WMRA Books & Brews
Books & Brews is an author series focused on discussions with writers from our area. This series is a collaboration with regional breweries, including Pale Fire Brewing Company in Harrisonburg, Seven Arrows Brewing in Waynesboro, and Winchester Brew Works in Winchester. Each location is a wonderful space to explore these topics together.
The Books & Brews season runs from September to May and is usually scheduled for the second Tuesday of every other month.
We welcome suggestions and if you have an author in mind for a future Books & Brews, please send a note to our series host, Mary Katharine Froehlich.
WMRA's Books & Brews series is made possible thanks to the support of Gaines Group Architects, our official sponsor. The Gaines Group has offices in Charlottesville and Harrisonburg.
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After years of writing and reporting as a journalist at WMRA, Martha Woodroof’s life quickly changed after a cancer diagnosis. Realizing her time was limited, Woodroof turned to writing nonfiction she called “splats.” A new book called Life’s a Wander collects these short essays. -
WMRA's September Books & Brews featured Erica Cavanagh and Jack Greer, editors of Life's a Wander: Martha Woodroof in Her Own Words, a posthumous collection of Woodroof's essays. We featured Martha Woodroof's daughter, Liz Gipson. -
WMRA's April 2026 Books & Brews featured Stephen Starring Grant, author of MAILMAN: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home. -
WMRA’s March 2026 Books & Brews featured two authors who have written about life as a server. Rebecca Kauffman, author of The Reservation and Bruce Bryan, author of Turning Tables: Everything I needed to know about business I learned as a server. They joined us to share their perspectives on life in the restaurant world. -
Charlottesville author, and UVA English professor, Bruce Holsinger explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in his latest novel Culpability. -
Bruce Holsinger, author of Culpability, discussed his novel that explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces. -
UVA Astronomer Kelsey Johnson takes us to the edge of scientific understanding about the universe in her new book Into The Unknown. -
WMRA's January 2026 Books & Brews featured Kelsey Johnson, author of Into the Unknown: The Quest to Understand the Mysteries of the Cosmos. -
Gabrielle Cerberville otherwise known as "The Chaotic Forager," joins us for WMRA’s next Books & Brews on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at 7pm in Harrisonburg at Pale Fire Brewing. -
WMRA's December 2025 Books & Brews featured Gabrielle Cerberville, author of Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life.
