Community Calendar

Venture onto the high seas with the latest from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Frozen River and I Was Anastasia. This sweeping historical adventure was inspired by the life of Grace O’Malley, the legendary Irish folk heroine who risked everything to defend her people.

Keenly observed and fiercely written, Ariel Lawhon’s new action-packed novel channels the untamed beauty and harsh realities of sixteenth-century Ireland, as seen through the eyes of an unforgettable heroine who rightly became “the Pirate Queen of Ireland.”

Lawhon will be joined in conversation with NWS host Audrey Irontree. Lawhon is an award-winning, critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages and have been Good Morning America, LibraryReads, and One Book One County selections. She lives in the rolling hills outside Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and four sons. Ariel splits her time between the grocery store and the baseball field.

For more information, please click here.

Bring gratitude, curiosity, pen, paper, lunch, water, and head east of Wolverine, into the vast Pigeon River Forest, to Greenwood Foundation, a 2000-acre non-profit wildlife haven where we will forget about the world for a while, lighten up, create new friends; observe the living earth; write and reflect in the tradition of American nature writing. We will consider how our stories can shape the attitudes of future generations.

For more information and to register, please click here.

The Manistee County Library is excited to present Michigan Notable Author John Wemlinger! He will be discussing his latest book, Finding Innocence.

John Wemlinger is a retired Army colonel. He and his wife, Diane, have lived in Onekama, Michigan, for the last 12 years. He published his first book, Winter’s Bloom in 2016 and has since published 7 other novels.

His novel The Cut was one of only 20 books designated as a Michigan Notable Book for 2022 by the State Library of Michigan. He currently serves as a board member of the Library of Michigan Foundation.

This event will be free and open to the public. No registration is necessary. 

Designed for first-time memoirists working on a book-length project for public readers, this workshop explores the two-strand structure behind many successful memoirs. We'll review model memoirs, apply the ideas to your work, and share with the group. Come with an idea or draft and leave with a clearer roadmap for your story. Registration required.

Carolyn Wilson-Scott is a freelance editor and Managing Editor for the online literary magazine Oyster River Pages. She also facilitates women's writing retreats in Costa Rica and has taught and edited memoirs for students and private clients, and reviewed them for Foreword Reviews.

Kalamazoo poet Steve Brown talks about Fellowship, a new book of poems that explore sobriety, and questions of spirituality and faith, in the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s next Coffee With The Authors on September 26, 11 am.

Brown, a self-described writer of “no-nonsense poetry,” shaped this collection of 59 poems around the idea that “the past is nothing to regret and the future nothing to fear.” The poet will talk about his process, his tools [he drafts poems on a 1940s Smith Corona typewriter and edits with a pencil], and why he recites poems out loud – rather than read them – during programs. In Fellowship Brown continues a creative and personal journey begun in Need Of News, his second volume of poems published in 2025.

America’s IRA Expert, Ed Slott, to Headline Traverse City Event

Prout Financial Design will welcome nationally recognized CPA, bestselling author and retirement educator Ed Slott to Traverse City on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, for “An Evening with Ed,” a complimentary educational event focused on retirement tax planning.

The event will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Park Place Hotel and Conference Center, 300 E. State Street in downtown Traverse City. Slott’s presentation will be followed by a book signing featuring his latest book, "The Retirement Savings Time Bomb Ticks Louder."

Known for making complex tax rules clear, practical and engaging, Slott will share strategies designed to help retirement savers reduce unnecessary taxes, protect their assets and make their savings last.

The FREE event is intended for individuals who are approaching retirement, currently retired or interested in understanding how taxes may affect their long-term financial plans.

To reserve a spot, please click here.

Honolulu Blues is a comedic play-by-play of historic gridiron failure marked by stunning almost wins and saw-it-coming losses that positions the Detroit Lions lore as the backdrop for exploring themes of generational trauma, addiction, mental illness, and death.

Author Joel Walkowski intertwines the fate of two losers - the Detroit Lions and himself - to explore the broader impact a city's football tam can have on its residents, proving that you can overcome anything if you can learn to love what disappoints you.

Join The Dennos and the Traverse Area District Library for storytime at 11am to kick off a free day of learning, celebration, and community as we honor the vibrant and enduring cultures of indigenous peoples.

11am Storytime with TADL followed by pow wow dancer presentation. A free book and take home craft will be available.