Results tagged “reading”

Have a hankering to hear a reading from a popular This American Life contributor? Eager to get a book signed by a best-selling author? Consider this your reminder to head over to the Harold Washington Library tonight to hear Sarah Vowell read from her latest book, The Wordy Shipmates. And what better primer is there than our interview with her from earlier this week?

Often local events featuring unknown local authors are a snooze unless you actually know the authors personally and enjoy picking out the bits of your shared history out of their pieces. However the folks behind the first installment of The Sunday Night Sex Show handily solves that problem by insisting that their readers only deliver "creative non-fiction" about sex. Who doesn't enjoy reveling in the sexy?

covers his transformation from tying rope tricks to tying neckties (he purposefully never learned), and how to become a lawyer without giving away his soul. Peppered with fake rejection letters informing Lax the board had a good laugh at his application, and real legal jargon that will make your head spin, Lax weaves a funny, meandering story of an underachiever in an overachiever's world.

is a sort of Arabian Nights, set when a European traveler captures the court of Emperor Akbar, lord of the Mughal Empire, with a story about a beautiful and mysterious woman's travel to far off Florence.

Terri Bollinger, the principal at Ridge Central Elementary School in Chicago Ridge, promised back in October that she would kiss a cow if her students read over 10,000 books by the end of the school year. Naturally, then, her students managed to tally a total of 11,014 books read, and she found herself actually kissing a cow yesterday afternoon. The cow, named Stella, is owned by Bollinger’s cousin.

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Often, the readings and events we post are for your consumption, and while all attendees are participant of sorts, it's rare that a direct contribution of yours actually becomes a permanent part of the piece.

We've always wanted to have a Russian Writers Party, wherein everyone has a typewriter, a shot glass, and a bottle of vodka. We still think it's a good idea, but have decided it's best left unrealized.

A 14-year-old Illinois girl was on a cruise off the coast of California with her family when her appendix burst. The USS Ronald Reagan was dispatched to rescue her, and they did--including a helicopter transport between the ships. [Trib]

Five observations about The Siddhartha Project, Collaboraction’s premiere adaptation of Herman Hesse’s coming-of-age classic, reinterpreted by 5 writers in 5 acts. 1 Staging Hesse’s tale of a gifted boy's self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment in Lumen, a fun, not terribly pretentious nightclub and creative space, seems stranger than locating said club down the block from a meatpacking plant. Commissioning five writers to reinterpret the tale in five eras is as risky as it is ambitious, as...

But Northwestern Writer-in-Residence Stuart Dybek isn't. The lucky Pilsen native received "the call" yesterday informing him that he was named a 2007 MacArthur Fellow, aka "genius grant" recipient; the fellowship comes with a $500,000 prize that Dybek can use for whatever he likes, no strings attached. "I think 'stunned' is not too strong a word to use. It came so out of the blue," Dybek told the Trib. "They do this stuff with such perfect...

A love for reading, at least for us, comes with a love of writing. But if you're not still in college or involved in a writing community, how do you find a way to channel and hone your craft? StoryStudio Chicago is here to help. With a writing cafe every month, and classes ranging from beginning writers to portfolio and novel editing, the program, four years old, is like a mini-college unto itself. Jill...

Four years ago, Rich Seng was a former seminary student making low-budget TV ads for local businesses when a friend took him to a hip hop open mic at Subterranean. One thing led to another that night, and before anyone knew what hit ‘em two renowned local emcees were freestyle battling each other. An idea was born, and Seng started organizing the first Rhyme Spitters rap battle tournament. He relied on word of mouth and...

The dropping temperature and pouring rain didn't stop us from getting excited when we read that three new frozen yogurt places will be opening up in Chicago in the near future. Frozen yogurt? Like TCBY? Yes, but better. This isn't just any fro-yo, as Chicagoist likes to call it. We're talking about Pinkberry (A.K.A Crackberry), which is either the best thing since sliced bread, or a huge crock of marketing shit. Our coastal friends...

A mountain of peanut butter and banana sandwiches were waiting for runners as they completed the 10th Annual Elvis Is Alive 5K Fleet Feet race yesterday in Lincoln Park, which benefit Rock for Reading, a non-profit group fighting the trend of illiteracy and working to renew interest in reading.

members, New Jersey skate shop owner, and writer for several alt publications, Chris just released his first book, Skinema, a mash-up of previously published porno reviews that have little or nothing to do with the films themselves. Instead, Chris uses the space to relate perhaps even dirtier stories involving hookers, transvestites and/or vomit in exploitative, hilarious articulation.

