unique history of racial extremes – founded by east coast abolitionists in the mid-nineteenth century who made it a stop on the Underground Railroad, which by the early twentieth century had passed a “sundown law” requiring nonwhites to leave before dusk. And in the 21st century, a city where a Black police officer had fatally shot three persons of color in five years, the third coming less than four months before Black Lives Matter protests rocked urban areas around the country. Wauwatosa is politically liberal, home to the state’s largest medical center, the state's busiest mall, leading manufacturers, research parks, and several college campuses. Th best thing about Wauwatosa, of course, is that Bob Dylan immortalized it as Wow Wow Toaster in lyrics he wrote in late 1961 he called “On, Wisconsin,” which Milwaukee musician Trapper Schoepp developed into an actual song. Dennis McBride is Tosa’s 17th Mayor, elected to four-year terms in 2020 and 2024.  He earned a journalism degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a master’s degree in public administration from Princeton University, and a law degree from New York University, and served 24 years as a Senior and Supervisory Trial Attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Prior to his election as mayor, he served ten years on the Wauwatosa common council, including two terms as its president. He’s also a member of the UWM and Tosa East Athletics Halls of Fame.  Attentive longtime BookBeat listeners may recall the name Dennis McBride from an episode in 2022 featuring his twin brother, UW Prof. Emeritus Dr. Patrick McBride talking about his memoir as the youngest Equipment Manager and Assistant Trainer in professional sports history, “The Luckiest Boy in the World,” which Dennis helped write.

David Michael Miller transcript Stu Levitan welcomes David Michael Miller for a conversation about his new book, The Rise of Breese Stevens Field: Madison's ballpark and the team that made it home, the Centennial Edition. You may know Breese Stevens Field today as a city, state, and national landmark at 917 East Mifflin Street, the place for professional soccer and ultimate frisbee, concerts, and community events. But once upon a time, it was the place for baseball, especially as the home field from 1926 to 1942 for the Madison Blues, five-time pennant winners in three different leagues in the 1930s, and for many other activities as well. Over its first hundred years, everything from marbles to the National Football League. It's the oldest city-owned and operated athletic field in Madison and the oldest extant masonry grandstand in Wisconsin. It bears the touch of the notable local architects Claude and Stark and the federal largesse of the New Deal and served as the backdrop to some of the most noted athletes of the 30s and 40s. It's a great Madison story which David Michael Miller tells with a verve and nerve befitting its sporty milieu, dozens of well-chosen photographs and some hard-won statistics.

On this edition of Madison BookBeat, host Sara Batkie talks with author Ron Rindo about his latest novel, Life, & Death, & Giants (St. Martin's Press). Gabriel Fisher was born an orphan, weighing eighteen pounds and measuring twenty-seven inches long. No one in Lakota, Wisconsin, knows what to make of him. He walks at eight months, communicates with animals, and seems to possess extraordinary athletic talent. But when the older brother who has been caring for him dies, Gabriel is taken in by his devout Amish grandparents who disapprove of all the attention and hide him away from the English world. But it’s hard to hide forever when you’re nearly eight feet tall. At seventeen, Gabriel is spotted working in a hay field by the local football coach. What happens next transforms not only Gabriel’s life but the lives of everyone he meets. Ron Rindo is a professor of English and creative writing at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. He has published one previous novel, Breathing Lake Superior, and three short story collections. He lives in Pickett, Wisconsin.

