Fox Cities Book Festival: Connecting writers and readers across our diverse communities.

Kristen Whitson is a researcher, archivist, member of the LGBTQ+ community, and lifelong Wisconsinite. She has worked in several community archives, including Madison LGBTQ+ Archive and with the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network. We Will Always Be Here: A Guide for Exploring and Understanding LGBTQ+ Activism in Wisconsin is Kristen’s first book project.
After working in Human Resources for fifteen years, Kristen decided to go to library school after seeing Beauty and the Beast’s Belle fall in love with a library in a movie. This about sums up Kristen’s habit of making impulsive decisions, which usually turn out better than expected. While completing her Masters in Library and Information Studies and specializing in archives at the University of Wisconsin Madison’s Information School, Kristen worked with both the Wisconsin Historical Society and the UW-Madison University Archives. After graduating in a pandemic, Kristen currently works with Recollection Wisconsin and volunteers with several causes near and dear to her heart, including working every single Election Day as an election official. Her passions in life include glitter of all kinds, her wife and kids, nine chickens and spoiled cat, and gardening and homesteading.