A Look Ahead at Chicago Lit: February

by Allison Manley

I’m writing this post in January on one of those days when it’s colder in Chicago than in Antarctica. But the frost hasn’t deterred me, or our local lit lovers, from enjoying the events our city has to offer. In January, I stopped by the Feminists Creatives Society for some productive and supportive writing sessions in Zoom. I also attended the reading series “An Inconvenient Hour” at Metropolis Coffee - the crowded event was fantastic, and I’ll post about that experience in the near future.

In February lit news, I highly recommend the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame event The Man with the Golden Amaretto on Saturday, February 8 at 7:30 p.m. We’ll be at Edgewater’s gorgeous Colvin House, a Chicago landmark less than five minutes' walk from the Thorndale Red Line station. Our evening’s mixologist Ryan Prindle will give us some tips on how to craft a cocktail menu with the underestimated liqueur. I’m glad that we’re giving amaretto the attention and respect it deserves! In addition to tasty cocktails, we’ll be serving up poems from Poems While You Wait, and some history about Nelson Algren, whose novel The Man with the Golden Arm inspired our evening’s theme. Tickets are $125 and can be purchased here.

It’s a busy month for us. We’re also hosting Glennette Tilley Turner as she discusses her new book The Gift of Freedom: How Harriet Tubman Rescued Her Brothers, which comes out in April. Turner is one of the most prestigious authorities on the Underground Railroad, and while we don’t have the space in this blog to post all of the awards she has received, I’ll note that she’s the recipient of the Studs Terkel Humanities Award and the Alice Browning Award from the International Black Writers Conference. Join Turner and the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame on Saturday, February 22 at 6:30 p.m. Learn more here and register on Eventbrite here.

Join us Tuesdays in Zoom in our seminar series “Writing the Boomtown: Chicago Literature from the Civil War to Haymarket.” Each Tuesday from February 11 through March 11 at 6:30 p.m, learn from Jesse Raber as he describes Chicago’s beginnings and how labor protests, crime, the Great Fire, and other significant influences helped carve the city’s literary identity. Raber has taught literature classes at UIC, Loyola, and SAIC, and he is the co-creator of the Chicago Writing Gallery at the American Writers Museum. Frankly, I don’t think there is anyone better equipped to teach this class. Tuition is $250 for all five weeks - learn more about the seminars here and grab your seat in the class here.

Chicago’s rich literary history includes printing and publishing. (Fun fact: The Colvin House was originally owned by a Chicago printing executive.) One of Chicago’s current independent publishers, Haymarket Books, is hosting an event with Mohammed El-Kurd to launch his book Perfect Victims. El-Kurd addresses the question “Why must Palestinians prove their humanity?” The event takes place online on Tuesday, February 11 at 7:30 p.m. Learn more about the event here and get your tickets here.

On Thursday, February 20 at 7 p.m, the Chicago History Museum will present “Selling Ebony Magazine: Doris E. Saunders and the Marketing of Black America.” Ebony is no longer based in Chicago, but from its inception up until late as 2016, Chicago was the magazine’s home base. This Urban History Seminar, led by Ann C. Sanders, will discuss the efforts of Bronzeville librarian and researcher Doris E. Saunders and her role in the iconic magazine’s success. The event will be held online. Learn more here, and register for this free event here.

Print is NOT dead, folks. Stop by The Whistler on Sunday, February 2 at 6 p.m for Back to Print’s 15th Annual Jubileee (3 e’s!), where you can enjoy raffles, games, readings, prizes, a zine launch, and a general celebration of Chicago indie publishing. Learn more at the Whistler website here. There will be cake - or at least, there will be cake before I get there.

Speaking of cake - February means Valentine’s Day, and Valentine’s Day means sweet treats. The Hive Center for the Book Arts and Booked in Evanston team up this year for Eat Their Words, a food-focused book club “where the content of the book is curated into a culinary experience by chefs and restaurateurs.” On Monday, February 10 at 7 p.m., read and enjoy drinks and food inspired by Laura Esquivel’s magical realist romance Like Water for Chocolate. Sliding scale tickets cost $50-$75 and include a book, dinner and drinks, and book club activities and discussion. Learn more and purchase a ticket here.

For other books-and-bites events:

Madison Street Books has their Breakfast and Books event on Tuesday, February 25 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Read about this and other Madison Street Book events here.