WORT 89.9FM Madison · A Kinship with Ash: Heather Swan In this edition of Madison Book Beat, host Lisa Malawski sits down with Wisconsin poet, essayist, and environmental humanities scholar Heather Swan. A lecturer at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Swan brings a unique blend of ecological insight and lyrical depth to her writing, exploring the fragile intersections between humans and the natural world. Her poetry collection, A Kinship with Ash, published by Terrapin Books, is a meditation on grief, resilience, and ecological awareness. Through vivid imagery and quiet urgency, Swan’s poems invite readers to consider their place in a world marked by environmental loss and transformation. The collection is both an elegy and call to attention—an exploration of what it means to live with reverence in a time of ecological crisis. Rather than seeking solace in an untouched wilderness, Swan’s work turns toward the overlooked and the endangered: insects, birds, ash trees, and the quiet spaces where life persists. Her writing is rooted in Wisconsin’s landscape but reaches far beyond, drawing connections between personal sorrow and planetary grief. A mother, beekeeper, and award-winning author, Swan’s reflections are informed by her deep engagement with environmental literature and her own lived experience. Her previous nonfiction book, Where Honeybees Thrive: Stories from the Field, received the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award and explores the global plight of pollinators through stories of hope and activism. When not writing or teaching, Heather Swan can be found hiking, observing insects, or crafting essays that bridge science and poetry. Her work has appeared in The Sun, Aeon, Emergence, Terrain, and Minding Nature, among others. A Kinship with Ash is a lyrical reckoning with loss—both personal and ecological—and a reminder that kinship can be found in the smallest creatures and quietest places.

WORT 89.9FM Madison · Time, Beauty, and Grief, Betsy-Korbinyr_7-28-25 In this edition of Madison Book Beat, host Lisa Malawski sits down with local author Betsy Korbinyr who is an award-winning author and retired social worker based in Madison, Wisconsin. With over 30 years of experience in hospice, medical, mental health, and school social work, she brings a deep understanding of aging, loss, and resilience to her writing. Her debut book, Time, Beauty, and Grief: A Hike Through Wisconsin’s 50 State Parks, is part memoir, part trail guide, and part reflection on growing older. Korbinyr set out to hike five miles in each of Wisconsin’s 50 state parks within a single year. The result is a life-affirming collection of essays exploring grief, healing, resilience, and the natural beauty of her home state. It is the first book to feature all 50 Wisconsin state parks, making it both a practical guide and a heartfelt meditation on growing older. Rather than focusing on far-flung adventures, Korbinyr chose to explore the natural beauty of her home state, offering readers an accessible and heartfelt journey through all 50 Wisconsin state parks. The book blends practical hiking tips with personal essays that touch on grief, healing, and the search for meaning in later life. A woman turning 65 ends up with one of her hiking boots in the grave as she embarks on a Quest to complete five miles in all 50 Wisconsin State Parks in one year. Life, like hiking, is unpredictable—despite preparation, the terrain can surprise you. Korbinyr’s reflections encourage readers to reject ageist stereotypes and embrace aging with curiosity, courage, and color. In addition to her writing, Betsy is a certified thanatologist (CT), trained in death, dying, and bereavement counseling—a perspective that subtly informs her reflections on life’s transitions. She is also an avid traveler and hiker, having explored trails across England, Ireland, India, and the U.S. When not writing or speaking at local events, Betsy enjoys gardening, creating art, and hiking, often reflecting on life with humor and humility. Time, Beauty, and Grief: A Hike Through Wisconsin’s 50 State Parks Korbinyr’s debut book is part trail guide, part memoir, and part philosophical reflection on aging. It’s the first book to include all 50 parks and encourages readers to embrace aging with curiosity and courage. Published by Little Creek Press

Robbins, Dean Transcript Stu Levitan welcomes the very successful author, editor, and broadcast personality, Dean Robbins to discuss his latest book, Wisconsin Idols, 100 Heroes Who Have Changed the State, the World, and Me, (Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2025) . It's a collection of engaging short essays about 100 outstanding musicians, thinkers, actors, athletes, creators, and boundary-breakers who are either from Wisconsin, attended the UW, or did something special here, and who had an impact on Dean. People like the seven cover images -- Oprah Winfrey, basketball great and human rights activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (when he was still known as Lou Alcindor), comedian Chris Farley, astronaut Laurel Clark, musicians Richard Davis and Bon Iver, and Ho-Chunk memoirist Mountain Wolf Woman. For his part, Dean himself has had an impact, certainly on the state and on Stu. He started as a freelance writer in 1983, and became arts editor at Isthmus in 1991 (where Stu had the pleasure of being one of his free-lancers). He led the paper as editor-in-chief from 2008 to 2014, served as communications director for the UW Division of Continuing Studies for five years, and since 2019 has been editor of the alumni magazine On Wisconsin. And beyond this award-winning journalism career, Dean has since 2010 developed a separate and even more honored career writing 15 children's nonfiction books. That part of Dean's life and career which will be the subject of another BookBeat episode later this year. It is a pleasure to finally welcome to Madison BookBeat  Dean Robbins.

