Willmar Public Library | Friends of WPL

Friends of WPL

Wisdom & Wine 2024

All tickets have been sold for this event! We look forward to seeing you on June 13th.
Do you love reading? Come enjoy an evening where you can meet and hear from three talented authors:
Jess Lourey, J. Ryan Stradal, and Mona Susan Powers.
The Friends of the Willmar Public Library welcome you to the 2024 Wisdom & Wine fundraising event on
Thursday, June 13th at the Willmar Conference Center. Doors open at 6 PM and dessert is served at 6:30 PM.
Sip your free glass of wine while checking out the silent auction items.
Books by all authors will be available to purchase.
Following the author presentations, you will be able to get your book signed.

Tickets for Wisdom & Wine will be available for the general public on March 11th.
Tickets may be purchased at the Willmar Public Library front desk by cash or check
or online at willmarwisdomandwine.eventbrite.com. Tickets must be purchased in advance.
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 Powers

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.