Da Book Joint is hosting Books and Brunch for kids on Sunday February 2nd from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. For $6, kids can get both a tasty meal and a book - adults can join in the feast for $12 each. I wish I had something like this when I was a kid: a chance to bring a book home, and a chance to give my parents a break from cooking, in a warm and book-loving environment. Get your ticket for this popular event here. Da Book Joint also holds a similar Books & Brunch event for more general adult books. Check out their full event schedule here.

And because it’s Valentine’s month, I have to mention The Last Chapter Bookshop. On Saturday February 15th at 6:30 p.m., celebrate Galentine’s with a Bridgerton-themed beading experience. Make bracelets, enjoy snacks and drinks, and build community at Chicago’s romance bookstore. The event is co-hosted with The Little Words Project, and the revelry begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for $50 here.

If “poetry be the food of love,” you should flock to see Claudia Rankine at Northwestern University on Thursday, February 6 at 5 p.m. Rankine is not only a tremendously powerful poet, but she is also an accomplished essayist, playwright, and cofounder of The Racial Imaginary Institute. Rankine’s long list of formal awards includes both a Guggenheim fellowship as well as a MacArthur “genius” grant. The event includes a reading, book signing, and reception, and is presented by both the Northwestern University Black Arts Consortium as well as the Litowitz MFA+MA Graduate Program in Creative Writing and English. Learn more about Rankine’s reading here, and don’t forget to RSVP here.

I missed Nina Sudhakar’s event at Volumes Bookcafe back on January 11, but I’m grateful she will be at Women and Children First this month to talk about her debut short story collection Where to Carry the Sound on Thursday, February 6 at 7 p.m. Sudhakar’s collection won the 2024 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction, which is granted to a full-length collection of short stories/flash fiction/novellas. Learn more here and register here.

I adore speculative short stories, and I’m happy that short story writer Cleo Qian will read at the University of Chicago on Thursday, February 20 at 5 p.m. Her short story collection Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go won the Housatonic Book Awards and was included on a number of other Best Of lists as well. Fiona and Jane author Jean Chen Ho describes the collection as “Deeply psychological… finding surprising beauty and supernatural catharsis.” I had the pleasure of seeing Qian at Exile in Bookville a few months ago in conversation with Smothermoss author Alisa Eherling. Qian will be visiting as part of the New Voices program, in which emerging writers visit campus to read with a University of Chicago student. Learn more here.

Alex Higley is visiting Exile in Bookville, in the beautiful Fine Arts building. Higley’s writing has been compared to Joy Williams and Charles Portis; he’ll be discussing True Failure, his third book, in conversation with Lindsay Hunter. Hunter is a regular guest at Exile in Bookville’s Authors on Tap series and is a talented multi-genre writer in her own right. Hear these talented writers on Friday February 28th, at 7 p.m.; learn more here.

The Book Cellar continues to have a strong roster of book events. I’d like to give a shout-out to two events: Edie Ahn celebrates his graphic novel Advocate on Thursday, February 6 at 6 p.m. Originally planned to take place at the Book Cellar itself, the event was moved to Everybody’s Coffee at Wilson Abbey due to the large audience they expect will attend. The event includes a meet-and-greet with Ahn himself, and attendees will get a free piece of art as well as an entry into the evening’s raffle of additional art and prints. Learn more here, and make sure to get your ticket here ($10 per person).

Marianne Novy’s book Adoption Memoirs explores 45 different adoption stories from the perspectives of birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoptees. Novy’s book breaks down the nuanced stories that the general public often misses. Join her as they celebrate her new book on Wednesday, February 12 at 7 p.m. Learn more here.

That’s a lot of opportunities to make friends, build the lit community in Chicago, and learn about/hear from some great Chicago writers. If you want to be efficient, I’d suggest the two-for-one book launch at Bookends and Beginnings on Wednesday, February 12 at 6 p.m. Two writers, two novels, and one fun evening. Celebrate the book People of Means by Nancy Johnson and There's Something about Mira by Sonali Dev. Both authors are amazingly talented, and, lucky for us, both live in the Chicagoland area: Johnson is a Southside native and lives in the city; Dev calls Naperville home. Learn more here.

It’s the shortest month, but there’s no shortage of lit events. I hope to see you around the Chicago literary world this month!

Allison Manley writes short stories and book reviews and works at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been published in The Chicago Reader, Third Coast Review, Oyez Review, Not Deer Magazine, and The Gateway Review. She is an Associate Board member of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. 

Do you have an event taking place next month? Should we feature your organization on our Live Lit or Bookstore pages? Let us know at newswire@chicagoliteraryhof.org.