Past Events

The House on Margarita Street

Saturday, February 11, 2023
6:30-9 p.m.

Private Residence
Lake Shore Drive, Chicago
(those who register will receive details)

For the third straight year, but the first in person, the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame hosted an evening that was part cocktail party, part bartending seminar, and part plain old excuse to enjoy pleasant company. Throughout the festivities, we highlighted Chicago literature and its strong association with the drinks we made and consumed. We…

Chicago Literary Hall of Fame Fundraiser Party

Saturday, December 3, 2022
2-4 p.m.

Beat Kitchen in Roscoe Village
2100 West Belmont Avenue
Chicago, IL
Cover: $15

The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame hosted its end-of-the-year Fundraiser Party on Saturday, December 3 from 2-4 p.m. at Roscoe Village’s Beat Kitchen, “home to every genre of music, hosting some of the biggest names in live music & comedy.” The Fundraiser Party was a perfect opportunity to celebrate the season while supporting…

Induction Ceremony (Class of 2021)

Thursday, November 3, 2022
6:30-7:45 p.m.

CLHOF formally inducted Carol Shields, Ethel Payne, and Ray Bradbury. Presenters included Jason Aukerman, Tammy Gibson, Anne Collins, Paul McComas and Susan Swan. Shields’ niece, Natalie Beglen, as well as Payne’s niece, Sylvia Peters, were among the family members on hand to participate in the ceremony. Partners included the Carol…

DePaul University Poetry Reading

Thursday, October 27, 2022
5-6 p.m.

DePaul University
Schmitt Academic Center (SAC) 161
2320 N. Kenmore Avenue
Chicago, IL

DePaul University professors feature prominently in Wherever I'm At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry, and they will gather together to showcase their contributions on Thursday, October 27, starting at five p.m. Refreshments will be served. Tara Betts, Chris Solis Green, Richard Jones, Coya Paz, and Mark Turcotte, along with editor Donald G.…

Afterwords Chicago: Global Poetry Night

Friday, October 21, 2022
5-7 p.m. CDT

After-Words Bookstore
11 East Illinois
Chicago, IL 60611

“Afterwards Chicago, Global Poetry Night,” was a hybrid poetry reading event that will happen at After-Words Bookstore on Friday, October 21, starting at five p.m. Central Time. Live performers at the large reading room stage alternate with remote poets seen on a large screen using Zoom. Eight local Chicago poets, including Wherever…

Rick Kogan: Fuller Award for lifetime achievement

Tuesday, October 18, 2022
7-9 p.m.

Chopin Theatre
1543 W. Division Street
Chicago, IL 60642
Registration now open.

View Video

Rick Kogan started working as a reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times at the age of 16 and for the past half century has continued to turn out bylines in our city’s most important daily papers. Among his dozen nonfiction books, Rick’s true crime story, Everybody Pays: Two Men, One Murder and the Price of Truth, co-authored with Maurice…

37th Annual Printers Row Lit Fest

Saturday, September 10 and Sunday, September 11
9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

South Dearborn Street
from Ida B. Wells to Polk Street

Printers Row Lit Fest returns, and the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame will have a tent for the second straight year. The Chicago Poetry Center, After Hours Press, Rhino, Chicago Quarterly Review, Guild Literary Complex, and Stories Matter Foundation will all be under our tent, along with an author table that includes Melanie Weiss, Amerlia Forczak,…

Our City: Chicago’s Poetic Landscape

Saturday, September 10, 2022
2-3:30 p.m.

Printers Row Lit Fest
Poetry Foundations Stage
South Dearborn Street, just south of Ida B. Wells

Panel Discussion at Printers Row Lit Fest. Moderator Carlo Rotella, a prominent scholar who wrote the foreword to Wherever I’m At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry, led a discussion about our city and its artists. The event included readings, as well as a question and answer session with the audience. Panelists were Daniel Bortzutzky, Ugochi…

Mercy Street Reading Series

Sunday, August 7, 2022
6 p.m.

via Zoom
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsdeivrDoiE9WRL9bvpZ0UF6LPcJ6XHDze

The Mercy Street Reading Series, now in its second year, is already one of the best regular poetry events in Chicago. For this early August edition, Ruben Quesada assembled an all-star cast to represent Wherever I'm At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry. Campbell McGrath, Achy Obejas, Patricia Smith, Al DeGenova and Luis J. Rodriguez each read…

Youth Writing Workshop in Chinatown

Monday, July 25, 2022
1 p.m.

Chinese American Service League
2141 S. Tan Ct.
Chicago, IL 60616

Story Matters Foundation and the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame teamed up with CASL for a free youth writing workshop. Sahar Mustafah led participants through simple craft lessons as they used stories to explore facets of their personal experiences. Several Chicago poems from Wherever I'm At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry were incorporated in…