In today's listings: tickets are still available to one of the best home brew events of the year. more ›

Groupon steps up and gives creative writing students at 826CHI a forum for their work today. more ›

Someone somewhere decided this week was National Volunteer Week; its aim is to recognize the millions of people who volunteer their time, talent and energy to strengthen their communities worldwide. We weren’t able to find many local National Volunteer Week events, but that’s no matter. We still thought this would be a good opportunity to highlight some of our favorite literacy organizations in the city that depend heavily on volunteers. more ›

After the success of last year’s inaugural Chicago Zine Fest, the zinesters are back for another weekend of readings, exhibitions and karaoke. In case you were wondering, zines are those little hand-drawn, photocopied and folded up books about anything and everything. Before it was hip to use Kindle as a self-publishing platform, zinesters were self-publishing these little books. This weekend’s Zine Fest will give all those DIY self-publishers a chance to come out of their underground holes and unite! more ›

Catch up with the places to read and be seen on the literary scene with our rundown of local events centered around all things written. more ›

Knee-Jerk Magazine: Knee-Jerk Magazine is celebrating their one-year anniversary and debut print issue with a fundraiser at Fill in the Blank Gallery. Aside from the $5 requested donation, they’re auctioning off a dinner-and-a-movie evening with the Knee-Jerk editors; they’ll show up to the winner’s house with dinner and a DVD of their choice. Plus the event has free beer and several Knee-Jerk contributors will be reading their work. Knee-Jerk’s first print issue will feature a lot of different writers and artists, including but not limited to Zoe Zolbrod on the perils of breakup-traveling, Kim Chinquee on accepting drinks from too many strange men, and David Shields on envying Tiger Woods. more ›

Jupiter Outpost, 1139 W. Fulton Market, July 10, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m., free more ›

Gorton Community Center, 400 E Illinois, Lake Forest, 7 p.m., $25 / $20students, tickets via 826CHI more ›

What do The Da Vinci Code, Toy Story, and Apollo 13 have in common? [Ed. note: And Bachelor Party!] Too easy, Oscar-winning superhuman Tom Hanks, of course. According to the 826CHI prom committee, he represents the "everyman American," thus is the theme for this year's prom a.k.a. Prom Hanks. It's tomorrow night. more ›

Spring means lots of things. One of them is the end of winter writing workshops and the start of new ones. If you've been meaning to write more, but just need a little extra nudge in the right direction, a writing workshop is a great way to stay on track, meet fellow writers, and benefit from the guidance from a more experienced teacher. more ›

This week's literary events aren't all readings by stuffy authors you've never heard of. Read on for details about mustaches, $1 book sales, and teen slam poets. more ›

A variety of interesting writing workshops start this weekend and the beginning of next. Some focus on creative fiction, some focus on professional nonfiction. Some run for several weeks, some last a couple hours. Some cost nothing, some cost more than our paycheck last week. So if you're at all interested in firing up your laptop and putting it to good use, there just might be a workshop of interest below. more ›

• Tonight: The Essay Fiesta reading series will be featuring a lot of comedians this month. Robert Buscemi, Kelsie Huff, Bryan Bowden and Adam Guerino will join novelist and essayist Mary T. Wagner and creative writing instructor Janna Sobel at 7 p.m. at The Book Cellar in Lincoln Square. Entrance is free, and raffle proceeds go to benefit the Howard Brown Health Center.

We've mentioned the upcoming film adaptation of the famous childrens book Where The Wild Things Are before. Maybe it's because we're a little skeptical of how writer Dave Eggers and director Spike Jonze will transform a 40-something page book (that's not a whole lot of substance, though we love it dearly) into a 90-plus minute movie. Or maybe it's because we do love the book so much and we're also fans of both Eggers and Jonze and are anxious to see if they worked their magic on this. more ›

Bookworms, unite! The Printers Row Lit Fest, the self-billed largest literary event in the Midwest, descends on the South Loop this weekend with world-class authors, quirky booksellers, wine tastings, kiddie events, and beyond. more ›

Domo arigato, it’s prom season for 826CHI, the Chicago chapter of Dave Eggers’ and Vendela Vida’s non-profit dedicated to supporting students aged 6 to 18 with their literacy and creative skills. more ›

Only in its second year, a new tutoring program within the Chicago Public School system is already getting some great press. The program, run by an organization called America’s Choice, pairs ninth graders at six Chicago high schools with first graders at neighboring elementary schools. It was primarily designed to help the literacy levels of the participating high school freshman, who on average, tested out at fifth grade reading levels last year. more ›