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BOOK REVIEW The Ghost Photographer
By Julie Rieger $25; Enliven/Atria Books; 243 pages You know how they do it. It's a snap, really. A little bit of computer imagery, film cells inserted here, a half-screen there, and you've got a movie ...
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MOMBIAN Pushing for inclusivity in children's books, one publisher shows how
Orca Book Publishers of British Columbia, Canada, is an independent publisher with the goal of offering "reading material that represents the diversity of human experience to readers of all ages." Among other titles, they have produced ...
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Goldie Goldbloom on new book, being a queer Chasidic Jew
Chicago author and queer Chasidic Jew Goldie Goldbloom's newest book is On Division. It centers on the life of Surie Eckstein in Brooklyn, New York and what happens to her when she becomes pregnant but decides ...
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Bechdel Fest 7 set for Aug. 25-28
Broken Nose Theatre ( BNT ) has announced the full line-up for Bechdel Fest 7: Momentum—the company's annual festival of new short plays featuring an ensemble of female-identifying and non-binary actors. Presented as part of Steppenwolf's ...
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Author Shapiro speaks at Women and Children First
Fort Lauderdale-based writer Gregg Shapiro, a native of Skokie, visited Women & Children First Bookstore in Andersonville the evening of Aug. 7. Shapiro, a longtime entertainment journalist, poet and fiction writer, read excerpts from his 2019 ...
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Women & Children First to host Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Women & Children First is honored to present U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor for a moderated conversation and audience Q&A followed by a book signing in celebration of her new children's book, Just Ask! Be ...
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Women & Children First, forty years of book-selling history
Full celebration schedule below
To celebrate Women & Children First's 40th anniversary, the store will be hosting a summer block party with a feminist slant Saturday, Aug. 24 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Honorary Women & Children First Way ( ...
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Author Toni Morrison dies at 88
Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison has died at 88. Morrison was the first Black woman to receive the Nobel literature prize, awarded in 1993. Her novel Beloved—in which a mother, Margaret, makes a tragic choice to ...
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Gene Siskel Film Center to present Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am Aug. 23-29
As a venue that celebrates all art forms and a public program of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Gene Siskel Film Center mourns the loss of the celebrated Black author and Nobel ...
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SHOWBIZ Comic-book heroes, Cara and Ashley, Chris Pine, Pride Summit
The animated character Aquaman was confirmed to be LGBT+ on the latest episode of Young Justice: Outsiders—the DC Universe's animated show about teenage superheroes, PinkNews reported. The latest episode, "Quiet Conversations," saw the iconic DC superhero ...
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Women & Children First Neighborhood Block Party to celebrate 40 years
CHICAGO, IL - In honor of our 40th Anniversary, Women & Children First Chicago's only feminist bookstore will be throwing a block party to say thank you to the community that has made us 40 years ...
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Chef Iliana Regan Tells All in Memoir Burn the Place
Iliana Regan, the chef behind beloved Chicago restaurants Elizabeth and Kitsune, as well as Bunny Bakery, divulges her origin story in her new memoir Burn the Place, released by Agate Publishing in Evanston Tuesday, July 16. ...
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Columnist Esther J. Cepeda on coming out, writing career
When Washington Post Writers Group columnist Esther J. Cepeda recently came out as queer in one of her pieces, "Mental Health Needs of LGTBQIA+ go beyond Pride month," they joined a small number of prominent Latinx ...
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'The Pages of Adeena' now out
The Pages of Adeena—the debut novel of local lesbian fiction author C.M. Castillo—has been published. According to a press release, the book is"a semi-historic lesbian romance, with a bit of city history included. The story is ...
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Rapinoe book coming out in 2020
Penguin Books announced that openly lesbian U.S. women's soccer team co-captain Megan Rapinoe's as-yet-untitled book will be published in the fall of 2020, CBS News reported. Penguin said the book will be a "perfect vehicle" for ...
