by Jasminum McMullen  Writuals explores how our city's rich literary heritage, cultural diversity, and iconic spaces inspire routines that fuel the work of local authors.    Deana "Dean" Anderson has been a powerful voice for sisterhood since 2001, when she first began performing…

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by Dmitry Samarov Willard Motley (June 14, 1909–March 4, 1965) used to be read by many. He grew up in a middle-class African-American household in the then primarily-white neighborhood of Englewood in Chicago. The prominent painter Archibald Motley was his uncle, cousin, or brother (according…

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by Allison Manley Were you at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Conference last month? I wasn’t! Although I’m jealous of everyone who enjoyed their time in LA, I attended some interesting lit events in Chicago in March. William Brashler stopped by the Music Box…

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By Jasminum McMullen Writuals explores how our city’s rich literary heritage, cultural diversity, and iconic spaces inspire routines that fuel local authors’ work.   Maggie Andersen has published in the Coal Hill Review, CutBank, Grain, Southern California Review, Knee-Jerk,…

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by Ugochi Nwaogwugwu Colvin House's chandelier. (Photo by Don Seeley). Imagine stepping into a 16-room art deco mansion and being greeted by a hostess who hands you a glass of sweet spirits. She then leads you into a room where history lives, leaping off the pages of works inspired by a…

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A Look Ahead at Chicago Lit: March by Allison Manley February was busy, both for me as well as the broader lit community in Chicago. We saw not one, not two, but THREE Chicagoans whose short story collections were longlisted for the Story Prize (Amina Gautier for The Best That You Can Do, Abby Geni…

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by Michael Antman Why live in only one world — a difficult and disappointing one at that — when we can live in two, especially when that parallel world is better, or more illuminating, or at least more transfixing, than our dull quotidian existence? That’s the question posed by the…

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By Jasminum McMullen Writuals explores how our city’s rich literary heritage, cultural diversity, and iconic spaces inspire routines that fuel local authors’ work.   K E Garland is an award-winning creative nonfiction writer and blogger. She writes to demarginalize women's…

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Theatre Review by Jasminum McMullen All Photos Credit: Michael Brosilow It was a brisk Saturday evening in Chiberia when I arrived at Court Theatre to see Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, a play my English teachers brought into my life over the years that still sticks with me because…

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