On July 7th, Madison BookBeat host Bill Tishler welcomed Steven Davis, professor of political science at Edgewood University, to WORT 89.9 FM to discuss Davis’s new book, The Other Public Lands: Preservation, Extraction, and Politics on the Fifty States’ Natural Resource Lands (Temple University Press, 2025). While national parks and federally managed lands often dominate the conversation, Davis’s research highlights an often-overlooked category—nearly 200 million acres owned and managed by individual states. Drawing on extensive comparative analysis across all 50 states, he provided valuable insights into how these lands are governed, protected, and sometimes exploited. Davis also reflected on Wisconsin’s deep conservation legacy, shaped by figures like John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Gaylord Nelson, and expressed concern over how far the state has fallen from the leadership position it once held in environmental stewardship and support for public lands. The episode gave listeners a richer understanding of the vital role state-owned lands play in shaping environmental policy, public access, and political decision-making nationwide. Images courtesy of Bill Tishler and Temple University Press

On this edition of Madison BookBeat, host Sara Batkie talks with author Kristina Amelong about her debut memoir, What My Brother Knew (She Writes Press). As a boy, Jay Amelong predicted the accident that caused his death, down to the color of the car that hit him. "I will die young, while riding my bike," he told friends and family repeatedly. "It won't be much longer. I want you to be prepared." Baffling words to hear from the mouth of a content thirteen-year-old. When Kristina Amelong was only seventeen, her brother's tragic death unfolded exactly as he said it would, radically changing her life. Propelled down a self-destructive path of drug addiction and reckless sex, Kristina spent much of her young adult years wanting to die. Once or twice she came close. Always, Jay's bizarre story and his inexplicable acceptance of death lived in her body. More than thirty years later, Kristina embarks on a journey of discovery, seeking truth about herself, her brother, and the universe. The result of her investigation is a memoir that defies belief. Charting a life path from loss and abuse to healing and spiritual awakening, What My Brother Knew demonstrates the transformative power of facing the mystery of death head-on and the incredible human ability to do so. Kristina Amelong is the founder and owner of Optimal Health Network, a holistic health business. She is also the author of the self-published book Ten Days to Optimal Health: A Guide to Nutritional Therapy and Colon Cleansing, and a senior board member for the Center for World Philosophy and Religion, a nonprofit organization dedicated to a reweaving of the human story that will guide humanity through the current evolutionary crisis. She has a passion for photography, gardening, and pickleball. Kristina resides in Madison, Wisconsin, with her three dogs and a brood of chickens.

Stu Levitan welcomes the biographer of modern Madison, award-winning columnist Doug Moe, for a conversation about his latest book, Saving Hearts and Killing Rats: Karl  Paul Link and the Discovery of Warfarin. It’s the first detailed look at one of the most important and most honored biochemists of the 20th century — the brilliant, unconventional, and seemingly bipolar University of Wisconsin scientist whose discoveries led to two synthetic compounds: the rat-killing Warfarin and the heart-saving Coumadin. And all because at the depths of the Great Depression a St. Croix farmer turned to his state government to learn why his cows were dying of internal bleeding after eating sweet clover hay that had gone bad. It’s quite a story about quite a scientist, which Doug Moe tells quite well.