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BOOK REVIEW On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Book by Ocean Vuong. $26; Penguin Press; 256 pages One quote on author Ocean Vuong's website refers to him as "the Walt Whitman of Vietnamese-American literature." Vuong's poetry collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, was a ...
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At W&CF, author talks 'Mostly Dead Things'
Andersonville bookstore Women & Children First welcomed queer Floridian author Kristen Arnett July 19 for a discussion about her latest book. The book, Mostly Dead Things, is about a queer woman named Jessa-Lynn who takes over ...
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NATIONAL Court briefs, flag burned, Amazon books removed
The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ), Lambda Legal, Out & Equal, Out Leadership and Freedom for All Americans announced that 206 major corporations have signed a "friend of the court" brief that will be filed ...
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Historians discuss 'Tell Me About It'
On June 27, LGBTQ historians Owen Keehnen and St. Sukie de la Croix discussed their literary collaboration, Tell Me About It: LGBTQ Secrets, Confessions, and Life Stories, at Gerber Hart Library and Archives. Local historian John ...
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Poets for Reproductive Justice among July events at Women & Children First
Among summer events coming up at Women and Children First Books are the annual Used Book Sale, a Where's Waldo Scavenger Hunt and the 40th Anniversary Block Party. Used Book Sale donations now being accepted for ...
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BOOKS
Assisted-reproduction book's author hopes to help LGBTQ parents
Kim Bergman has helped bring more than 1,700 babies into the world throughout her 30 years working in the assisted-reproduction field. She and her wife Natalie, who celebrate their 36th anniversary this October, also have two ...
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BOOKS 'In the City' author talks storytelling, Stonewall
Taylor Saracen always had a passion for storytelling. Her parents warned her writing was not a lucrative profession so instead she chose teaching, she told Windy City Times with a humorous irony in her voice. After ...
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BOOKS Tan about town, 'Queer Eye' guru pens new memoir
The title of Tan France's new memoir, Naturally Tan, refers to the Queer Eye star's aim for authenticity—a mindset that once eluded the first openly gay, South Asian man on television. In the new book, France ...
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Drag queens host Pride storytime
Chicagoans of all ages gathered at Shapiro Ballroom, 1627 W. Chicago Ave., the morning of June 23 as performers Muffy Fishbasket and Sutton hosted Drag Queen Story Hour. The event was presented in conjunction with the ...
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BOOK The Children of Harvey Milk, How LGBTQ Politicians Changed the World
By Andrew Reynolds $34.95; Oxford University Press; 354 pages Your eyes are on 2020. One election is past and thoughts are on the next one: votes equal change, and you're ready for it. You'll be the ...
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Scholar/producer to receive new honor, speaks on life goals
Aymar Jean Christian, Ph.D., has dedicated his life to communicating with meaning. Now the scholar, producer, founder and writer/director is being recognized for his work with the first Leaders for a New Chicago award, courtesy of ...
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BOOK REVIEW Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story
By Jacob Tobia; $26; Putnam; 336 pages Nobody can tell you what to do. To think otherwise is tantamount to telling you what not to do. No, you have your own mind, and you'll make it ...
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Why Do Robots Kill? reading and discussion by author Judith Markowitz Jun 30
Author Judith Markowitz will discuss the question, Why Do Robots Kill?, and read from her book Robots that Kill Sunday, June 30, 2019 from 2 to 4 p.m. She will give examples from folklore, science fiction, ...
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Five Worth Finding: Pride, Carol's Cookies, Kimpton Gray and more
—The Queeriodic Table: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Culture: Harriet Dyer's book ( a take on the periodic table, of course ) contains a glossary on current lingo and definitions; a condensed timeline of queer events from ...
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BOOKS ON STONEWALL Indecent Advances, The Stonewall Riots, Out in Time
Indecent Advances By James Polchin $26; Counterpoint Press; 256 pages The Stonewall Riots Edited by Marc Stein $35; New York University Press; 341 pages Out in Time By Perry N. Halkitis $34.95; Oxford University ...
