Willmar Public Library | Friends of WPL

Friends of WPL

Wisdom & Wine 2024

Proceeds will go to the Friends of the Library Fund which supports collection development and library programs.

About the Authors

Jess Lourey

Jess Lourey writes about secrets. She’s the Amazon Charts bestselling, Edgar-nominated, ITW Thriller, Anthony, and Minnesota Book Award-winning author of young adult, magical realism, crime fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books. She’s a retired professor of writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft’s Excellence in Teaching fellowship, and a TEDx presenter (check out her TEDx Talk to discover the surprising inspiration behind May Day, her first published novel). Her newest book, The Taken Ones, was published in September 2023.

J. Ryan Stradal

Born and raised in Minnesota, J. Ryan Stradal now lives and works in Los Angeles, where he is an advisory board member at 826LA and co-producer & host of the literary/culinary series Hot Dish. His latest novel, Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, published in April 2023, was an instant national bestseller. His second novel, The Lager Queen of Minnesota, was published in 2019. Receiving starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, and BookPage, it became a national bestseller its first week of release, and in 2020, won the WILLA Literary Award in Contemporary Fiction.

Mona Susan Power

Mona Susan Power is the author of four books of fiction, including The Grass Dancer, Roofwalker, Sacred Wilderness, and A Council of Dolls. She’s a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Mona is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakhóta), born and raised in Chicago. She currently lives in Minnesota, where she’s working on other novels, including, The Year of Fury.