Printers Row on Saturday: A Celebration of Community
Near the end of Saturday at this year’s Printers Row Lit Fest, an 80-year-old Italian painter from the North Shore told me she’s going to have a huge party if […]
Dialogs: Kathleen Rooney and Ignatius Aloysius Discuss Creation of Her New Novel at Writers Museum
Chicago author Kathleen Rooney writes in many genres—fiction, non-fiction, essays, poetry—even Poems While You Wait. She has written several historical fiction novels in her own distinctive style. Heavily researched, novelized, written in […]
Toya Wolfe’s Last Summer on State Street Wins $25,000 Pattis Family Foundation Chicago Book Award
Most readers are familiar with the more prestigious annual book prizes out there, among them the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and the PEN America Literary Awards. A new […]
Review: A Harrowing Novel of Resilience in the Face of Racism, Last Summer on State Street, by Toya Wolfe
Toya Wolfe’s debut novel Last Summer on State Street is a harrowing, poignant, and visceral evocation of life and death in the Robert Taylor public housing development in its final […]
Preview: Inspiration for Burned-Out Writers at Northwestern’s Summer Writers’ Conference, July 21–22
When the world is literally on fire, who can think about writing? The present writer was reminded of Chicago author Rebecca Makkai’s 2018 Electric Literature essay on the topic (“The […]
Review: God Save the Queens: Hit Girls, by Jen B. Larson Celebrates Punk Women of the 70s and 80s
Tonight, Quimby’s will host an off-site book party for Hit Girls: Women of Punk in the USA, 1975–1983, at GMan Tavern (3740 N. Clark St.), Thursday, April 27, at 7:30 […]
Review: The First Amendment Lives On Celebrates Hugh Hefner’s Commitment to Free Speech
How do we know if the First Amendment is working? Karen Tumulty, deputy editorial page editor for the Washington Post answers, “If it makes us uncomfortable—and more importantly, if it […]
Last Minute Plans: Dan Ozzi Is A “Sellout” At Gman Tavern
Music critic Dan Ozzi is well known for his sharp insight and even sharper wit in his writing. So I was excited about his decision to tackle a topic largely […]
Interview: Feeling Beatific—Jerry Cimino of the Beat Museum/Beatmobile
Jerry and Estelle Cimino are on the road, spreading the Beat Gospel to the world. As founders of the Beat Museum in San Francisco, they’ve made a mission of keeping […]
Essay: How Many Books Can $30 Buy at the Newberry Book Fair?
When I visited the Newberry Library Book Fair on Friday, I knew I had to come up with a strategy. It’s a locally famous sale, featuring tens of thousands of […]
Kids Can Learn Sign Language, Storytelling and Teamwork with Sweet Animated Video Calvin Can’t Fly
Jennifer Berne wrote the storybook Calvin Can’t Fly: The Story of a Bookworm Birdie in 2010, and her second cousin Sarah Michaelson directed and produced a video version last year. […]
Dialogs: Actor/Performer/Etc. Alan Cumming Brings Charm and Stories to Chicago Humanities Festival
By Carr Harkrader With its dramatic palazzo ornamentation, twinkling star-lit ceiling, and mischievous cherubs nuzzling within insets, the Music Box Theatre was perhaps the perfect place for a talk with […]