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Nursing student writes the book on trans healthcare
A nursing student who graduated this year from Resurrection University wrote a manual on healthcare delivery for transgender and gender non-conforming persons during her undergraduate clinical work. Naomi Blumenthal, a Chicago native, had been involved with ...
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Author of new book on assisted reproduction hopes to empower soon-to-be LGBTQ parents
Kim Bergman has helped bring more than 1,700 babies into the world throughout her 30 years working in the assisted reproduction field. She and her wife Natalie, who celebrate their 36th anniversary this October, also have ...
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'Great Believers' out in paperback
Chicago-based author Rebecca Makkai celebrated the paperback release of her novel The Great Believers June 8 at Unabridged Books. Author Owen Keehnen moderated a discussion with Makkai about the book, which has won numerous awards and ...
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Printers Row Lit Fest on June 8-9
The 35th Annual Printers Row Lit Fest will take place June 8-9 along South Dearborn Street, from Polk Street to the newly named Ida B. Wells Drive ( Congress Parkway ). This year's fair includes more ...
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Lambda Literary Award winners honored
Lambda Literary Award winners were celebrated at a star-studded ceremony last night in New York City at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Once again, the winners of this year's Lambda Literary Awards demonstrate ...
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Gerber/Hart exhibit to focus on LGBTQ activism
Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, 6500 N. Clark St., will run the exhibit "Out of the Closets & Into the Streets: Power, Pride & resistance in Chicago's Gay Liberation Movement" starting Saturday, June 1, and running through ...
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MOMBIAN Trans/gender-creative children star in new picture books
Three new children's books each offer different approaches as they highlight different aspects of gender identity and expression. When Aiden Became a Brother, written by Kyle Lukoff and illustrated by Kaylani Juanita ( Lee & Low ...
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MOMBIAN Princess, maiden fall in love in new children's book
A maiden falls in love with a princess at a multiracial royal court in a delightful new children's book that adds to the growing number of LGBTQ fairy tales. Maiden & Princess—by Daniel Haack and Isabel ...
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Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein graduate to a new level in Booksmart
On the eve of their high school graduation, two best friends Amy ( Kaitlyn Dever ) and Molly ( Beanie Feldstein ) party like never before in the entertaining new film Booksmart. Olivia Wilde directs the ...
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BOOK REVIEW Gender Identity: Beyond Pronouns and Bathrooms
by Maria Cook $22.95; Nomad Press; 128 pages What exactly is gender? How does one determine pronouns, for themselves and others? And why, exactly, is the bathroom debate such a big deal? Nomad Press is an ...
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Ani DiFranco talks new memoir at Women & Children First event
Women & Children First hosted a reading and conversation with singer-songwriter and social justice activist Ani DiFranco focused on her new memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream, May 10 at Wilson Abbey. Music critic and ...
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Author documents straight women on front lines of AIDS crisis
A new book by Chicago author Victoria Noe pays tribute to dozens of unsung heroes of the AIDS/HIV crisis, chronicling myriad contributions from straight women who, since the early '80s, have intervened in numerous capacities to ...
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Printers Row Lit Fest to include "Year of Chicago Theatre" in June
CHICAGO, IL ( May 14, 2019 ) — The 35th annual Printers Row Lit Fest, presented by the Near South Planning Board, is proud to announce its participating authors and programming highlights. The much-anticipated 2019 Printers ...
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Chelsea Clinton among authors at Women & Children First Bookstore in May
Chelsea Clinton returns to Women & Children First on the evening of May 2 ( https://chelseachicago.brownpapertickets.com/ ) for a book signing, adrienne maree brown on May 3, Ani DiFranco on May 10, and Celeste Ng & ...
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Panel focuses on queer identity within the fantastical
On April 25, Chicago History Museum's OUT at CHM hosted "Out of This World"—a panel by LGBTQ speculative authors discussing how highly fictionalized worlds reflect and inform queer identity and history. With Pride Action Tank Executive ...
