Sunny days are here and Clark Street is bustling as the neighborhood prepares for our beloved summer traditions: the Andersonville Farmers Market ( begins May 9 ), Wine Walk ( May 20 ), Midsommarfest ( June 8 - 10 ), and the Sidewalk Sale ( July 28 & 29 ). Check out the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce's Events Calendar to learn more!
We have some fabulous ticketed events this May, beginning with Samantha Irby's Chicago launch party celebrating the re-issue of her first essay collection Meaty ( Buy tickets HERE ) and the hilarious Franchesca Ramsey in conversation with powerhouse Luvvie Ajayi on May 30. Get all the details and buy tickets for that event www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3364764 .
Patricia Skalka
Death Rides the Ferry
Wednesday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Book Launch Party
After a forty-year absence, the Viola da Gamba Music Festival has returned to the picturesque isle on the tip of Wisconsin's Door County peninsula. Sheriff Dave Cubiak enjoys a rare day off as tourists and a documentary film crew hover around the musicians.
Patricia Skalka is the author of Death Stalks Door County, Death at Gills Rock, and Death in Cold Water, winner of the Edna Ferber Fiction Award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers.
Samantha Irby
Meaty ( the re-issue! )
Thursday, May 3 at 7 p.m.
Please note: this ticketed event will be held at Wilson Abbey
( 935 W. Wilson )
Tickets on sale www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3364764 .
We're thrilled to host the Chicago launch celebration for the reissue of Irby's first essay collection, Meaty. This new edition is fully updated, includes new content, and has a killer new cover.
Samantha Irby is the author of the We Are Never Meeting in Real Life and writes a blog called bitches gotta eat.
blake nemec,
Aerin Cooper,
Nora Gaines, and Kiam Marcelo Junio
Sharing Plastic
Friday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Poetry Reading
Join us as we welcome blake nemc, author of Sharing Plastic, and special guests Aerin Cooper, Nora Gaines, and Kiam Marcelo Junio. This event will celebrate hybrid forms, incorporating readings, sound work, and more.
blake nemec is a writer, teacher, and sound/media artist based in Chicago whose work extends the extraordinary musicality of everyday conversations by unprotected workers, pansexuals, and gender variant people.
Chelsey Clammer with special guest Deborah Siegel Circadian
Saturday, May 5 at 6 p.m.
Reading and Book-signing
Winner of the 2015 Red Hen Press Nonfiction Award, Circadian is a collection of essays that weaves together personal account with cultural narrative using poetic language and lyric structures.
Chelsey Clammer is the author of BodyHome. Her work has appeared in the Normal School, Black Warrior Review, the Rumpus, and McSweeney's, among others.
Deborah Siegel is the author of Sisterhood, Interrupted, co-editor of the literary anthology Only Child, and founder of the website She Writesthe largest online community for women who write.
Melissa Broder in conversation with Megan Stielstra
The Pisces
Tuesday, May 8 at 7 p.m.
Conversation and Book-signing
Please note: this ticketed event will be held at Uptown Underground ( 4707 N. Broadway ). Tickets on sale HERE.
In celebration of her new novel, The Pisces, Melissa Broder ( @sosadtoday ) will be in conversation with local author Megan Stielstra.
Melissa Broder is the author of the essay collection So Sad Today and four poetry collections, including Last Sext. Her poetry has appeared in Poetry magazine, the Iowa Review, Tin House, and Guernica and has been awarded the Pushcart prize.
Megan Stielstra is the author of three collections: The Wrong Way To Save Your Life, Once I Was Cool, and Everyone Remain Calm. Her work appears in the Best American Essays, the New York Times, Catapult, PANK, and elsewhere.
Judith Valente
How to Live
Wednesday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Book Launch
In this accessible guide to the good life, journalist and poet Valente ( Atchison Blue ) illustrates how St. Benedict's sixth-century monastic manual for healthy communal living can address contemporary conundrums, such as the echo chamber of social media, information overload, and the challenges of "workaholism and over-achieverism."
Judith Valente is an award-winning journalist, poet, and essayist who has won two Edward R. Murrow Awards for her broadcast work. She has also twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in journalism.
Faisal Mohyuddin
with Jacob Saenz & Emily Jungmin Yoon
The Displaced Children
of Displaced Children
Friday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Book Launch Party
To help celebrate the release of Faisal Mohyuddin's new poetry collection, he will be joined by local poets Jacob Saenz and Emily Jungmin Yoon.
Faisal Mohyuddin's debut full-length collection, The Displaced Children of Displaced Children was selected by Kimiko Hahn as the winner of the 2017 Sexton Prize in Poetry and is a Summer 2018 Recommendation of the Poetry Book Society. READ MORE
Jacob Saenz's poems have appeared in Pinwheel, Poetry, TriQuarterly, and other journals. READ MORE
Emily Jungmin Yoon is the author of Ordinary Misfortunes, winner of the Sunken Garden Chapbook Prize, and the forthcoming A Cruelty Special to Our Species.