On this edition of Madison BookBeat, host Sara Batkie talks with author Denise S. Robbins about her debut novel The Unmapping.There is no flash of light, no crumbling, no quaking. Each person in New York wakes up on an unfamiliar block after the buildings all switch positions overnight. The power grid has snapped, thousands of residents are missing, and the Empire State Building is on Coney Island—for now. The next night, it happens again.Esme Green and Arjun Varma work for the city of New York’s emergency management team and are tasked with managing the disaster response for “The Unmapping.” As Esme tries to wade through the bureaucratic nightmare of an endlessly shuffling city, she’s distracted by the ongoing search for her missing fiancé. Meanwhile, Arjun focuses on the ground-level rescue of disoriented New Yorkers, hoping to become the hero the city needs. Denise S. Robbins is from Madison, Wisconsin, the city where she grew up and to which she returned after sixteen years of living and working in climate activism on the East Coast. In Madison, she lives with her husband in a yellow house circled by oaks and pines and two owls, and works as a consultant for several climate advocacy groups. She is a Pushcart Prize–nominated author whose stories have been published in literary journals including The Barcelona Review, Gulf Coast, and many more.

Stu Levitan interviews former U.S. Ambassador to Norway (1993-1997) Tom Loftus about his new book, Mission to Oslo, Dancing with the Queen, Dealmaking with the Russians, Shaping History (Mineral Point: Little Creek Press, 2024).Amb. Loftus served during a pivotal period in diplomatic and military history, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It was a time of optimism, but it was fraught with uncertainty, a time of particular concern in neighboring Norway. Amb. Loftus’s success helping forge the agreement among the U.S., Norway and the new Russia to start the clean-up of the nuclear waste the former Soviet Union had dumped for decades into the Arctic Ocean (a toxic legacy of its submarine fleet just across the border in Murmansk) is largely why the King of Norway bestowed upon him the Grand Cross, the highest order of the Norwegian Order of Merit, for outstanding service in the interest of Norway. Amb. Loftus also did a major solid for the incoming president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, solving a looming trade crisis that saved his textile industry.Among the leading supporting players in this engaging and perceptive account are three powerful and impressive women:  First Lady Hilary Clinton, UW Chancellor Donna Shalala, and Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, whose later selection as director general of the World Health Organization Amb. Loftus helped secure. There’s also an inside account of his close relationship with Bill Clinton, whose presidential nomination he helped secure by leading his Wisconsin primary campaign in 1992.Grandson of Norwegian immigrants, Amb. Loftus writes and speaks with emotion and insight into the people and places of his ancestral homeland. He also gives a real sense of diplomatic nitty-gritty, from celebrating Syttende Mai with Their Majesties the King and Queen to posing for photos with Yassir Arafat.Amb. Loftus served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1977 to 1991, the final eight years as its speaker — the longest any Democrat has ever held that post. In 1990, he was the Democratic nominee for governor, finishing second behind Governor Tommy Thompson, who, 30 years later, as interim president of the University of Wisconsin system, would hire him as a senior policy advisor. By then, Amb. Loftus had already had a close relationship with the UW, graduating from the UW Whitewater, earning his master’s from the UW Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs, and serving on the Board of Regents from 2005 to 2011.

Jane Hirshfield—widely regarded as one of America’s greatest living poets—joins Madison Book Beat for a rich conversation about poetry, the natural world, and the human condition. The New York Times Magazine has called her work “some of the most important poetry in the world today,” and her latest collection, The Asking: New & Selected Poems, showcases the depth and range of a life devoted to lyrical inquiry.In this episode, host David Ahrens and guest co-host Heather Swan, a poet and faculty member at UW-Madison and the Nelson Institute, delve into the themes that define Hirshfield’s work: ecological awareness, tenderness amid grief, and poetry as a vehicle for transformation.In an intimate and expansive interview, Ahrens and Swan trace Hirshfield’s poetic origins through six life-shaping jobs (as recently profiled by Swan on Lit Hub) and revealing her belief in poetry’s ability to create moments of changed understanding—acts of witness, clarity, and care.Jane Hirshfield will give a public reading from The Asking tonight — Monday, May 12 — at 6 PM at the Madison Central Library, 3rd Floor. The event is sponsored by the Madison Book Festival and the Nelson Institute, with books available for purchase from Mystery to Me and a signing to follow.