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The Publishing Triangle's 31st Annual Triangle Awards
April 25, 2019—The 31st annual Triangle Awards, honoring the best LGBTQ fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and trans literature published in 2018, were presented this evening at the New School's Auditorium ( 66 West 12 Street, New York ...
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BOOKS
Inclusive anthology 'Halal' launches at Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation was packed the night of April 11 for the book launch of Halal If You Hear Me, a collection of poems and essays by Muslims who are women, queer, genderqueer, non-binary or trans. ...
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Sheridan discusses workplace training and new book
Vanessa Sheridan, who is Center on Halsted's director of gender equity and inclusion, frequently gives public trainings about the transgender community. Sheridan's goals, she tells her audiences, are twofold: "The first is to give the best, ...
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Monica Helms discusses trans flag creation, new book, activism
In 2005, transgender U.S. Navy veteran Monica F. Helms started writing her autobiography, but eventually she set it aside, deciding that "my life was still continuing." "Last year, something in my head told me I needed ...
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BOOKS Chris Rush looks back on 1970s adolescence in debut memoir
Chris Rush was a closeted Catholic 12-year-old when he took his first tab of LSD. "My older sister introduced me to [drugs] at a very young age," the author of The Light Years said via phone ...
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BOOKS Inclusive anthology 'Halal' launches at Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation was packed the night of April 11 for the book launch of Halal If You Hear Me, a collection of poems and essays by Muslims who are women, queer, genderqueer, non-binary or trans. ...
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BOOKS Queer scholar profiles Chicago house music
When Micah E. Salkind was a teenager in Kansas, he found the music that would change his life. "I went to raves and would hear Chicago house music," said the queer scholar, whose first book Do ...
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BOOK REVIEW Dugan's Bistro and the Legend of the Bearded Lady
By Owen Keehnen $17; Out Tales Publishing; 148 pages Bob Theiss contained multitudes—most under a completely different name. Known as the Bearded Lady ( or BL ) to gay Chicagoans of the 1970s and early '80s, ...
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BOOK REVIEW She He They Me: For the Sisters, Misters and Binary Resisters
By Robyn Ryle $22.99; Source Books; 400 pages Imagine being a young, queer or curious child with a lot of questions, but not a lot of resources on gender, sexuality, and terminology that come without judgement ...
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Library foundation president named
The Chicago Public Library Foundation ( CPLF ) announced that Brenda Langstraat is its new president. Langstraat comes to the Library Foundation after seven years as CEO of Working in the Schools ( WITS ). WITS ...
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Women & Children First marks 40 years with 20 best-sellers
Turning the page, Women and Children First ( W&CF )began its 40th anniversary programming with a panel discussion on March 24. People gathered into the store to see the panel, which featured W&CF co-founders Ann Christophersen ...
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BOOKS Trans author talks 'layered identity' in new memoir
"I wanted to be two things when I grew up: a writer and a boy." Life has never been easy for Nate Cannon. Diagnosed with major depression and bipolar disorder at 12 years old, the trans ...
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BOOK REVIEW Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls
By T Kira Madden $27; Bloomsbury Publishing; 304 pages Anyone who came of age in the late 1990s and early 2000s knows the name Steve Madden. Trendy and chunky, the shoes were lusted after by many ...
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BOOK REVIEW Dugan's Bistro and the Legend of the Bearded Lady
By Owen Keehnen $17; Out Tales, Publishing; 148 pages Bob Theiss contained multitudes—most under a completely different name. Known as the Bearded Lady ( or BL ) to gay Chicagoans of the 1970s and early '80s, ...
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Clarence Darrow Symposium in Chicago on March 13
CHICAGO—The annual Chicago tradition marking the anniversary of the death of famed Chicago attorney Clarence Darrow will take place Wed., March 13—and will mark the 95th anniversary of the Leopold-Loeb murder case, which raised profound and ...
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Gerber/Hart hosts Black Lesbian Archives stop
Kru Maekdo is a 26-year-old creative director, archivist, and artist. She is the owner of Maekdo Productions, a multimedia production and event programming company serving women's art's and community within the LGBTQ community. On Feb. 23, ...