Elizabeth Rosenthal
American Sickness
Wednesday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Paperback tour
At a moment of drastic political upheaval, An American Sickness is a shocking investigation into our dysfunctional healthcare systemand offers practical solutions to its myriad problems. READ MORE
Elisabeth Rosenthal, MD, was a reporter, correspondent, and senior writer at the New York Times for 22 years before becoming the editor-in-chief of Kaiser Health News, an independent journalism newsroom focusing on health and health policy. READ MORE
Rita Bullwinkel with Jac Jemc
& Anne Yoder
Belly Up: Stories
Friday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Reading and Book Signing
In Bullwinkel's debut collection, we find ghosts, mediums, a lover obsessed with the sound of tuning harps, teenage girls who believe they are actually plants, gulag prisoners who outsmart a terrible warden, and carnivorous churches. READ MORE
Rita Bullwinkel's writing has been published or is forthcoming in Tin House, BOMB, Vice, and Guernica. READ MORE
Jac Jemc lives in Chicago. Her novel The Grip of It received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Library Journal and was recommended in Entertainment Weekly, O: The Oprah Magazine, Esquire, and Nylon. READ MORE
Anne Yoder's fiction, nonfiction, and criticism have appeared in Bomb, Tin House, and BlackBook, among other publications. READ MORE
Linda Gartz
Redlined
Wednesday, May 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Reading, Signing, and Q&A
Set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement, Redlined exposes the racist lending rules that refuse mortgages to anyone in areas with black residents. READ MORE
Linda Gartz is a documentary producer, author, blogger, educator, and archivist. Her documentaries and TV productions have been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS, and elsewhere. READ MORE
Julia Fine
in conversation with Audrey Niffenegger
What Should Be Wild
Thursday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Book Launch Party
Born with the power to kill or resurrect at her slightest touch, Maisie Cothay has spent her childhood sequestered in her family's manor at the edge of a mysterious forest. Maisie's father, an anthropologist who sees her as more experiment than daughter, has warned Maisie never to venture into the wood. READ MORE
Julia Fine received her MFA from Columbia College Chicago. She lives in Chicago with her husband and their son. READ MORE
Audrey Niffenegger is the author of the international bestsellers The Time Traveler's Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry. She is also a fine artist who has published four illustrated books, including Raven Girl and The Night Bookmobile. READ MORE
Franchesca Ramsey in conversation with Luvvie Ajayi
Well, That Escalated Quickly
Wednesday, May 30 at 7 p.m.
Reading, Conversation, Book-signing
Please note: this ticketed event will be held at Wilson Abbey ( 935 W. Wilson ). Tickets on sale www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3387062 only through Brown Paper Tickets .
In this sharp, funny, and timely collection of personal essays, Franchesca Ramsey explores race, identity, online activism, and the disintegration of real communication in the age of social media and call-out wars. READ MORE
Franchesca Ramsey is a social justice advocate, comedian, actress, writer, video blogger, and the host of the award-winning web series Decoded on MTV. READ MORE
Luvvie Ajayi is a New York Times-bestselling author, speaker, and digital strategist. A fourteen-year blogging veteran, she is the voice behind Awesomely Luvvie, a humor blog that covers everything pop culture.
Michelle Falkoff
in conversation with Amelia Brunskill
Questions I Want to Ask You
Thursday, May 31 at 7 p.m.
Book Launch Party
For this local author book launch, YA author Michelle Falkoff will be in conversation with Amelia Brunskill, author of The Window. READ MORE
Michelle Falkoff's fiction and reviews have been published in ZYZZYVA, DoubleTake, and the Harvard Review, among others. READ MORE
Amelia Brunskill lives in Chicago with her husband and her dog, Max the corgi. She is a librarian
Katie Watson in conversation with Amy Whitaker
Scarlet A
Friday, June 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Book Launch Party
Join a unique conversation between Katie Watson, a Northwestern professor and lawyer, and Amy Whitaker, vice president and medical director of Planned Parenthood of Illinois. Whitaker and Watson will discuss how culture, ethics, medicine, and politics do and don't play out in local practice through the services Planned Parenthood provides in Illinois every day. READ MORE
Katie Watson is an award-winning professor who has taught bioethics, medical humanities, and constitutional law for fifteen years at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. READ
Tommy Pico
& Erika Wurth
Junk
Saturday, June 2 at 7 p.m.
Reading, Conversation, Book-signing
Please join us in celebrating the publication of Tommy Pico's latest poetry book Junk. For this reading and conversation, Pico will be joined by Erika T. Wurth.
READ MORE
Tommy "Teebs" Pico is author of the books IRL and Nature Poem. He was a Queer/Art/Mentors inaugural Fellow, Lambda Literary Fellow in poetry, and NYSCA/NYFA Fellow in Poetry from the New York Foundation for the Arts
READ MORE
Erika T. Wurth's publications include a novel, Crazy Horse's Girlfriend, two collections of poetry, and a collection of short stories, Buckskin Cocaine. READ MORE
Book Drive for
Common Pantry!
Tuesday, May 1 - Tuesday, May 15,
during store hours
We are proud to be a book donation drop-off site for Common Pantry! Common Pantry is Chicago's oldest continually operating food pantry. For over 50 years Common Pantry has provided hot meals, groceries, and social service assistance to low-income individuals and families on Chicago's North side. Common Pantry serves over 350 kids whose guardians are clients of the food pantry. This summer, Common Pantry is asking for your help to provide these amazing kids with a few good books to read over the summer vacation, a time when learning loss can be prevalent. Please consider donating a new book purchased through Women & Children First or a gently used kids book from May 1st through May 15th. We're accepting books for kids 0 to 12. Thank you for your participation!