A book club is a great way to build community—bringing people together around shared interests, while also introducing them to new perspectives and ideas.Today, Bill Tishler hosts his inaugural episode centered on community. Tishler, who is also a local elected official, has been hosting book clubs in his district. On today’s episode, four area residents join him in the WORT studio to share their thoughts on recent book clubs they participated in this year and how the books they read raised awareness about issues in our city.Those issues range from pedestrian and bicycle safety to the health effects of loneliness and social disconnection, to the dangers of too much road salt and PFAS contamination in our area lakes and drinking water. The books discussed included The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging by Charles Vogl (Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2016); Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (Houghton Mifflin, 1962); and Killed by a Traffic Engineer: Shattering the Delusion that Science Underlies Our Transportation System by Wes Marshall (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2024).

In this edition of Madison Book Beat, host Andrew Thomas speaks with AJ Romriell on his debut memoir Wolf Act (University of Wisconsin Press, 2025).Wolf Act is a “memoir in essays,” and these essays take on a variety of forms. The work is divided into three different Acts, and each act is made up of chapters that are both interlinked but can also stand on their own as well. While the majority of the prose is narrative nonfiction, there are a number of chapters that include lengthy lists, definition entries like you would find in a dictionary, as well as passages that mirror a kind of Mormon liturgy and educational upbringing.As the title suggests, wolves are a central metaphor throughout the work, and Romriell seamlessly weaves in references to wolves from mythology, fables, fairy tales, and religious beliefs as a way of processing his exit from the Mormon faith and his intentional turn towards self-love and joy.AJ Romriell is a storyteller, photographer, and educator. His memoir Wolf Act is about his experience growing up queer and neurodivergent in the Mormon religion; it earned first prize in the Utah Original Writing Competition and was a finalist for the Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest. He is a 2025 Pushcart nominee, and his essays, stories, and poems have been featured in Electric Literature, The Missouri Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Black Warrior Review, Brevity, New Delta Review, and elsewhere. He has been the recipient of the Vandewater Prize in Poetry, the Kenneth W. Brewer Creative Writing Award, and the Ralph Jennings Smith Creative Writing Endowment, and his work has been shortlisted for Ploughshares’ Emerging Writer’s Contest, CRAFT’s Hybrid Writing Contest, and the Black Warrior Review and New Ohio Review contests for creative nonfiction.

On this edition of Madison BookBeat, host Sara Batkie chats with Wisconsin Poet Laureate Brenda Cárdenas about her new position and the exciting plans she has in the works during her service.Brenda Cárdenas was born and raised in Milwaukee and has also lived in Beaver Dam, Appleton, Menasha, and Fond du Lac. She obtained her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Writing (Poetry) at the University of Michigan. She recently retired from a 35-year career teaching Creative Writing to students at every level from seventh graders to doctoral candidates. From 2007 to 2024 she taught Creative Writing and U. S. Latino/x Literatures at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.A former City of Milwaukee poet laureate, Cárdenas has authored two full-length books: Trace (Red Hen Press) and Boomerang (Bilingual Press). She has also authored or co-authored three chapbooks: Bread of the Earth/The Last Colors, Achiote Seeds/Semillas de Achiote, and From the Tongues of Brick and Stone. Her three-year term as Wisconsin Poet Laureate began on January 15, 2025 and runs through December 31, 2027.Brenda will be doing many events and workshops throughout the state during her Poet Laureate term. You can see a full list by visiting her website here.

Tana Elias has more than three decades of experience at the Madison Public Library. After one year in the role, she’s “just settling in” to the position as Director of the MPL.Elias sits down with Madison Book Beat host David Ahrens for a conversation about the history, funding, services and evolution of the Madison Public Library system, which has nine libraries in the city, operates the mobile Dreambus service, and is now building an “Imagination Center” on the north side.Elias and Ahrens also take up the changing role of libraries in the digital age. Contrary to the notion of a library dealing in books only, today’s Madison Public Libraries function as a community hub and resource — giving everything from seeds to art to yes, digital and physical books to the community.They also discuss the threat of losing federal funding, and the significant milestone for MPL coming up this year: 150 years of service.