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BOOKS Chicago author talks space opera, queer representation
Chicago author/Hollywood stuntwoman SL Huang ( author of the science-fiction novel Zero Sum Game ) has recently teamed with fellow authors Becky Chambers ( The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet ), Yoon-Ha Lee ( ...
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BOOKS Kimberly Dark's 'Daddies' issues
Writer and raconteur Kimberly Dark plucks the fig leaf off the patriarchy in her latest work. In The Daddies, writer and raconteur Dark excavates layers of man culture and custom that have saturated everyday life. As ...
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BOOKS Sissy Pride, Talking With Gender Activist and Author Jacob Tobia
Sissy: A Coming of Gender Storyis a smart, compelling, honest and very funny new memoir by Jacob Tobia. In the book, the activist, writer and co-producer/host of the MSNBC television series Queer 2.0 shares the personal ...
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SHOWBIZ Tyler Blackburn, Ellen Page, Isaac Mizrahi, Annie Lennox
Former Pretty Little Liars actor Tyler Blackburn recently talked with Entertainment Weekly about the same-sex relationship his character, Alex, has on the new CW show Roswell, New Mexico with extraterrestrial jaded genius Michael. In part, Blackburn ...
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Women & Children First March events include noted authors
Wednesday, March 6 at 7 p.m. Am I Man Enough? Storytelling Show & Podcast ( This is the rescheduled date due to the January weather cancellation. ) Am I Man Enough? is a storytelling show ...
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Five Worth Finding: Emotional book, Studio Three and more
—The Truth About Aaron: This book about the late football star/convicted murdered Aaron Hernandez, written by brother Jonathan, is a warts-and-all account of the sometimes brutal childhood Aaron had. Among other things, Jonathan discusses Aaron's talent, ...
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The Best Party of Our Lives: Stories of Gay Weddings
By Sarah Galvin $18.95; Sasquatch Books; 226 pages Your summer is filling up quickly. It starts with graduations and confirmations. You've already got a pile of "Save the Date" cards for a bunch of weddings, and ...
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NATIONAL Gay-club owner, HIV/AIDS news, Nashville feat, Roxane Gay
The proprietor of a gay nightclub in El Paso, Texas, is under fire for attending a rally in support of President Trump, then posting photographic evidence on his Instagram page, Yahoo! News noted. Johnny Alcantar—one of ...
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New biography details secret gay life of Eisenhower advisor
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450 in April 1953, effectively banning gay people from working in the federal government. While thousands of gay men and women lost their jobs in what's now known as ...
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Symposium to explore Clarence Darrow's Leopold and Loeb defense 95 years ago
New two-location format, Wednesday, March 13
The annual Chicago tradition marking the anniversary of the death of famed Chicago attorney Clarence Darrow will mark the 95th anniversary of the Leopold-Loeb murder case, which raised profound and disturbing questions about social class, criminal ...
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Patricia Nell Warren, author of first gay novel on NYT Best Seller List, dies
LOS ANGELES - Patricia Nell Warren, age 82, died on Saturday February 9th at the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California after a long battle with cancer. Warren is best known for her groundbreaking novel ...
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Library foundation president named
The Chicago Public Library Foundation ( CPLF ) announced that Brenda Langstraat is its new president. Langstraat comes to the Library Foundation after seven years as CEO of Working in the Schools ( WITS ). WITS ...
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Gerber/Hart Library History of LGBTQ Activism lecture and other dates
A four-part series of talks on the history of LGBTQ activism will be given by LGBTQ historian John D'Emilio on the four Thursdays of February, 6:30-8:00 pm at Gerber/Hart Library and Archives. The first talk, on ...
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Peter Shinkle, author of Ike's Mystery Man, Feb. 11 at Pritzker Military Library
Peter Shinkle, Ike's Mystery Man: The Secret Lives of Robert Cutler, is a view into the inner workings of the Eisenhower White House and the indispensable contributions and sacrifices made by patriotic gay Americans in the ...
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