The Association of Writers and Writing Programs - acronymed AWP because writing is hard - is holding its annual conference in Chicago from Wednesday through Saturday. The conference, a schmoozefest for writers and representatives of writing programs, has been sold out for a month, and friends' couches all over the city are near capacity. more ›

Today's listings include a back-alley bike tour of eccentric art Sunday. more ›

Claire Zulkey's "Funny Ha-Ha" at Hideout tonight is loaded with local literary luminaries who host their own shows around town. more ›

In today's listings, a Thursday art exhibit in Des Plaines; The Lincoln Lodge gears up for its 12th season Friday. more ›

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

Today's listings include a saison festival at the Fountainhead, variety at the Hungry Brain and a Spiaggia farm dinner. more ›

In today's listings, Do312.com celebrates its first anniversary. more ›

Red Eye's Tracy Swartz and the Guardian Angels are hosting a self-defense seminar tomorrow. more ›

Today's listings include a reading from one of Chicagoist's very own. more ›

Today's listings include an anniversary reading for CHIRP Radio and a Thursday panel looking at the rebirth of Polish Jewish culture. more ›

Today's listings include a spring fiesta, a bike-themed reading and a theatrical reading. more ›

Today's listings include a dance recital, a choral recital and a reading from a novelist's debut.. more ›

Today's listings include a reading in honor of comic books, a mystery writers roundtable and an anti Wal-Mart film screening. more ›

The Paper Machete has featured Chicagoistos y -as past and present before. For their special May Day show at the Grafton Sunday, it's time for el Jefe, Chuck Sudo, to make his Paper Machete debut. Chuck will be sharing the stage with Living Oprah author Robyn Okrant, Jamie Buell (winner of the first-ever Impress These Apes competition), iO and Second City performer Hans Holsen and Walker Parrish. Come on out and watch Chuck get the flop sweats. It's free and it's at 3 p.m. more ›

Today in "Pencil This In:" a screening of Deliverance, $6 spaghetti, and more. more ›

Today: a Green City Market event launch, erotic fiction, a Daptone Records showcase at Sub-T and a burger dubbed "Death From Above." more ›

Anne Lamott is stopping by the Oak Brook Borders tonight (one of the few Chicagoland locations that’s staying open while the company figures out all that bankruptcy stuff). She is promoting the paperback release of her most recent novel, Imperfect Birds. In this book, she continues the story of Elizabeth Ferguson and her daughter Rosie. As Elizabeth struggles with sobriety, teenager Rosie struggles with her own addiction. For more on Anne Lamott, check out our interview with her last summer. Anne Lamott reads from Imperfect Birds, Oak Brook Borders, 1500 16th Street, Suite D, Oakbrook, 7 p.m. more ›

If you have an event you wish for us to consider for "Pencil This In," please e-mail out Tips inbox, Chuck, Tankboy (for arts and events), or Anthony (for food and drink-related events). more ›

If you watched Roger Ebert Presents At The Movies over the weekend, you may have noticed Ebert's review of exorcism thriller The Rite (which won the weekend box office battle) was voiced by none other than the beta for Ron Burgundy himself, CBS 2's Bill Kurtis. The marriage of Ebert's prose with Kurtis' voice is a media fantasy dream. more ›

My idea of a road trip conjures up the image of a typical American family driving a typical American car on a typical American highway. The first page of How to Read The Air perfectly mirrors every aspect of that image. There’s a seven-year-old Monte Carlo, a 484-mile trip from Peoria to Nashville, and Josef and Miriam, an immigrant couple from Ethiopia who are doing their best to look, speak and feel American. But this road trip is just the start of what is a complex but finely woven story about a series of journeys. How to Read The Air not only describes the couple’s physical journey, but also that of their son and narrator Jonas, who decides to retrace their steps thirty years later. Along the way, both Jonas and his parents reflect on the past and present and how their experiences have shaped the people they have become. more ›

CHIRP Radio, the awesome independent internet radio station, continues its "First Time" series tomorrow night with another round of great writers. And we're not just saying that because a trio of our staff is involved. This time around, the topic is "My First Job," and among those reading are Bobby Evers, Andrew Hannon, Laura Hugg, Owen Murphy, and our own A&E writer Kim Bellware, Food & Drink Editor Chuck Sudo, and our Taylor Swift-obsessed Editor-in-Chief Marcus Gilmer. Each reader has also selected a song to be accompany their piece to be performed by a live band (Liam Davis, Steve Frisbie and Gerald Dowd). A few of us were in attendance for the packed performance last time around and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The event goes down tomorrow night at 8 p.m. sharp at Uncommon Ground (Devon St. location) and reservations are encouraged as once the room is filled, that's all that's being seated. So make the trek up north for what promises to be a fun, musical evening of good food and reading. more ›

We at Chicagoist are on top of zombies. This time, Scott Kenemore will be reading from his latest book Z.E.O. (Zombie Executive Officer): How to Get A (Head) in Business this coming Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Webster Place Barnes & Noble store in Chicago. A satire of financial and how-to-get-ahead-in-business books, “Z.E.O.” teaches the reader how to find great wealth and succeed in business by being like a zombie at the office, "biting" and "infecting" his or her co-workers, and "turning" the competition. Sounds like a typical day at Chicagoist. more ›

Michael Pollan, one of our favorite advocates of healthy, ethical eating, will be appearing at the Harold Washington Library Monday, May 18th at 6:00. Pollan, the author of The Omnivores Dilemma and, more recently, In Defense of Food, will be engaging in a "dynamic conversation" with Chicago journalist Bill Kurtis. With his mantra of "Eat Food, Not too Much, Mostly Plants," Pollan is trying to start a nation-wide dialogue about the best ways to eat - and you can be a part of it. Admission is free, but we're sure this will be a popular event, so arrive a little early. The presentation is part of the "Chicago Matters/Beyond Burnham" series of events. more ›

If you liked Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen, (or even if you didn’t), check out Democracy, presented tonight as part of the “TimePieces” play reading series at TimeLine Theatre Company. Winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play, Democracy is the playwright’s follow-up to Copenhagen, which won the same award in 2000. more ›

Readings more ›

Marwen, 833 N Orleans St., 11/7, 6:30 – 10:00 p.m., $20 suggested donation at the door more ›

220 S. Michigan Ave., Symphony Center, tonight, 8:00 p.m., pre-concert conversation from 7 – 7:30 in the Grainger Ballroom, Young Frankenstein screens at 10:00 p.m. more ›

Lectures more ›

Oh, how we love John Hodgman. It's been a hair over two years since we last saw him at Second City E.T.C. but fortunately for us, he has an excellent new book out (More Information Than You Require) which means he's due for another Chicago appearance. Indeed, Mr. Hodgman will be appearing for FREE tomorrow night on the E.T.C. stage to read from his new book. Also appearing will be cartoonist David Rees, creator of controversial strip Get Your War On. Be sure to get in line early, but it'll be worth it. more ›

Wednesday, October 15, 6 p.m., Ferguson Auditorium, Columbia College, 600 S. Michigan Ave. more ›