GREEN BAY (NBC26) — Green Bay's Untitled Town author and book festival made its return Sunday after a hiatus caused by COVID-19.
First started in 2016, the festival is run by the Art Garage, an organization whose mission is to make art accessible to community members. In addition to books, the event featured author panels, process workshops, and events for children. The festival was free to all attendees and entirely supported by donations.
Jenna Kast, an Art Garage board member, said the festival plays an important role in bringing writers into the public eye.
"It can be especially difficult for the literary arts. Writers can be a little bit cloistered, a little bit solitary. So it's nice to have this festival and bring them up in the community and give them a stage and a platform to share their artwork," Kast said.
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Tom Murray III, a Milwaukee resident and self-described non-fiction reader, attended the event and spoke to the power of literacy.
"Reading is open to everyone, right? And there's not a high barrier to entry to begin reading. I'm a big believer in libraries. I support my local libraries in the Milwaukee area. So I love to read. I think literacy is really empowering. It's just a matter of trying to find what inspires you," Murray said.
Joe Verdegan, an author tabling at Sunday's event, writes novels focused on motorsports. Verdegan said a third-grader approached his table and was surprised to meet the person who had written the books on display.
"He couldn't believe that the gentleman sitting here was the guy who actually wrote these books. I'm like, you can do anything you want. I think writing remains important, as does reading, and events like this are very important to kinda keep reading in the forefront for our youth today. It's very important," Verdegan said.
Those interested in contributing time or money to Untitled Town can find more information at at this link and this link.
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