Your theme this week, in honor of Earth Day/Week/Month: "Being Green." This is the song that Kermit the Frog made famous, but Ray Charles did a knockout version of it, and our favorite take on the song has to be Van Morrison's version from 1973's Hard Nose the Highway. It's so good, we insist on this song being played while our casket's being lowered to the ground. Let's dive in, shall we? Moo Moo, I...

There are a few ways to know for sure that spring is coming. One way is to watch the people of Chicago come out from their interiors — eyes blink in the sunlight, unsure of how to handle pristine sunshine. Pasty, sallow faces look carefully upwards, fearful that the sun might suddenly hide again. They step tentatively forward, holding tightly to the remnants of winter: a glove that has lost its mate, or a threadbare Bears hat that refuses to be lost. They stretch and croon, and tears of relief splash and combine with the salty white marble pattern left by owners of condos, but not of dogs. Their tears will wash away with the first summer rain. Wow, pardon our waxing poetic, we can't help it, it's in the air. We should move on before we start writing haiku....

As if the gorgeous weather wasn't enough reason to call out sick for the week, Columbia College give you another with its 11th annual Story Week: Cities of Words. Sunday kicked off the week of words with an alumni reading, and Monday's reading by Anchee Min about Maoist China was tender, raw and funny. With fifteen events over five days, you can't go to everything, but here's where Chicagoist will be: Tuesday: the Graduate Student...

Hey! Remember how we're reading Mark Danielewski's "House of Leaves" for our Convince Us this month?

When the tubes of the Interwebs stretch all over this planet, it’s sometimes a bit odd to see some local ‘Net news.

Man, what a crazy night at Madison Square Garden for the NBA Draft. As we predicted, there were a flurry of trades -- although mostly just draft picks moving around, along with throw-in future 2nd round picks and the like. The Bulls were among the early traders, drafting Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge, then shipping him to the Portland Trailblazers in return for Tyrus Thomas (picked 4th) and third year player Viktor Khryapa. Later in the...

We’re gearing up for the weekend and to see some of our favorite authors at the Printers Row Book Fair. We thought we’d tell you who we’re planning on seeing, but remember there are a gajillion more events; so make sure you check the schedule; there’s much too much to even fathom.

It’s always hard to come back after a three-day weekend and be hopeful. But here are a few things that let us know the world is going to be okay:

We’re always looking for something that can incorporate our variety of interests. We can drink and watch improv, or we can drink and watch movies, or we can drink and paint pottery. (We don’t think we’re supposed to drink at the pottery-painting place, but eh, that’s the great thing about drinking, it’s portable).

We here at Chicagoist just get all tickled inside, if a little bit conflicted, when we get to tell you about multiple great literary events happening in the same evening. Tomorrow night gives the local literatista (why yes, we do love making up words!) not one but two opportunities for some non-traditional literary edification--both lubricated with a little bit of beer and and a lot of the sweet, sweet pleasure of philanthropy.

Lost in all the hand-wringing and "loss of innocence" hyperbole over Macy's decision to rename Marshall Field's after itself are all the caveats (read:wary lip service) that Federated Deparment Stores CEO Terry Lundgren tossed out yesterday to soften the blow. It's a litany of promises: the possibility for job growth; keeping the Field's buying team intact in Minneapolis (Minneapolis?!? Allow Chicagoist to be the first to bitch about that.); expansion of the State Street store's Marshall Field Museum; and no changes to Glamorama, charitable giving, the Christmas window, and the flower show. One item not gone unnoticed by us is the promise to "explore" the possibility of bringing Frango Mint production back to Chicago from Pennsylvania.

Frequent are the days, especially in summer, when Chicagoist finds ourselves struggling to make a decision between two or more fabulous things to do. Of course, we're usually deciding between work and sleep, but tomorrow night is something special. We know what we're doing, mainly because our roommate has never in her 24 years seen Star Wars, but we also really wish we could go to the Bookslut Reading Series at the Hopleaf. It's the second of a monthly series put together by the fine folks at Bookslut--we heard the first was awesome, and tomorrow's reading promises to be swell as well. And entirely free of light sabers! (We assume.)