DMPL Fall Author Series

Fall Author Series
Mark your calendar for three delightful events featuring authors with Iowa connections.

The Des Moines Public Library is back with its 2024 Fall Author Series! This fall, you’ll find three author events featuring popular, best-selling writers with Iowa connections. All events are free and open to the public. After each event, the author will sign books, which are available for purchase before and after the event courtesy of Beaverdale Books.

A photo of author Shawntelle Madison

Shawntelle Madison


Thursday, September 5 | 7 PM | Central Library


Shawntelle Madison is a Des Moines native who has written over 15 science fiction, romance, and fantasy books, including the popular urban fantasy series, Coveted. Her new novel, The Fallen Fruit (release date: September 3), is a family saga that follows a Black family that for two centuries has been cursed with the gift of time travel.

The Fallen Fruit Cover, by Shawntelle Madison
A photo of author Austin Frerick

Austin Frerick


Wednesday, September 25 | 7 PM | Central Library


Austin Frerick is a seventh-generation Iowan and an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy, having worked at the Open Market Institute, U.S. Department of Treasury, and as a Fellow at Yale University. His 2024 book, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry, serves as a critique of the private monopolization of American food systems.

The Cover of Barons by Austin Frerick
a headshot of Daniel Kraus, an author

Daniel Kraus


Wednesday, October 23 | 7 PM | Central Library Library


Just in time for Halloween, best-selling author Daniel Kraus will discuss his newest novel, Pay the Piper (release date: September 3), a supernatural horror story set in a cursed Louisiana bayou. The book started as a half-finished novel by deceased horror directing legend George A. Romaro, and Kraus, a Fairfield, Iowa native, worked with the Romaro estate to complete it. Kraus is also the author of bestsellers Whalefall, The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, and The Shape of Water

Pay the Piper