Eleanor Taylor Bland [December 31, 1944-June 2, 2010]: Slices of Life Within Black Culture

Friday, July 24, 2026

by Sandra Jackson-Opoku Crime writers who know their history invariably invoke the legacy of Eleanor Taylor Bland. I count myself incredibly lucky to have known her personally, and been a part of her community. Her footprints were so indelible that we never realized how deep they were until she no…

Hugo Martinez-Serros and the Early 20th Century Mexican Southeast Side

Friday, July 24, 2026

by John Lillig Chicago author Hugo Martinez-Serros passed away on February 26, 2026. While Martinez-Serros may not have been as well-known as some of his near contemporaries, such as Harry Mark Petrakis, Leon Forrest, or Stuart Dybek, his fiction provides rich, important, and valuable images and…

A Look Ahead at Chicago Lit: July

Monday, June 29, 2026

by Kayleigh McNamara It was an early, very warm morning in July, and it had rained during the night. The bare granite steamed, the moss and crevices were drenched with moisture, and all the colors everywhere had deepened. ― Tove Jansson, The Summer Book July brings us into the thick gooey…

Ed Roberson: Lake Poet

Thursday, June 18, 2026

by Andrew Peart Chicago was destined to be Ed Roberson’s “second chance.” That’s what a parking attendant told him at the Congress Plaza Hotel in 2004. Roberson had received an invitation from poet David Trinidad to serve that spring as a visiting artist at Columbia College…

“I use this sighting all the time”: Preparing to Read Ed Roberson

Friday, June 12, 2026

By Barbara Egel There has been so much written about this poet: the forms, the subjects, the place in cultural history and the response to the culture that came before him, the politics, the song, the sweet, and the sly—and with good reason, because there is no reaching the edge of his world,…

A Look Ahead at Chicago Lit: June

Sunday, May 31, 2026

by Kayleigh McNamara We have made it once again to another illustrious Chicago summer. In the words of Maud Hart Lovelace, “It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold…” I’m of the opinion that Chicago is at its peak in June—outdoor…

A Look Ahead at Chicago Lit: May

Sunday, May 3, 2026

by Kayleigh McNamara Maiden, that read'st this simple rhyme, Enjoy thy youth, it will not stay; Enjoy the fragrance of thy prime, For oh, it is not always May! Enjoy the Spring of Love and Youth, To some good angel leave the rest; For Time…

A Look Ahead at Chicago Lit: April

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

by Kayleigh McNamara Dylan Thomas said, “Poetry is what in a poem makes you laugh, cry, prickle, be silent, makes your toenails twinkle, makes you want to do this or that or nothing, makes you know that you are alone in the unknown world, that your bliss and suffering is forever shared and…

Nelson Algren is Still Alive

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

by Michael Antman Imagine a modestly talented contemporary novelist undertaking the task of writing about a down-and-out morphine addict, small-time card dealer and amateur drummer who associates with similar urban lowlifes. Flat, featureless present-tense writing and a fixation on the…

A Night of Spirits and Stories: Toasting “The Song of the Lush”

Friday, March 6, 2026

By Anushka Dabhade It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a literary community in possession of a good thirst, must be in want of a perfectly balanced cocktail. On Saturday evening, February 28, the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame proved this maxim true once again with their latest…