Results tagged “literature”

Special to Chicagoist from Elizabeth Mikel

The Interview Show is a humorous monthly Chicago-based talk show hosted by quick-witted syndicated columnist Mark Bazer the first Friday of every month. The show is a similar format to late night TV talk shows set in the intimate space of the Hideout. Past guests have included writer Jen Lancaster, chef Rick Bayless, interior designer Nate Berkus and filmmaker Steve Conrad.

We can't imagine reminiscing first loves and past friendships without the appearance of the ubiquitous mixtape. While kids these days might opt for a CD, or even a .zip file, our fond memories center around hours spent alone in our room, painstakingly crafting the perfect expression of our teenage emotions onto a double-sided cassette tape. We mailed our mixtapes to pen pals we'd never met, slipped them into the locker of a crush and when we were scorned, our mixtapes became little plastic outlets for misery and rage.

We've fallen in love with The Moth and its regular podcast -- discovered through its being featured on This American Life a few times -- and are excited to see they're kicking off a regular StorySLAM in Chicago, beginning with tonight's event at Martyr's.

Po-Mo master -- and our pick as the elusive Philo T. Farnsworth -- Curtis White is in town for a reading and discussion of his latest book The Barbaric Heart: Faith, Money, and the Crisis of Nature.

Jessica Hopper is currently on her reading tour promoting her new book The Girls' Guide To Rocking. We've already weighted in with our thoughts on this excellent primer, and reports from other stops have lead us to believe that kids are embracing the book and taking its advice to heart. Hopper has been trying to organize little bonus offerings at some readings, and her stop this afternoon at the YouMedia Center in Harold Washington Library is no different.

Sure, you can watch Quentin Tarantino walk the red carpet at River East, but there are two other upcoming events that even cooler.

Downtown Owl is the latest book from fellow Midwesterner Chuck Klosterman, a journalist and former writer for Spin magazine. A dark comedy set in a small town in North Dakota, the story focuses on the population of Owl, which consists mostly of hard-working people that hate the government, impregnate teenage girls and lack an understanding of pop culture.

Chicagoist fully admits we get a bit weak-kneed over Aleksandar Hemon, but the MacArthur Foundation genius stands alone with a spirited voice that embodying his adoptive city.

Kanye West--humble producer, musician, designer, and fish stick lover--is now an author. Codifying West’s witticisms, life lessons, and aphorisms with the help of co-author J. Sakiya Sanifer (of the comma-defying Think Think Think and Think Again) behold West’s debut book Thank You And You’re Welcome.

As the official Kestnbaum Writer-in-Residence at the University of Chicago, Stuart Dybek is no stranger to the South Side. A Little Village and Pilsen native, Dybek’s works often chronicle the ethnic shifts that occurred in these neighborhoods over the past fifty years, including the masterful coming-of-age tale I Sailed With Magellan.

A hundred years after he was born, could Nelson Algren finally be getting some of the respect he so richly deserves?

Sometimes you’ve just got to have a parade. But if you’re Columbia College’s Manifest Urban Arts Festival, you have the Spectacle Fortuna Parade of Creativity. Wishing good fortune upon seniors and graduate students before they hit the brick wall that is a 9.4 percent unemployment rate, the Spectacle Fortuna will fill the streets with hundreds of Ray Bradbury-inspired giant puppets, the punk marching band, Mucca Pazza, and ephemera created by the talented students, faculty and staff.

The Society of Midland Authors is kind of like the literary Mensa of the Midwest. Since its founding in 1915, members have included Poetry magazine founder Harriet Monroe, founder of the U.S. Settlement House movement Jane Addams, social theorist Daniel J. Boorstin, and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sandburg.

Bring out your books, it’s the Chicago Reader’s annual Book Swap! Remember when you went through that The Secret phase? Now’s the time to offload load it on the next unsuspecting fool. [Ed. note: Or,, you could pass on your well-thumbed DFW collection of short stories too ... you don't wanna turn the kids OFF of reading, right?]

