A Look Ahead at Chicago Lit: March

by Kayleigh McNamara

"In March the earth remembers its own name. Everywhere the plates of snow are cracking. The rivers begin to sing.” – Mary Oliver, Worm Moon

As the earth remembers its name in March, so too does Chicago. Ice is melted, windows are opened, and life is once again returned to our city. Though, maybe not in the case of this first event. On March 5, head to The Book Cellar to celebrate the release of Linda Keir’s latest book, I Did Not Kill My Husband. Both Linda Joffe Hull and Keir Graff (the two writers that make up the pen name Linda Keir) will be there in conversation with Frank Sennett. The novel follows Cara Campbell, a lifestyle influencer, living the dream in LA until her husband Karl is killed. Now she’s the lead suspect. Learn more and RSVP here. 

Tayari Jones is coming to Chicago to celebrate the release of her new novel Kin. Just in time for Women’s History Month, the event is co-presented by local feminist bookstores, Zora’s Place and Women & Children First. On March 8, head to Wilson Abbey to see Tayari Jones in conversation with Luvvie Ajayi Jones. “A novel about mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South.” You don’t want to miss this one. Learn more and purchase your tickets here. 

Do you miss the Scholastic book fairs of your youth? Lucky you! From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on March 10, the American Writers Museum is hosting Get Lit: Grown-Up Book Fair. In partnership with Burst Into Books, Collaboraction, Goblin Market, Plot Twist Used Books, Shady Rest Vintage & Vinyl, and Trash People you can socialize and browse book titles. Learn more and purchase tickets here. 

Beware the Ides of March! Bloodfire, Baby is “a maternal gothic tale of new motherhood and the torment of a centuries-old haunting.” March 10 at 7 p.m. Call & Response Books will be hosting debut author, Eirinie Carson in conversation with Dionne Irving. Learn more and RSVP here. 

The Poetry Foundation is kicking off their spring season of events on March 12. Attend to see readings from Chicago Poet Laureate Mayda del Valle and Illinois Poet Laureate Mark Turcotte. The event is free and open to the public! Reserve your spot here. 

Chicago Writers’ Bloc’s Spring 2026 Play Festival will begin on March 15. Buy tickets to see staged readings of new work by local playwrights, composers, and lyricists. Purchase their flex pass to see three shows at a lower price. Learn more here. 

Chicago-based writer and lecturer Raghav Rao will be at Women & Children First from 6:00-7:30 p.m. on March 19 to discuss his novel, Missy. He will be in conversation with Fuller Award recipient Rosellen Brown, who teaches for the MFA in Writing Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Vu Tran wrote on Missy, saying, "From the Bay of Bengal to the shores of Lake Michigan, Missy traces the incredible life of a woman who escapes her solitary, powerless, and violent past and re-creates herself.” Learn more and RSVP here. 

That same night, StoryStudio Chicago is hosting their Pajama Seminar: A Master Class On Writing the Unreliable Narrator. Join from 7-9 p.m. on Zoom. Professor and author Sonora Jha will lead the class through close readings and generative exercises. Why is it, as readers, that we love to be misled? Learn more and enroll here. 

The Book Cellar will be hosting a release party to celebrate Timothy J. Hillegonds’s memoir And You Will Call it Fate on March 20. He will be in conversation with former CLHOF Board member, Michele Morano. Our own Don Evans reviewed the book for Newcity so keep an eye for that coming soon! Learn more about the event here. 

Saturday, March 21, if you have kids in grades K-3, bring them to the National Museum of Mexican Art for storytime! The story for this month’s Listos para el Museo is Sonrisita by Luz Maria B. Solis. This bilingual story celebrates the impact of a smiling teacher. The event goes from 12:30 to 2 p.m. which includes a Q&A, book signing, and watercolor painting activity. Participants who register will receive a free copy of the book! Space is limited. To register, email angela@nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org. The workshop is free but there is a suggested donation of $20. 

At 2 p.m. that same day (March 21st), the Chicago Public Library will be hosting the Harsh Readers Circle at the Woodson Regional Library. The Harsh Readers Circle was inspired by librarian Vivian G. Harsh, the first Black library director in the Chicago Public Library system. They meet the third Saturday of every month. This month they will be discussing James Baldwin’s Another Country. The event is hybrid, with the option to join via Zoom. Learn more and register here. 

Also at Woodson Regional Library, Da Book Joint presents Arriel Vinson for a book signing of her debut novel Under the Neon Lights. She just recently won the 2026 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award in January. Join from 4-6 p.m. on March 23 to hear Vinson share the inspiration for her writing. Learn more and purchase tickets here. 

March 22, head to Dandelion Bookshop for “A Poetry Carnival of the 80s,” presented with Erie Street Press. In the 1980s, Lucky Star Magazine featured the work of writers such as Ray Bradbury, Elizabeth Marino, and Cynthia Gallaher. Some past contributors will come out to read their work in celebration of the upcoming anthology, Lucky Star Retrospective. Learn more here. 

March 25, Kibbitznest will be hosting TenX9 Storytelling from 7-8:30 p.m. Tenx9 originated in Belfast with Paul Doran and Pádraig Ó Tuama. It “is a storytelling event where nine people have up to ten minutes each to tell a true story from their own life.” The theme of the night will be "The Choice." Admission is free with a one drink minimum. The event is 21+ and doors open at 6:00 p.m. Learn more here. 

Applications for StoryStudio’s StoryBoard Conference & Festival close March 27. Those accepted will have the opportunity to participate in a week-long workshop with instructors in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The in-person session will run from August 9-14 and the online session will run from August 16-21. In-person tuition covers admission to the weekend festival August 14-15. 

Friday, March 27, the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame invites you to join us at 7 p.m. for our Great Chicago Books Club. This month we will be discussing Grady Chambers’s debut novel Great Disasters with Grady Chambers himself! The story is about a group of high school friends living in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. Donald G. Evans will moderate the chat. Registration is $40 and includes a copy of the book! There will be drinks and appetizers as well. Hurry up and register as attendance will be capped at 20 people. Learn more and purchase your tickets here. 

StoryStudio Chicago will be hosting an in-person master class from 7-9 p.m. on March 30— “Criticizing Pop Culture” with Taylor Crumpton. Taylor Crumpton writes on topics such as music, pop culture, and politics. Her work has been published in TIME, Harper's Bazaar, NPR, and more. The course will explore the importance of pop culture and discuss criticism from Tressie McMillan Cottom, Wesley Morris, and Roxane Gay. Students will learn how to use an analytical eye to observe and comment on the world around them. Learn more and enroll here. 

With March comes spring and its season of growth. Of course, there are endless possibilities in a city like ours, even the river will be green! 

Kayleigh McNamara is a graduate student of Publishing at DePaul University. She has a B.A. in English & Creative Writing from the University of Iowa where she was nominated for the Iowa Review David Hamilton Prize. Kayleigh is currently working as an intern with the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.