I’m glad that nasty virus is gone, because there’s a whole lot going on in the literary world this week:

Columbia College Chicago is holding a symposium on beat poets entitled And the Beats Go On: the Literary and Cultural Legacy of the Beat Generation through November 26th.  Included is a display of the original draft of On the Road.  Jack Kerouac typed this novel in a 20-day writing marathon on a scroll of 120 ft long by 9 inches wide, which was continuously fed through the typewriter.  The scroll includes the real names of those depicted in the novel.  For more information, go to www.colum.edu/beats

David Meltzer and Michale Rothenberg will be reading this weekend, on 10/12 7pm, Myopic Books, 1564 N. Milwaukee Avenue.

On Monday, October 13th, Alistair McCartney will be reading from his novel The End of the World and Tim Miller will perform an excerpt from his solo work, My Queer Body at 7:30.  To purchase tickets ($10) or get more details, call 773.281.0824.

Tuesday will be the Quickies monthly reading—on October 14th, readers will share 55 word short stories at 7:30 at the Innertown Pub, located at 1935 West Thomas.

Whew!