Chicago Literature Index — Chicago Studies

  Title Author/Editor Published Categories

© 2026 Chicago Literary Hall of Fame

 1.  “Hugo Martinez-Serros: South Chicago City Dump, Chicago, IL”
Emiliano Aguilar NFCS
 2.  “Inside Prairie Avenue-And Beyond”

An article published in Chicago Classic magazine.

Megan McKinney CS
 3.  The Origins of the Chicago Wheel

An article in Chicago Architecture Center. 

Marko Dumlija NFCS
 4.  Midwest Portraits
Harry Hansen
Harry Hansen link
1923 CS
 5.  Chicago in Seven Days
John Drury
John Drury link
1928 NFCS
 6.  Gem of the Prairie: An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld
Herbert Asbury 1940 NFCS
 7.  Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City
St. Clair Drake
St. Clair Drake link
1945 NFCS
 8.  Give the Lady What She Wants: The Story of Marshall Field & Company

This history was written when the department store was in its full bloom as a legendary retailer. The narrative begins pre-Chicago Fire, when retail demand, especially among women, had expanded dramatically, then through the devastation caused by the natural disaster. 

Herman Kogan and Lloyd Wendt
Herman Kogan link
1952 NFCS
 9.  Fabulous Chicago
Emmett Dedmon
Emmett Dedmon link
1953 NFCSMA
 10.  The Chicago Renaissance in American Letters: A Critical History
Bernard Duffy 1954 NFCS
 11.  Chicago, City of Neighborhoods: Histories & Tours
Ellen Skerrett and Dominic A. Pacyga 1986 CS
 12.  Chicago: City of Neighborhoods
Dominic A. Pacyga and Ellen Skerrett
Dominic A. Pacyga link,
Ellen Skerrett link
1986 NFCS
 13.  Explosion of Chicago’s Black Street Gangs: 1900 to Present
Useni Eugene Perkins
Useni Eugene Perkins, link
1987 NFCS
 14.  Nelson Algren: A Walk on the Wild Side
Bettina Drew 1989 NFCSBio
 15.  “71st & Jeffrey”
David Mamet
David Mamet link
1992 CS
 16.  Writing Illinois: The Prairie, Lincoln and Chicago
James Hurt 1992 NFCS
 17.  Chicago’s Sacred Spaces
Rolf Achilles
Rolf Achilles link
1993 NFCS
 18.  The Crime of the Century

Martin, then a 29-year-old Cook Count assistant state’s attorney, was the lead prosecutor in the Richard Speck murder trial. 

Dennis L. Breo and William J. Martin 1993 NFCS
 19.  Crowdpleaser
Marc Kelly Smith
Marc Kelly Smith link
1996 CSPt
 20.  October Cities: The Redevelopment of Urban Literature
Carlo Rotella
Carlo Rotella link
1998 NFCS
 21.  Smokestacks & Skyscrapers: An Anthology of Chicago Writing
Richard Guzman and David Starkey (ed.)
Richard Guzman link
1999 NFCS
 22.  Chicago’s South Shore Country Club
William M. Krueger 2001 NFCS
 23.  Dictionary of Midwestern Literature: Vol. I: The Authors
Phillip A. Greasley (ed.) 2001 NFCS
 24.  The Heart of Chicago’s South Shore: A Neighborhood Coming Full Circle
2001 NFCS
 25.  The World Turned: Essays on Gay History, Politics, and Culture
John D'Emilio
John D’Emilio link
2002 NFSSCS
 26.  The Encyclopedia of Chicago
James R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating, Janice L. Reiff (eds)
Ann Durkin Keating link
2004 NFCS
 27.  Chicago Dreaming: Midwesterners and the City, 1871-1919
Timothy Spears
Timothy Spears link
2005 NFCS
 28.  Migrating to the Movies: Cinema and Black Urban Modernity
Jacqueline Najuma Stewart
Jacqueline Najuma Stewart link
2005 NFCS
 29.  Black Writing from Chicago: In the World, Not of It?
Richard Guzman
Richard Guzman link
2006 NFCS
 30.  Family Properties: Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America
Beryl Satter
Beryl Satter link
2009 NFCS
 31.  Liberation Narratives: New and Collected Poems 1966-2009
Haki R. Madhubuti
Haki Madhubuti link
2009 FCSMAPt
 32.  The Chicago Literary Renaissance
Jan Pinkerton and Randolph H. Hudson (eds) 2009 NFCS
 33.  The Chicago Sports Reader: 100 Years of Sports in the Windy City
Steven A. Riess and Gerald R. Gems (eds)
Steven A. Riess link
2009 NFCS
 34.  Chicanas of 18th Street: Narratives of a Movement from Latino Chicago
Leonard G. Ramirez
Leonard G. Ramirez link
2011 NFCS
 35.  Remembering Marshall Field’s
Leslie Goddard
Leslie Goddard link
2011 NFCS
 36.  The Chicago Literary Experience: Writing the City, 1893–1953
Frederik Byrn Køhlert 2011 NFCS
 37.  The Chicago of Fiction: A Resource Guide
James A. Kaser 2011 NFCS
 38.  Writers of the Black Chicago Renaissance
Steven C. Tracy 2011 NFCS
 39.  Chicago Portraits
June Skinner Sawyers
June Sawyers link
2012 NFCS
 40.  Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall
St. Sukie de la Croix
St. Sukie de la Croix link
2012 NFCS
 41.  City of Scoundrels: The 12 Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago
Gary Krist 2012 NFCS
 42.  Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect
Robert J. Sampson
Robert J. Sampson link
2012 NFCS
 43.  The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream
Thomas Dyja
Thomas Dyja link
2013 NFCS
 44.  Steeling Chicago: South Side Stories
Hugo Martinez-Serros
Hugo Martínez-Serros link
2014 SSCS
 45.  “Chicago Jazz Age Still Lives in Archibald Motley’s Art”
Chicago Tribune 2015 CS
 46.  Chicago Renaissance: Literature and Art in the Midwest Metropolis
Liesl Olson
Liesl Olson link
2017 NFCS
 47.  Chicago’s Only Castle: The History of Givins Irish Castle and Its Keepers
Errol Magidson
Errol Magidson link
2017 NFCS
 48.  Chicago and the Making of American Modernism: Cather, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald in Conflict
Michelle Moore
Michelle Moore link
2018 NFCS
 49.  “The Unexpected Power of Your Old Neighborhood”
Carlo Rotella
Carlo Rotella link
2019 CSMA
 50.  Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side
Lee Bey
Lee Bey link
2019 NFCS
 51.  The Townhouse Massacre

