Women & Children First is feeling the love this February at Women & Children First with two Valentine's Day event and a With Love from Andersonville supporting Chicago Books to Women in Prison. Feb. 14 through 17, 14% of profits will benefit this amazing volunteer-run organization that sends books to incarcerated women, trans, and nonbinary people nationwide.
The only event this month that requires registration is our evening with Heidi Stevens in conversation with Dave Cullen for Dave's new book PARKLAND: BIRTH OF A MOVEMENT on February 21 at 7 p.m. This event will be held at the Swedish American Museum, 5211 N. Clark.
The store is also honored to announce that we will be hosting feminist icon Laurie Halse Anderson on March 15. In 1999, Laurie's bestselling novel Speak opened the door for a national dialogue about rape culture and consent. Now, twenty years later, she reveals her personal history as a rape survivor in a searing poetic memoir, SHOUT. More info at lauriehalseanderson.brownpapertickets.com/ .
EVENTS:
Wednesday, February 6 at 7 p.m.
Chloe Benjamin in conversation with Rebecca Makkai
The Immortalists
Paperback Tour
It's 1969 in New York City's Lower East Side and a traveling psychic claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. Four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness sneak out to hear their fortunes. The Immortalists probes the line between destiny and choice. Chloe Benjamin is the author of The Anatomy of Dreams. Rebecca Makkai is the author of numerous books, including The Great Believers.
Friday, February 8 at 7 p.m.
Ann Russo
Feminist Accountability: Disrupting Violence and Transforming Power
Book Launch Party
In Feminist Accountability noted feminist scholar and activist Ann Russo offers an intersectional analysis of three areas of feminism in practice: anti-racist work, community accountability, and transformative justice. Russo shows us how we might contribute to the feminist work of transforming oppression and violence. Ann Russo is associate professor of Women's and Gender Studies and director of the Women's Center at DePaul University.
Saturday, February 9 at 11 a.m.
Cozbi A. Cabrera
My Hair Is a Garden
Kids' Story time
After a day of being taunted by classmates about her unruly hair, Mackenzie can't take any more, so she seeks guidance from her wise and comforting neighbor, Miss Tillie, who shows Mackenzie that natural black hair is beautiful. Cozbi A. Cabrera is the illustrator of several acclaimed children's picture books
Sunday, February 10 at 6 p.m.
One Book One Northwestern: The Handmaid's Tale Fan Fiction Reading
The School of Professional Studies' MA in Writing and MFA in Prose and Poetry Programs Present: The Handmaid's Tale Fan Fiction Reading featuring current students and alum Sara Connell, Allison Epstein, Audrey Fierberg, Salwa Halloway, Devin O'Shea, and Jameka Williams.
Monday, February 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Doors open at 7 p.m.
Sappho's Salon
Sappho's Salon will once again be hosting a Valentine's Day show & open mic! Our featured performers will be Elizabeth Swanson and Ada Cheng. The open mic sign-up list will be available at the front door starting at 7, first come, first serve. Spots are 5 minutes apiece so we can accommodate everyone. Open mic participants will receive a coupon to the bookstore! Admission is pay-what-you-can, with all proceeds going to the featured performers and the bookstore's Women's Voices Fund. This event is BYOB and the usual Mediterranean spread will be provided.
Thursday, February 14 at 7 p.m.
Anne Elizabeth Moore
Sweet Little Cunt
Author Reading
Anne Elizabeth Moore's newest book, Sweet Little Cunt offers a critical overview of one of the most influential women in independent comics, addressing longstanding questions about Julie Doucet's role as a feminist figure. Anne Elizabeth Moore is the former editor of Punk Planet and the Best American Comics series from Houghton Mifflin, as well as a Fulbright Senior Scholar.
Sunday, February 17 at 5 p.m.
Jay Rehak
Sideline Ink: Book 2
Book Launch Party
The second in the Sideline series continues the adventure of Emma "Sideline" Rockland as she begins 6th grade. Her successful businesses are secretly making her a fortune, but how long can she keep her secret from her irresponsible parents? Jay Rehak is the author of 27 short plays that have been produced around the world.
