We’re just two weeks away from the Author Talk panel on Saturday, April 24th, where three of this city’s best, most interesting, most talented, and most devastatingly attractive authors will gather at StoryStudio to talk about marketing, promotion, networking, and how to get people to dress up like gods and battle-dance.
I know what you’re thinking: two weeks? That’s like FOREVER away!
Yes, two weeks is a painfully long time to wait for Claire Zulkey, James Kennedy, and Johanna Stein. BUT! Just one week away is the official DOME OF DOOM ART PARTY, featuring Chicago theatre group Collaboraction, fan art, and—obviously—battle dancing.
For more information on the Dome of Doom Art Party, as well as potential divine battle pairings, see James Kennedy’s website jameskennedy.com.
Some seriously awesome partnerships are happening around Heidi W. Durrow’s new book, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky (winner of the 2008 Bellwether Prize for Fiction). StoryStudio is partnering with Ragdale, Open Books to host four fantastic events with this award-winning author on April 5 & 6. For those who don’t know, The Ragdale Foundation is a supportive arts organization that offers retreats during which artists can get out of the city and focus on their work and Open Books is an education organization committed to youth literacy.
Heidi will visit StoryStudio April 6th from 6:30pm-9:00pm. She will delve into the intricacies of crafting her successful novel, which is a smart combination of her own life story and dramatic plotlines culled from the news. The class is sold out, but don’t worry, we’ll be bringing in more great authors!
You can find out about all these events on the Ragdale website.
Columbia College’s 14th Annual Story Week Festival of Writers kicks off Sunday, March 14th! Known as Chicago’s own Literary Lollapalooza, the festival features readings, panel discussions, performances and more as free events around the city. This year’s theme, “Genre-Bending: The Faces of Fiction,” examines the blurring boundaries between the literary novel and genre fiction, and features writers who have explored (and perhaps further blurred!) these blending forms within their own work.
Among the featured guests this year is Joyce Carol Oates, author of over one hundred novels in many genres, including We Were the Mulvaneys and The Gravediggers’ Daughter. Ms. Oates will be giving a question and answer session (moderated by Gavin Cologne-Brooks) at the Harold Washington Library Center (Cindy Pritzker Auditorium) on Monday, March 15th at 2:30 PM; at 6 PM (same location), she will be discussing her work with Chicago Public Radio book critic Donna Seaman.
But that’s not even close to all the festival has to offer! For more information on this upcoming literary smorgasbord, taking place from March 14th – March 19th, please visit the Schedule of Events on Columbia College’s website.
Writers on the Record with Victoria Lautman presents an interview with Lionel Shriver at 6 PM on Thursday, March 11th, at the Harold Washington Library Center (Cindy Pritzker Auditorium). American born but UK-based, Ms. Shriver is the author of ten novels, including We Have to Talk About Kevin and The Post-Birthday World. She will be discussing her most recent book, So Much For That, due to be released Tuesday, March 9th.
For more information, check out the event listing at the Chicago Public Library’s website.
Can’t make the live interview? Not to worry – it will be rebroadcast on Sunday, March 14th at noon, on 98.7 WFMT Radio.
For your monthly fix of the local literary scene, be sure to check out the readings and author discussions coming up at The Book Cellar, an independent book store located in Lincoln Square. Here are just a few of their upcoming events:
Saturday, February 13 @ 7 PM: Brian Costello hosts the reading series Second City / Third Person. Readers include Erin Teegarden and Brandon Will.
Monday, February 15 @ 7PM: ”Chicago’s only first-person charitable reading series,” Essay Fiesta, presents comedian Robert Buscemi, writer/comedian Kelsie Huff, comedian/SecondCityTraining Center instructor Bryan Bowden, novelist/essayist Mary T. Wagner, comedian Adam Guerino, and improviser Janna Sobel.
Wednesday, February 17 @ 7PM: Local Author Night at the Book Cellar! Featuring: Kathleen Rooney (author of the memoir Live Nude Girl, and a new essay collection For You, For You I am Trilling These Songs); Cristina Henriquez, (author of the short story collection Come Together, Fall Apart and the novel The World in Half, recently released in paperback); and Melanie Benjamin (author of the new release, Alice, I Have Been).
Friday, February 19 @ 7PM: More authors! Featuring: Jerry Gabriel (author of the new story collection Drowned Boy), Patrick Sommerville (New York Times Best Books of 2009 – The Cradle), and Mark Rader (Nominee for the 2009 Pushcart Prize).
Friday, February 26 @ 7PM: Kevin Sampsell reads and discusses his memoir, Common Pornography.
For more information, or to check out future events, please visit The Book Cellar Online Events Calendar.
