Some of my students told me that a man riding a bus through Canada inexplicably turned to his seatmate, stabbed him repeatedly, and then decapitated him and started cutting him up. He later displayed the head to the other passengers who had since fled and trapped him in the bus. You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
Out here in the world of the sane, we do better things with our murderous thoughts, such as writing them really small in thousands of identical journals. For today’s story starter, access your craziness. Look back at old journals, or just consider what your thoughts when that guy in traffic cut you off. I think most of us have a wealth of crazy, but if you can’t, try to figure out this guy. He was apparently calm throughout the whole thing, as it though it was the most normal thing in the world.
When you’re done, voila! Serial killer character profile for your murder mystery, ready to go.
Make sure you clearly label this thing a writing exercise. I’d hate to have the FBI investigate you (or me).
Sarah Vowell – essayist, humorist, contributor to “This American Life,” and the voice of Violet in the “Incredibles” – is reading at the Harold Washington Library this Thursday, October 23, at 6 p.m.
Vowell will be discussing and signing her latest book, “The Wordy Shipmates,” which is all about the Puritans and their city on the hill. And what good timing, with Thanksgiving just a month away.
The event is free and will be held in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, 400 S. State Street. Be there or be square!
Mark your calendars for Friday, November 14 – it’s Graduate Open Studio Night at the School of the Art Institute.
Every fall semester, the school opens up the graduate studios to the public. You’re invited to check out some of the work being produced at the school. The writing department is also hosting a reading of its students on the 15th floor of the MacLean Center (with an excellent view of the lake), and Ice Box Press, the new chapbook press housed within the MFAW program, will be launching its first two editions, featuring work by poets Kristiana Colon and Ryan Pendell.
The MacLean Center is located at 112 S. Michigan. Stop by between 5:00 and 9:30 p.m. on the 14th.
For the week October 14-21
This Sunday, on October 19th at 4 p.m., Allison Nichol will be reading from her wonderful debut novel Contents Under Pressure at the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, 1127 W. Granville, in the lovely Edgewater neighborhood.
On Monday, October 20th poet Li-Young Lee10/20 6:30 will be reading at the SAIC Ballroom at 112 S. Michigan, courtesy of the School of the Art Institute and the Poetry Center of Chicago.
The 20th also marks the beginning of Creative Nonfiction Week at Columbia College Chicago which runs through the 25th. Highlights include readings by Johnathan Kozol, Julia Keller, & Phillip Lopate. Details at the event website.
Also on Monday at 6pm, a free, hour-long author interview with Egyptian Alaa Al Aswany, the biggest-selling author in the Arabic language, will be conducted by Victoria Lautman about Al Aswany’s highly anticipated new book, Chicago: A Novel. The interview will be taped for WFMT in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium (Lower Level) at the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State Street.
Finally, On Tuesday, October 21st, poet laureate Louise Gluck will read at 6pm, also at the Harold Washington Library. Read more about Gluck here.
Last Sunday was the Chicago Marathon. Maybe you ran it. Maybe you watched from the sidelines. Maybe you just stayed at home and looked up the results online. Whatever you did last weekend, stop by StoryStudio this weekend to run 26 metaphorical miles at our latest Write-a-Thon.
This Saturday, October 18, the studio will be open from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., just in time to jump start your NaNoWriMo. Enjoy open writing time, support, snacks, and caffeine – all for $12 for non-members, $7 for members.
