Past Events

Back of the Yards

Saturday, February 23, 2019
10-11:30 a.m.

The Newberry Library
Ruggles Hall
60 West Walton Street
Chicago, IL 60610

The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, The Phantom Collective, Snickersnee Press, and the Newberry Library’s program in Chicago Studies, in collaboration with the Shakespeare Project of Chicago, present a morning devoted to playwright Kenneth Goodman (1883-1918) and his legacy. Florice Whyte Kovan will introduce Goodman and his importance to the…

2018 Induction Ceremony

Friday, November 16, 2018
6-9 p.m.

Cliff Dwellers
200 S. Michigan Ave.
Penthouse (22nd Floor)
Chicago, IL 60604

The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame will induct Henry Blake Fuller, Marita Bonner, and Robert Sengstacke Abbott as its newest class on Nov. 16. In large part because of Fuller's importance to the club, which got its name from his novel The Cliff-Dwellers, this event will be held at Cliff Dwellers. Though this is a private club, the event is open…

Armistice Day 2018: American Writers on War and Peace

Sunday, November 11, 2018
2-4 p.m.

American Writers Museum
180 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60601

Almost right from that moment--the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month--when the shooting stopped, American writers set out to capture the essence of their experiences with that war and that peace. War and peace, along with love and death, constitute the most enduring and important topics of literary exploration, here and across…

Fuller Award Ceremony: Stuart Dybek

Tuesday, October 30, 2018
7-9 p.m.

Poetry Foundation

61 W. Superior Street

Chicago, IL 60654

Stuart Dybek, considered among the best short story writers of his generation and also acclaimed for his poetry, will be honored with a Fuller Award for lifetime achievement at the Poetry Foundation on Tuesday, Oct. 30, from 7--9:30 p.m. Dybek grew up in Chicago’s Little Village and has written extensively about Chicago, particularly in his…

Great Chicago Books Club: Don De Grazia’s American Skin

Sunday, October 28, 2018
6-8:30 p.m.

Private Home
Lincoln Park, Chicago

It's the twentieth anniversary of Don De Grazia's American Skin, and the novel is at least as relevant today as when it first came out. The story of teenager Alex Verdi's move from a downstate farmhouse to the big city harkens back to great Chicago realists like Theodore Dreiser, Sherwood Anderson, and Floyd Dell. The gritty 80s…

Trivia Night and Silent Auction Fundraiser

Saturday, September 15, 2018
5-8 p.m.

1700 Building
1700 E. 56th Street
Penthouse
Chicago, IL 60637

On Sept. 15, 2018, the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame will host a fundraiser in the fabulous penthouse party room of the 1700 Building. All proceeds from the evening will go to fund programming throughout the year, including our end-of-the-year induction ceremony and our next Fuller Award for lifetime achievement. The main activities…

GCBC: Author Fundraiser Dinner with Scott Turow

Sunday, August 26, 2018
6-8:30 p.m.

Private Residence

Evanston, IL

GCBC Hosts Scott Turow for Fundraising Dinner and Discussion Great Chicago Books Club will feature Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent on Sunday, Aug. 26 in Evanston. This event will help raise funds for the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s continued programming throughout the course of this year, including our upcoming Fuller Award for…

14th Annual Northwestern Summer Writers’ Conference

Saturday, August 11, 2018
4:45 p.m.

Northwestern University—Chicago Campus

Wieboldt Hall

339 E. Chicago Ave.

Chicago, IL 60611

CLHOF Reading at NU Summer Writers’ Conference The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame will help to orchestrate a reading to conclude the 14th annual Northwestern University Summer Writers’ Conference, held at Wiebolt Hall (339 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago). CLHOF Founding Executive Director Donald G. Evans will host a lineup of Rebecca Makkai,…

Pilsen Literary Walking Tour

Sunday, August 5, 2018
11:00 to 1:00 pm

Meet and end at the 18th Street Pink Line Stop

Stuart Dybek, Ana Castillo, and Sandra Cisneros are among the legendary living Chicago writers with strong associations to the Pilsen neighborhood. On this tour we'll place their lives and literature, along with other notable figures, in the context of this vibrant neighborhood. Stops will include the model for the fictional home on Mango…

Great Chicago Books Club: Liesl Olson’s Chicago Renaissance

Sunday, June 24, 2018
6-8:30 p.m.

Ravenswood Manor
Private Home

Contact Don Evans at dgevans@chicagoliteraryhof.org for more details.

The modernist movement, outside academia, is often considered elitist; artists like Gertrude Stein downright baffling; and Chicago’s place in it mostly architectural. Liesl Olson’s cultural history of that period makes a clear and insightful case that Chicago was essential to the movement, and that the literature arising from it both…