Past Events

Registration is now open. For the fifth straight year, the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame will host a cocktail fundraiser. We return to the Colvin House, where we'll split time between the opulent art deco upstairs and decadent speakeasy downstairs. This year's theme is based on Nelson Algren's classic novel, The Man with the Golden Arm, which won the first National Book Award in 1950. Mixologist Ryan Prindle will use amaretto to build a drink menu; he'll also teach us about the history and how to make these cocktails. Michael Burke and Robert Charles will again serve…

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On September 24, Alex Kotlowitz became the 17th recipient of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s Fuller Award for his lifetime achievements. Ben Austen led a speaking lineup that included Stuart Dybek, Julie Justicz, Meribah Knight, Mary Rowland and Ricardo “Cobe” Williams. The Chopin Theatre ceremony highlighted Kotlowitz’s lasting importance as one of our greatest storytellers. At the end of the program, Dawn Turner led a conversation with Alex. Along with the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame and Chopin Theatre, co-presenters for the evening included American Writers Museum,

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Come to the Hyde Park house where Edgar Lee Masters wrote the classic Spoon River Anthology. Three shows take place in a two-weekend festival celebrating this iconic work from the 1910s. Let the ghost of Edgar Lee Masters take you on an imagined journey to Spoon River, Illinois! Limited tickets are now on sale for each show.

Spoon River Characters—directed and curated by Iris Lieberman, eight leading lights of Chicago theatre spin a tale of characters from honest, hardworking, chaste, and churchgoing to corrupt bankers, abusive husbands, unfulfilled wives, sexual deviants, and failed dreamers… brought by…

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Printers Row Lit Fest returns for its 39th year. Chicago Literary Hall of Fame will once again host a tent with partners After Hours, Chicago Poetry Center, Chicago Quarterly Review, Contratiempo, Guild Literary Complex, Rhino, and Stories Matter Foundation. The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame will host an open mic for young writers at some point during the weekend. Details will be published here later in the spring. 

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As part of the Printers Row Lit Fest's action-packed schedule, the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame will host an open mic reading for young writers. Poets Billy Tuggle and Marty McConnell will emcee the open mic, which is open to all high school-aged students. Billy is a South Side Chicago native; a writer, vocalist, performance poet and event producer; a mentor, an activist and HipHop culturalist; recorded, published, a poetry slam champion. Marty is a seven-time National Poetry Slam Team member, the 2012 winner of the National Underground Poetry Individual Competition, and the author of two prize-winning poetry…

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Come witness the final development reading of Dooley's Place at Chief O'Neill's, where the staged production will take place in the near future. 

After successfully introducing Martin J. Dooley back to Chicago audiences in two  development readings, Poet Ape Productions is excited to showcase its final script. Come out to raise a pint and help raise funds towards the production budget.

Tickets can be purchased ahead of time or at the door. 

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On July 11, Patricia Smith received the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame's Fuller Award for her lifetime achievements. The ceremony, co-presented with our host the Poetry Foundation, as well as American Writers Museum, Shipman Agency, Inc., Chicago Poetry Center, Guild Literary Complex, Third World Press, and Lee & Low Books was free and open to the public. Chicago Poet Laureate avery r. young presided over a lineup that included Nora Brooks Blakely, Reginald Gibbons, Poetry Out Loud National Champion Niveah Glover, Adrian Matejka, Marc Smith,…

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At the second American Writers Festival on Sunday, May 19, Jane Hseu led a discussion with authors Ugochi Nwaogwugwu, Nestor Gomez, and Lani T. Montreal. These artists came to Chicago from Guatemala, Nigeria, and the Philippines. Each has explored the immigration experience in a variety of ways, including spoken work, memoir, poetry, and plays. The panel shared ideas about the importance of telling their stories, and the impact form has on their power.

The second American Writers Festival, presented by the American Writers Museum and the

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The Randall Albers Young Writers Award was back for its second year. On Saturday, May 11, we presented awards to young writers of both prose and poetry and listened as they read aloud from their work. We were joined by families, friends, teachers, and a host of notable Chicago writers. It was a touching and entertaining way to welcome our new generation of great Chicago writers. In addition to the awards ceremony, we showcased other young voices, many who’d won honorable mention certificates, in a post-ceremony open mic.

Poetry, 1st through 4th Place:

• 1st Place: Liam…

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