Open Books, an independent bookstore and non-profit venture dedicated to promoting literature and literacy in Chicago, wants you to know – they love movies, too! And to show you just how much, they are screening the independent film Storm at a special event on Thursday, March 18th! The showing begins at 6 PM, and has a suggested donation of $5 at the door. The evening includes free popcorn - and if that isn’t enough incentive, how about a 15% discount at the Open Books store, good for that night only?
Storm, directed by Hans-Christian Schmid, was the winner of the Amnesty International Film Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. It is the story of Hannah Maynard, a prosecutor of Hague’s Tribunal in the former Yugoslavia, who is trying a former commander of the Yugoslavian National Army for his crimes against Bosnian-Muslim civilians. When Hannah’s key witness commits suicide, she must risk everything to visit Sarajevo and enlist the help of his family in an attempt to salvage her case and bring the commander to justice.
Open Books is located at 213 W. Institute Place, in River North (near the corner of Chicago and Franklin). For more information, please visit their website.
Story Studio is now in official partnership with the fabulous Open Books, a literacy organization and used book store. They do very different work than Story Studio but with the same goal in mind: to promote writing skills and literacy around the city of Chicago. We’re delighted to call them our friends.
Open Books is wonderfully ambitious organization that coordinates a youth tutoring program, hosts creative writing field trips, facilitates a program called “V-Write” (through with students communicate with virtual writing tutors on college and career-related essays), in addition to offering reading and writing classes for adults. And somehow, in their spare time, they also run a used book store. I’ve actually been to their space a handful of times, and I must say – it’s one of the happiest places I’ve ever been (think brightly colored walls with inspiring author quotes and letters hanging from the ceiling). If you haven’t yet check out Open Books, definitely take a look at their website: www.openbooks.org
They are always looking for new volunteers – plus, if you’re an educator, definitely think about bringing your class to an Open Books’ Adventures in Creative Writing field trip. What a cool place – we’re just glad to know ‘em!
One of the many things I love about Chicago (in addition to sunrise at the lake path and Hot Doug’s hot dogs) is the One Book, One Chicago festival. It’s such a fantastic concept – that we, as a city, should read and experience a single work of literature together. Sure, not everyone participates (I’m sure only a fracture of the city even knows about One Book, One Chicago) but it’s a truly inclusive and literacy-loving idea. And it’s getting larger every year: Last year, the Library selected Sandra Cisneros’ beloved book The House on Mango Street, and partnered with Steppenwolf Theatre Company in its festival planning. The partnership resulted in Chicago Public School students not only reading the book and participating in the Library’s many events (which included a reading by Sandra herself) but most also saw a full-scale production of the The House on Mango Street at Steppenwolf. It really felt like a citywide endeavor- a citywide book club even - and I felt privileged to be part of it (I work over in the Education Department at Steppenwolf).
This year, the Library has selected Colm Toibin’s new coming of age novel Brooklyn for the One Book, One Chicago festival. The story follows Eilis, a young Irish immigrant, as she tries to navigate the streets of New York in the early 1950s. And this time, the Library has partnered with The Gift Theatre’s Artistic Director Michael Patrick Thornton (also known as Dr. Fife on Private Practice) to create a dramatized version of the novel to be performed at the Irish American Heritage Museum on April 11th. Colm Toibin will also be speaking at the Library on April 21st. So if you haven’t yet read Brooklyn now is the time – after all, when else can you read a novel with your city?
For details and information on additional One Book, One Chicago discussions, events and courses, pick up a copy of the resource guide at your local library or bookstore, visit http://www.chipublib.org” or call (312) 747-8191.
Last month, I blogged about Poets&Writers Magazine’s huge database of writing competitions. While that post may have only been a few weeks ago, there’s already a whole new crop of contests to check out! This month, P&W’s Submission Calendar lists forty-five contests with deadlines falling between March 15th and April 15th, sponsored by a variety of literary magazines and journals. If you’re looking to get your work out there or just indulge your competitive streak this month, check it out!
If you’re looking for more camaraderie than competition, Poets&Writers’ has another great resource to help you find exactly that: a new database of conferences, residencies and festivals to help you stay in touch with or expand your own literary community. And if you’re looking to connect even more, be sure to check out the Poets&Writers’ calendar of events, offering a range of readings, workshops and literary events to help fill your days this Spring!
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.
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