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Past 2022 Events
Door County Reads 2022
Sponsored by the Door County Library Foundation
Starting in 2008 with “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck and 15 books later, we have read classics and new works, fiction and nonfiction, some heavy and some light.
In 2021, we welcomed you to another exciting two-week festival that warms our winter — lively discussions, moving performances and spectacular speakers. Watch the recordings below.
Friday, November 26, 2021
BOOK DISTRIBUTION
Free books are courtesy of the Friends of Door County Libraries. Choose one title for free from the library while supplies last. Please read the books, pass them along to a friend or family member and then join us at the 2022 events.
Monday, January 10, 2022
MOVIE: How Ya Doin' 2:00 pm
Fish Creek Library (4097 Hwy 42)
In-Person
Thursday, January 27
BOOK DISCUSSION: Truck, A Love Story 10:30 am
Business Center room at Egg Harbor Library / Kress Pavilion
In-person & Virtual
Business Center room at Egg Harbor Library / Kress PavilionIn-person & Virtual
Facilitated by Jeanine Brennan. No recording was made.
Thursday, January 27
VIRTUAL MOVIE: Where I Come From 2:00 pm
Virtual from Sturgeon Bay Library
Sunday, January 30
VIRTUAL KICK-OFF 1:00 pm
Join us for a retrospective on 15 years of Door County Reads. Hear from those who have brought this festival to life in Door County including video cameos from the Wisconsin Author community and past Door County Reads participants.
Monday, January 31VIRTUAL PLAY READING: Infancy and
The Rivers Under the Earth by Thornton Wilder 7:00 pm
Virtual from Door Shakespeare
The Rivers Under the Earth by Thornton Wilder 7:00 pm
Virtual from Door Shakespeare
Director: Michael Stebbins, Producing Artistic Director
Thornton Wilder’s one-act plays, Infancy and The Rivers Under the Earth, two of the four obscure gems from his late (and unfinished) oeuvre, The Ages of Man, are Door Shakespeare’s offering to Door County Reads 2022.To say that the state of Wisconsin served as an inspiration to Thornton Wilder would be an understatement. Born in Madison in 1897, his stories of families and friends and distant relations in small towns figure prominently in Wilder’s work, from early in his career to late. As in so many of his works, from novels to plays to essays, grown-ups influence the young and vice-versa in the most subtle of ways. It is there in Infancy, under the guise of humor, and it is poignantly present in The Rivers Under the Earth, which is set “on a point of land near a lake in southeastern Wisconsin.”
Michael Perry’s writings capture the essence of what Thornton Wilder was able to capture. Through seemingly simplistic words on the page, they share the gift of observation and are able to share with us all of the eccentricities of those individuals that inhabit small towns across the United States. And, they both hail from Wisconsin, a state that clearly influenced Thornton Wilder and continues to influence Michael Perry today.
Tuesday, February 1
VIRTUAL BOOK DISCUSSION: Population 485 10:30 am
Virtual from Ephraim Library
Virtual from Ephraim LibraryFacilitated by Mary Sawyer.
Tuesday, February 1
VIRTUAL BOOK DISCUSSION: Truck, A Love Story 1:00 pm
Virtual from Sturgeon Bay Library
Virtual from Sturgeon Bay LibraryFacilitated by Laura Kayacan.
Tuesday, February 1
VIRTUAL MOVIE: How Ya Doin' 4:00 pm
Virtual from Egg Harbor Library / Kress Pavilion
Wednesday, February 2
VIRTUAL BOOK DISCUSSION: Population 485 11:00 am
Virtual from Washington Island Library
Virtual from Washington Island LibraryFacilitated by Laura Kayacan and Laura Hale.
Wednesday, February 2
VIRTUAL BOOK DISCUSSION: Truck, A Love Story 7:00 pm
Virtual from Baileys Harbor Library
Virtual from Baileys Harbor LibraryFacilitated by Tracy Opper.
Thursday, February 3VIRTUAL BADGER TALK:
English in Wisconsin 5:30 pm
English in Wisconsin 5:30 pm
Joe Salmons, the Lester W.J. “Smoky” Seifert Professor of Language Sciences at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, will be exploring the kinds of English spoken in our state including pronunciation, words and word forms and grammar.
Thursday, February 3
BOOK DISCUSSION
Novel Bay Booksellers (44 N 3rd Ave, Sturgeon Bay)
POSTPONED
Friday, February 4VIRTUAL PLAY READING at TAP 7:00 pm
• DAIRYLAND by Heidi Armbruster
• Director: Jacob Janssen
Allie, a food writer in NYC is determined to find authenticity in a world of internet dating, baby shower crafting, and journalistic in-fighting. But when she takes on the Local Food Movement, she finds herself on the wrong side of an epic food fight. She escapes the city for her father’s dairy farm and discovers that she is waging a battle far more personal than she imagined. Directed by Jacob Janssen.
Saturday, February 5
VIRTUAL FIREFIGHTER PANEL 11:00 am
Population 30,066: Door County Fire and Rescue Workers Panel
Population 30,066: Door County Fire and Rescue Workers Panel
Panelists include volunteer firefighters from across Door County including Ann Jensen, Paul Swanson, Helen Hecht, Chris Hecht, Erika DeFere, Mark Dekeyser, and Richard Olson. Moderated by David Siegel, author of "Forces of Change, Events That Led to the Development of the Green Bay Fire Department."
Saturday, February 5
VIRTUAL AUTHOR KEYNOTE 2:00 pm
Michael Perry is a New York Times bestselling author, humorist, playwright, and radio show host from New Auburn, Wisconsin. Perry’s bestselling memoirs include Population: 485 (recently adapted for the stage), Truck: A Love Story, Coop, Visiting Tom, Million Billion, and Peaceful Persistence. Among his other dozen titles are The Scavengers (for young readers) and his novel The Jesus Cow.
