Author Talk

How to Make a Life

Author Madeline Uraneck discusses her book, "How to Make a Life: A Tibetan Refugee Family and the Midwestern Woman They Adopted".

Travel the life story of a family of Tibetan refugees with the Midwestern woman who helped guide their journey, Madeline Uraneck. Blending immersion journalism and memoir, Uraneck shares an immigration story of crossing cultural bridges and finding family in the IPPY award-winning Wisconsin Historical Society Press book, How to Make a Life: A Tibetan Refugee Family and the Midwestern Woman They Adopted.

From tales of escaping Tibet over the Himalayas, to striking a balance between old traditions with new, to bridging divides one friendly gesture at a time, Uraneck details how her own life changed -- and her family expanded -- after she met Tenzin Kalsan at work one day. The Tibetan woman had left her husband and four children behind in a refugee settlement in India in order to try and find a better life for them all in the United States. From the sweeping political and cultural differences that set the stage for Uraneck's story to the everyday stories she shares about being there for each other -- through homework and home-cooked meals -- "How to Make a Life" will expand readers' understanding of family, culture, and belonging.

Author Madeline Uraneck is an educator and writer who has visited sixty-four countries through her role as International Education Consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, several Peace Corps assignments, and her passion for world travel. Her writing has appeared in K-12 curriculum materials, educational handbooks on culture and policy, and publications including WorldView Magazine, Hotline, Global Education, WorldWise Schools, and Isthmus, for which she received a Milwaukee Press Club award. She won the Independent Publisher’s Book Award for Multi-Cultural Nonfiction in 2019.

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