On this edition of Madison BookBeat, host Sara Batkie chats with author Christine Wenc about her new book Funny Because It’s True: How The Onion Created Modern American News Satire.In 1988, a band of University of Wisconsin–Madison undergrads and dropouts began publishing a free weekly newspaper with no editorial stance other than “You Are Dumb.” Just wanting to make a few bucks, they wound up becoming the bedrock of modern satire over the course of twenty years, changing the way we consume both our comedy and our news. The Onion served as a hilarious and brutally perceptive satire of the absurdity and horrors of late twentieth-century American life and grew into a global phenomenon. Now, for the first time, the full history of the publication is told by one of its original staffers, author and historian Christine Wenc. Through dozens of interviews, Wenc charts The Onion’s rise, its position as one of the first online humor sites, and the way it influenced television programs like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Funny Because It’s True reveals how a group of young misfits from flyover country unintentionally created a cultural phenomenon. Christine Wenc was a member of The Onion’s original staff from 1988 to 1990 as a UW–Madison undergrad. She has played central roles in highly regarded public history projects for Harvard University Libraries, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the National Library of Medicine, and has received writing grants from the Awesome Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is also trained in midwestern prairie ecosystem restoration and likes to spend time helping to revitalize one of the rarest, most diverse, most beautiful, and most ecologically beneficial landscapes on the planet. She grew up in rural Spring Green, Wisconsin.

In this edition of Madison Book Beat, host Andrew Thomas speaks with Steven Duong on his debut poetry collection At the End of the World There is A Pond (Norton 2025)."Tell all the truth but tell it slant." Taking Emily Dickinson's dictum as a guiding principle, poet Steven Duong delivers a collection startlingly clear, formally innovative, and consistently funny. At the End of the World There is a Pond is divided into four sections–The Jumpers, The Swimmers, The Sinkers, The Floaters--and throughout each Duong explores themes of addiction, mental health, climate change, diaspora, and popular culture.from "Anatomy":“there’s no / point in writing nature poems anymore, / not unless you drown the verses in smoke / & oil & organophosphates–the Anthropocene / demands a new syntax” Steven Duong  is a writer from San Diego. His poems have appeared in the American Poetry Review, Guernica, and the Yale Review, among other publications, and his short fiction is featured in Catapult, The Drift, and The Best American Short Stories 2024.The recipient of fellowships and awards from the Academy of American Poets and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he is currently a creative writing fellow in poetry at Emory University. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

On this edition of Madison BookBeat, host Sara Batkie chats with author Theresa Okokon about her debut memoir in essays, Who I Always Was.When Theresa Okokon was nine, her father traveled to his hometown in Nigeria to attend his mother’s funeral…and never returned. His mysterious death shattered Theresa as her family’s world unraveled. Now a storyteller and television cohost, Okokon sets out to explore the ripple effects of that profound loss and the way heartache shapes our sense of self and of the world—for the rest of our lives.Using her grief and her father’s death as a backdrop, Okokon delves deeply into intrinsic themes of Blackness, African spirituality, family, abandonment, belonging, and the seemingly endless, unrequited romantic pursuits of a Black woman who came of age as a Black girl in Wisconsin suburbs where she was—in many ways—always an anomaly.Theresa Okokon is a Pushcart Prize-nominated essayist. A Wisconsinite living in New England, she is a writer, a storyteller, and the cohost of Stories from the Stage. In addition to writing and performing her own stories, Theresa also teaches storytelling and writing workshops and classes, coaches other tellers, hosts story slams, and frequently emcees events for nonprofits. She is an alum of both the Memoir Incubator and Essay Incubator programs at GrubStreet.