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Our Cultural Community in Full Force

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

by Donald G. Evans

In a ceremony on Saturday, March 13, from 7-8 p.m., Sandra Cisneros is to be honored with the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s Fuller Award for lifetime achievement. It is CLHOF’s highest honor for a living writer. Sandra joins an illustrious list of honorees that includes Gene Wolfe (2012), Harry Mark Petrakis (2014), Haki Madhubuti (2015), Rosellen Brown (2016),…

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In Memoriam: Harry Mark Petrakis (June 5, 1923 – February 2, 2021)

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

By Donald G. Evans

Harry Mark Petrakis, one of Chicago’s great literary figures, died, unofficially of old age, last Tuesday, Feb. 2, near his longtime home in Chestertown, Indiana. He was 97 years old.

Harry gained a reputation as a foremost Greek-American author, but anybody who's read him knows that his accomplishments defy such a narrow definition. Stuart Dybek, in a blurb for one…

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Chicago (Love) Classics

Monday, February 1, 2021

By Donald G. Evans

Chicago (Love) Classics
Saturday, Feb. 13
7-8 p.m.
Free and Open to the Public
Advanced Registration Required

Valentine’s Day isn’t for everybody, and, now, thanks to our ongoing health pandemic, it’s not really for anybody. There will be no fancy restaurants, no romantic getaways, no parties, no a lot of stuff.

Chicago, anyway, with…

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Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Saturday, January 30, 2021

by Donald G. Evans

Strong associations between drinking and writing, for better or worse, continue to be the stuff of legend, especially in Chicago. Hard drinking literary heroes like Ernest Hemingway (not to mention Terkel and Royko etc. and etc.) earn much of the attention, though more polite imbibement also populates the literary landscape. Here, there are a variety of regular live lit programs, such…

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“Today A Reader, Tomorrow A Leader”

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

By Donald G. Evans

What: 14th Annual MLK Literacy Festival When: 12:30-4 p.m. on Monday, January 18. Where: Facebook Live / Zoom Register at: https://linktr.ee/Projectyes

The very fact that Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday offers a profound civics lesson for all of us observing recent events and wondering how in the world we might overcome the hatred, ignorance,…

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Chicago Writers Association’s 10th Annual Book of the Year Awards

Sunday, January 10, 2021

By Randy Richardson

On January 16th the Chicago Writers Association will host its 10th annual Book of the Year Awards. This year the celebration will be virtual.

For the past nine years CWA’s book awards were held at The Book Cellar, the charming little bookstore in the heart of Lincoln Square. It has always been a joyous and warm celebration, with standing-room-only crowds…

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Patricia McNair’s Responsible Adults Launches Sunday, Jan. 3

Sunday, January 3, 2021

By Donald G. Evans

Life is hard in author Patricia Ann McNair’s new collection, Responsible Adults. It is hard in ways inherited, and hard in ways self-inflicted, and hard in ways merely unlucky. But what’s telling about these uncommonly good stories is that that difficulty is assumed, never spoken of or lamented so much as dealt with. Life is like that in the world…

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Man, What a Year!

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

By Donald G. Evans

Every year of every life takes on its own texture. Even in the most routine of years, there is crazy. Even in the most crazy of years, there is routine. Sometimes, our meticulous plans just don’t work out at all; other times, our half-baked ideas come to fruition. We try to control our destiny, but our destiny always has the final…

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Lake Geneva Getaway Package Being Auctioned Off on Thursday, Dec. 11

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

by Ana Carolina Jorge

According to the Lake Geneva Visitor Center, other than the requirement to wear masks, it is basically business as usual around town. That’s great news for those of us tempted to bid on the Lake Geneva Getaway that will be auctioned off live at the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s Virtual Fundraiser Auction this Thursday, Dec. 10, from 7-8…

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Online Auction Set for Thursday, Dec. 10

Thursday, November 12, 2020

by Donald G. Evans

On Thursday, Dec. 10 of this year, the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame will host a virtual auction—our only major fundraiser of 2020. It is, at once, a tried-and-true little road trip, and a drive into completely unknown terrain. Since 2010, our first year, CLHOF has hosted six or seven silent auctions, depending on how you do the math. This will…

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