A reconstruction of Speck’s perspective and circumstances, this account of the murderer relies a lot on psychological profiling.

Ryan Green 2019 CS
 52.  The World Is Always Coming to an End: Pulling Together and Apart in a Chicago Neighborhood
Carlo Rotella
Carlo Rotella link
2019 NFCS
 53.  The World Is Always Coming to End: Pulling Together and Apart in a Chicago Neighborhood
Carlo Rotella
Carlo Rotella link
2019 NFCS
 54.  The World of Juliette Kinzie: Chicago before the fire
Ann Durkin Keating
Ann Durkin Keating link
2019 NFCSBio
 55.  Queer Legacies: Stories from Chicago’s LGBTQ Archives
John D'Emilio
John D’Emilio link
2020 NFCS
 56.  Chicago: A Literary History
Frederik Byrn Køhlert 2021 NFCS
 57.  Tracing Muhammad Ali’s Memory in Chicago- A Photo Essay
Lee Bay 2021 CS
 58.  Making Mexican Chicago: From Postwar Settlement to the Age of Gentrification
Mike Amezcua
Mike Amezcua link
2022 NFCS
 59.  Oak Woods Cemetery Project
Hyde Park Historical Society
Hyde Park Historical Society link
2022 NFCS
 60.  Puerto Rican Chicago: Schooling the City, 1940-1977
Mirelsie Velazquez
Mirelsie Velázquez link
2022 NFCS
 61.  Uninsured in Chicago: How the Social Safety Net Leaves Latinos Behind
Robert Vargas
Robert Vargas link
2022 NFCS
 62.  Mexican and Chicano Literature in Chicago: Transplanting Early Roots to the Barrios and Beyond
Marc Zimmerman
Marc Zimmerman link
2023 NFCS
 63.  The New Naturals
Gabriel Bump
Gabriel Bump link
2023 NovCS
 64.  Chicago Homes: A Portrait of the City’s Everyday Architecture
Carla Bruni and Phil Thompson
Carla Bruni link,
Phil Thompson link
2025 NFCS
 65.  Chicago in Transit
Graham Chapman 2026 NFCS
 66.  Doorways of Chicago
Ronnie Frey 2026 NFCS
 67.  Engineered Conflict: Structural Violence and the Future of Black Life in Chicago
David Omotoso Stovall
David Omotoso Stovall link
2026 NFCS
 68.  Fire and Clay: How Bricks Reveal the Hidden History of Chicago
Will Quam 2026 NFCS
 69.  The Chicago Way: An Oral History of Chicago Dining
Michael Gebert 2026 NFCS
 70.  The Conviction Machine: Prosecutors, Politicians, and Police Violence in Chicago
Flint Taylor 2026 NFCS
 71.  The Young Lords Speak: Building Revolution on the Streets of Chicago
Jacqueline Lazú 2026 NFCS
 72.  White, Black, Brown: Becoming Puerto Rican in Chicago
Michael Staudenmaier 2026 NFCS