by Donald G. Evans

We celebrated Black History Month in February, then Women’s History Month in March. Poetry claims our collective attention in April. That was by design, according to the Academy of American Poets, who established National Poetry Month in 1996. There are only so many months to go around, and the Academy of American Poets wanted to stake its claim before…

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By Donald G. Evans

Sitting in the Oak Park family home that she has known her entire life, Linda Robinet projects and embodies a certain dignity, warmth, humility and generosity that radiate as she patiently listens to the conversation around her. She never interrupts. She always responds thoughtfully. Her intelligence is effortless. She grew up in this house and stayed through young adulthood, dropping out…

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by Donald G. Evans

Stuart Dybek and Edward Hirsch were born eight years apart, Dybek on April 10, 1942 and Hirsch on January 20, 1950. Dybek was a South Sider, raised in Little Village and Pilsen; Hirsch a North Sider, his earliest years spent in Irving Park and North Park before his family settled in Skokie. Both would depart Chicago in their adulthood,…

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Dear Friends,

Don’t let the name of our organization fool you. Although one of the signature initiatives of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame (CLHOF) is to celebrate the city’s rich literary legacy by inducting past writers into the Hall of Fame, it’s not all we do. We also develop programming, events, and awards to honor Chicago’s living writers and to help foster new and…

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by Brian Clancy

Chicago is a city rich with identity, stemming from its long and complicated history and the multitudinous people who have populated it. In Wherever I’m At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry, various poets from different backgrounds and literary styles ruminate on the Windy City, often mingling their own individual identity with that of Chicago.

Poet Mark Turcotte (author of “Hawk Hour,”…

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Rick and I meet—where else?—in the Billy Goat Tavern. Rick’s choice. And appropriate—not only because for decades it has been a home away from home for newspaper people before they drag off to their real homes after a long day, nerves still buzzing despite the shots and beers. And not only because Rick has frequently been among them—at least until corporate “progress” resulted in closing the…

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by Floyd Sullivan

The publication of the Chicago International Film Festival schedule each fall was one of the most anticipated events of the year for me, kind of like when the Sears Christmas Catalog arrived in the mail when I was a kid. I would pore over each film's listing, black marker in hand, and circle those I wanted to see, much as I would page…

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by Dan Burns

I became a writer because of Ray Bradbury.

Over thirty years ago, I first dreamed of becoming a writer. As often happens, life got in the way for so many years.

But on Thursday, May 6, 2004, I was struck by lightning, my brain seared, my heart jolted, and life changed forever.

On that fateful day, I had the opportunity to…

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Chicago is a city tied with identity, its eight million residents hailing from all different backgrounds, cultures, and countries. Wherever I’m At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry is the cross-section of that city-wide identity, exposing slices of life from a variety of angles.

I reached out to Marianne Boruch, who contributed her poem Once at Berghoff’s (115) to the anthology. Boruch was born and raised in…

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