Marilyn was right—there is such a thing as the seven year itch. As her acclaimed literary review blog celebrates its seventh year, founder Jessa Crispin is hitting the trail and crossing the pond to Berlin. Crispin assures us the site will remain the same, but we still can’t help feeling like jilted lovers. There just aren’t any other Booksluts out there for us.

Now that the weather has warmed and everyvbody's in a hurry to wear next to nothing, it seems appropriate to clue you in on the monthly sexy reading series taking place at the Burlington this Sunday. That's right, it's time for The Sunday Night Sex Show!

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.

Elaine Pagels—Princeton professor, MacArthur award winner, Guggenheim fellowship recipient, and bestselling author—is not here to make you feel academically inadequate. She’s here to talk about the apocalypse.

The Post-It note was developed accidentally by Dr. Spencer Silver. Were Dr. Silver present at the upcoming Post-It Note reading series, we hope he’d surely approve of the appropriation of his creation. Developed as an anecdote to workplace boredom, Arthur Jones created daily drawings on Post-It notes until friend and This American Life contributor Starlee Kine asked Jones to contribute to a literary series. Like chocolate and peanut butter, Kine and Jones quickly discovered illustrating stories in front of a backdrop of Post-It note illustrated PowerPoints (think: Steven Colbert’s “The Word” but with Post-Its) was an idea that was made to stick.

Sam Pocker is not the antichrist, but he is the author Retail Anarchy. A merciless blogger of the retail industry, Pocker takes an acid tongue and sardonic wit to empty slogans and nonsensical advertising campaigns (Eggo French Toast Waffles, anyone?).

For fans of mystery novels, Walter Mosley needs no introduction. Mosley is best known for his Easy Rawlins mysteries such as Devil in a Blue Dress and Six Easy Pieces but his literary prowess spans several genres. In under 20 years, Mosley has written 33 books in genres such as mystery, science fiction, young adult, several nonfiction books, and even erotica. Winner of awards such as a PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, an O. Henry Award, and even a Grammy (for his liner notes on a Richard Pryor boxset), Mosley has also been recognized for the way he addresses race in his writing, winning the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award.

Biting into a peanut butter bonbon from Vosges Haut-Chocolat can be a transcendent experience. So, evidently, can being in the Chaturanga position. Combine the two and you’re well on your way to inner bliss at the Chocolate and Book Signing by David Romanelli at Vosges’ Armitage location.

You might say Al Gore is compensating for something. A former Vice President, Nobel Peace prize winner, Academy Award winner, New York Times bestseller, Chairman of Emmy award winning independent TV network Current TV, inventor of the Internet and expert kisser, he can also add a recent book deal and Chicago Theatre speaking engagement to his long list of accolades.

Don’t be fooled by the trademark nasal North Carolina accent—David Sedaris owes a lot to his stint in Chicago. Discovered while reading his diary in a Chicago club by another famous nasal voice—Ira Glass—Sedaris went on to National Public Radio fame, five essay collections, numerous New Yorker essays, and legions of adoring literary groupies.

SXSW is more than just music. Granted, Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot [Ed. note: and, ahem, Lizz Kannenberg] are probably having the time of their lives traipsing across the 1,800 odd bands scattered amongst Austin, Texas, but you’ll have just as much fun reading NPR’s All Songs Considered twitter feeds, right?

So, you think you can write? Prove it by entering The Parlor Reading Series’ second annual call for emerging writers. Now’s your chance to unleash your 3,000 to 5,000 word short work of fiction or non-fiction upon the world by submitting it via email by the end of today.

Men, best to look away. Go back to your GTA IV or your Bulls game or your secret collection of British comedies. Are you gone? Ok, then.

Break out your college-lined notebook and your frilly pink pen, StoryStudio Chicago is hosting its fourth annual In-Town Writers Retreat. StoryStudio bills itself as a “growing community of writers building Chicago’s premier center for writing and related arts.” This translates to classes on everything from blogging to screenplays, to the ambiguously titled “LifeWriting” course and the less ambiguously titled session, “Writing Sex.”

Batterymouth, Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln, Wednesdays through Feb. 25, 8 p.m., $10, Purchase tickets here.