Thursday, February 21 at 7 p.m.
Dave Cullen in conversation with
Heidi Stevens
Parkland: Birth of a Movement
Author Reading & Book Signing
For this event, Cullen will be in conversation with Heidi Stevens.
Please note: this event will be held at the Swedish American Museum ( 5211 N. Clark St. ). This event is free, but RSVP is required. You can RSVP HERE.
Nineteen years ago, Dave Cullen was among the first to arrive at Columbine High. Cullen unfolds the story of Parkland through the voices of key participants. Dave Cullen is the author of New York Times bestseller Columbine. Heidi Stevens is a columnist at the Chicago Tribune, where she has worked as a writer and editor since 1998.
Friday, February 22 at 7 p.m.
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarsinha
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice
Author Reading
Care Work is a mapping of access as radical love, a celebration of the work that sick and disabled queer/people of color are doing to build sustainable communities of liberation where no one is left behind. Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha is a queer disabled femme writer, organizer, performance artist, and educator of Burgher/Tamil Sri Lankan and Irish/Roma ascent.
Sunday, February 24 at 4 p.m.
Lucy Knisley
Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos
Book Launch Party
Lucy Knisley always wanted to be a mother. She didn't expect to experience fertility problems followed by miscarriages, and a successful pregnancy plagued by health issues. This moving, hilarious, memoir follows Lucy's personal journey to motherhood and illustrates the history and science of reproductive health. Lucy Knisley is the author and illustrator of Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride, Relish: My Life in the Kitchen, and French Milk.
Wednesday, February 27 at 7 p.m.
Anissa Gray
The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
Author Reading
Althea, the eldest sister is a force to be reckoned with, and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when she and her husband Proctor are arrested. What unfolds is a stunning portrait of the heart and core of an American family.
Anissa Gray is an Emmy and duPont-Columbia Award-winning journalist.
Save the Date
Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m.
Jacinda Bulle, Jaquanda Villegas, Monica Trinida, Rain Wilson, and Claudia de la Cruz
FILLINZ: Put Some Respect on It
A Prose Coloring Book Presentation
March 6 at 7 p.m.
Am I Man Enough?
Storytelling Show & Podcast
( This is the rescheduled date due to the January weather cancellation. )
Thursday, March 7 at 7 p.m.
Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman
Jeffreen M. Hayes
Author Reading
Friday, March 8 at 7 p.m.
Medicare for All Teach-in
Wednesday, March 13 at 7 p.m.
Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States
Samantha Allen in conversation with Rivka Yeker
Author Reading
Thursday, March 14 at 7 p.m.
T. Kira Madden in conversation with Lindsay Hunter
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls: A Memoir
Author Conversation
Friday, March 15 at 7 p.m.
Laurie Halse Anderson
SHOUT
Author Reading
Please note: this event will be held at Swedish American Museum ( 5211 N. Clark St. ) Tickets on sale now only through Brown Paper Tickets.
Friday, March 15 at 7 p.m.
Chris Cander in conversation with Rebecca Makkai
The Weight of a Piano
Author Conversation
Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m.
Halle Butler in conversation with Kathleen Rooney
The New Me
Book Launch Party
Book Groups
Family of Women Book Group
Sunday, Feb. 3 at 2 p.m.
The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison
Feminist Book Group
Sunday, Feb. 10 at 4 p.m.
Bare by Elisabeth Eaves
Teens First Book Group
Sunday, Feb. 10 at 5 p.m.
Dune by Frank Herbert
Social Justice Book Group
Sunday, Feb. 17 at 2:30 p.m.
Stamped from the Beginning
by Ibram X. Kendi
Classics of Women's Literature Book Group
Monday, Feb. 18 at 7:15 p.m.
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Women's Book Group
Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m.
Ghosts in the Schoolyard by Eve Ewing
Women Aging with Wisdom & Grace Discussion & Potluck
Sunday, March 10
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Suggested Reading: the first half of This Is the Place
—From a press release