Raised on a small Midwestern dairy farm, Perry put himself through nursing school while working on a ranch in Wyoming, then detoured into writing. He lives with his wife and two daughters in rural Wisconsin, where he serves on the local volunteer fire and rescue service and has a few chickens.
He hosts the nationally-syndicated “Tent Show Radio,” performs widely as a humorist, and tours with his band the Long Beds. He has three live humor albums including Never Stand Behind A Sneezing Cow and The Clodhopper Monologues. He can be found online at www.sneezingcow.com.
Sunday, February 6
VIRTUAL TRIVIA 11:00 am
Virtual Trivia game on Kahoot.it
Featuring questions about Wisconsin trivia with prizes from local businesses. Facilitated by Steven Rice utilizing Kahoot! We recommend using two devices during this event, one for watching Zoom and the other for playing Kahoot.
Sunday, February 6VIRTUAL SONGWRITING WORKSHOP 3:00 - 4:30 pm
As part of the Door County Reads program, Write On is offering a free workshop on writing lyrics and music with award-winning blues singer and songwriter Cathy Grier.
A professional musician since 1978, Cathy Grier has opened for such acts as Laura Nyro, The Band, Dave Mason, and Joan Armatrading. She won an MTV Basement Tape Award and has lived and written music in Key West, Paris, and New York City before making her home in Sturgeon Bay. She began song writing as a young guitarist and believes that the Blues is a feeling and a way of expressing life through music.
This workshop is geared for all levels of writing and musicianship. Exercises will include discussion of lyrics, melody and compositional structures. Emphasis on how to allow wild creativity to flow, while fine tuning specific areas into more meaningful songs. And for further consideration, tips on how to get unstuck and liberate your muse.
Monday, February 7VIRTUAL PLAY READING by Peninsula Players 7:00 pm
Watch with us between FEB. 7 at 7 p.m. – FEB. 8 at 7 p.m.
Presenting "Kodachrome" by Adam Szymkowicz. A play about love, nostalgia, the seasons and how we learn to say goodbye performed by the Peninsula Players Theatre.
Tuesday, February 8
VIRTUAL BOOK DISCUSSION: Population 485 2:30 pm
Virtual from Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Library
Virtual from Sister Bay/Liberty Grove LibraryFacilitated by Christina Johnson.
Tuesday, February 8
VIRTUAL WISCONSIN WRITES PANEL 7:00 pm
A panel discussion including Kimberly Baeser, Christina Clancy, Andrew Graff, John Hildebrand, and Patricia Skalka who will discuss how being an author in Wisconsin influences their careers and work. Moderated by Rebecca Meacham.
Wednesday, February 9VIRTUAL: WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? 7:00 pm
Virtual from Crossroads at Big Creek
Virtual from Crossroads at Big Creek
In the 1800s, Door County was settled by European immigrants with each village or neighborhood taking on an ethnic identity. What attracted these people to the Peninsula and how have these settlements retained their heritage? Do Michael Perry's reflections on rural Wisconsin rural community ring true in Door County. This illustrated lecture will include readings from the Perry's books, interspersed with local history.
Thursday, February 10
VIRTUAL BOOK DISCUSSION: Population 485 1:00 pm
Virtual from NWTC Learning and Innovation Center
Virtual from NWTC Learning and Innovation CenterFacilitated by Lisa Tetzloff and Stephanie Pabich.
Whether you are an absolute beginner or an established writer or somewhere in between, Wisconsin has many organizations devoted to helping you be the best you can be and offering you support along your writing journey.
Join us for a presentation by three statewide organizations dedicated to supporting writers: the Wisconsin chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, and the Wisconsin Writers Association, as well as four regional organizations for writers: Chippewa Valley Writers Guild, Lake Superior Writers, Woodland Pattern, and Write On, Door County.
Friday, February 11
PLAY READING by Rogue Theater 7:00 pm Virtual and in-person at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
Join us for a staged reading of Michael Perry’s “Population 485” performed by Rogue Theater. This dramatic and hilarious live reading of Michael Perry's perennially bestselling book "Population 485" goes on scene and behind the scenes of a small town fire department when a former resident returns as a green rookie.
Through a series of fire and ambulance calls, the characters and audience travel together through history, humor, and the goofball woes of a man they call the One-Eyed Beagle to a place where neighborliness is a necessity--especially when hope and heartbreak collide.
Saturday, February 12VIRTUAL PANEL: Things Like Hope & Faith 10:30 am
Michael Perry writes, "To wallow in cynicism, and to dismiss things like hope and faith, is cowardly and unoriginal.” While his stories chronicle his struggles in life and love in rural Wisconsin, they also brim with optimism. In short, his stories make us feel good. How does he do this? Can reading Perry improve our mental health?
Join a psychologist, a humorist, a dramatist, an idealist, and a literature scholar in a discussion (moderated by a pragmatist) about the emotional impact and craft of Perry's storytelling.
Saturday, February 12VIRTUAL GRIFFON STRING QUARTET 2:00 pm
Enjoy this special concert from The Griffon String Quartet, including an appearance by Door County Poet Laureate Mike Orlock, featuring John Harbison's Four Encores for Stan, David Utzinger's Phantasy Quartet, and Antonín Dvořák's String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 "American."
Monday, February 14
VIRTUAL BOOK DISCUSSION: Michael Perry or any Wisconsin Author 7:00 pm
Virtual from the Fish Creek Library
Facilitated by Holly Somerhalder.
Did you watch or attend an event? Tell us how we did!