Avid book lovers can be a solitary bunch—after all, it’s hard to lug our stacks (and stacks) of books around a party. But that is exactly what’s about to go down in Chicago this weekend, when Printers Row Lit Fest, the Midwest’s largest literary festival, returns to Chicago for its 39th edition on September 7 and 8. And a bookish party it is!
Thousands of readers, writers, booksellers, publishers, award-winning authors and journalists, debut novelists, and poets will gather over two days to celebrate the radical act of writing and publishing books. Also to remind one another that we’re not so solitary after all, when we unite around the shared joys of the written word, and the exchange of ideas and inspiration.
Printers Row Lit Fest is a balm for our increasingly digitized, doom-scrolling times. There are more than 75 programs and 200 authors/presenters to tempt you to unplug, including Pulitzer Prize winners, New York Times bestselling authors, and Poets Laureate. Plus, new-to-you writers and indie publishers to discover around every corner. The full schedule is available here and all programs are free. I recommend bringing along an empty tote bag (or three) for inevitable book purchases, including those signed by authors after their events.
Below are a few ways to kick off Chicago’s most “lit” weekend of the year, along with other bookish September events including a world premiere play and exhibition about the late Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago newspaperman Mike Royko.
The Life Impossible – An Evening with Matt Haig & Rebecca Makkai
Thursday, September 5, 7:30 pm, at Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson Street, Evanston
Tickets available HERE for $45–$50, including a signed copy of the book
Internationally acclaimed writer Matt Haig, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Midnight Library, is visiting just three US cities during his book tour for The Life Impossible. Lucky for us, Chicago is one of them. WBEZ presents Haig in conversation with Chicago’s own NYT bestselling author Rebecca Makkai this Thursday evening at Cahn Auditorium in Evanston. They will discuss his new novel The Life Impossible, set on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza and evoking Haig’s distinctive sense of magic and authenticity. Tickets include a signed copy of The Life Impossible.
Pulitzer Prize-Winning US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith
Saturday, September 7, 11:15 am, at Printers Row Lit Fest, Bessie & Joseph Feinberg Foundation Stage near the corner of W. Polk St. and S. Clark St.
Free admission; early arrival recommended to secure a seat
Tracy K. Smith, the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States (2017–2019) and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Life on Mars, will speak about her work in conversation with Donna Seaman of Booklist. Smith is the author of five poetry collections. Her new memoir-manifesto, To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul was a Time magazine and Washington Post Best Book of the Year. Smith is also the 2024 Harold Washington Literary Award recipient. This Printers Row Lit Fest keynote is sure to offer the powerful insights and inspiration for which Smith is revered.
Remembering Mike Royko with Judy Royko, Mitchell Bisschop, and Bill Savage
Saturday, September 7, 12 noon, at Printers Row Lit Fest, Plymouth Court Stage at the corner of W. Polk St. and Plymouth Court
Free admission
If you prefer to kick off the weekend Chicago-style, beloved local journalist Rick Kogan leads this discussion about another famed Chicago newspaperman, the late Mike Royko, whose oeuvre spanned more than 7,500 columns across three daily newspapers and garnered a Pulitzer Prize. Royko’s 1971 New York Times bestseller Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago is a bookshelf staple for Chicago history and political buffs nationwide (including one in my household).
Kogan will be in conversation with Royko’s widow, Judy Royko, along with Mitchell Bisschop, writer/performer of the world premiere play Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago (opening this week), and Northwestern University Professor Bill Savage, co-curator of the current Newberry exhibit Chicago Style: Mike Royko and Windy City Journalism. Both the show and exhibit run through the end of this month; details below.
Chicago Style: Mike Royko and Windy City Journalism
Now through Saturday, September 28, at Newberry Library, 60 West Walton St.
Free admission; the Newberry’s exhibition galleries are open Tuesday–Thursday 10am – 7pm and Friday– Saturday 10 am – 5 pm
Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago
Friday, September 6–Sunday, September 29, at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St.
Tickets available HERE for $40–$60; performances are Thursday-Sunday
Amplifying Women’s Voices: Finalists for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.
Saturday, September 7, 1 pm, at Printers Row Lit Fest, 637 S. Dearborn St (Grace Place, 2nd Floor)
Free admission
Although some readers may not yet be familiar with the new Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, it is currently the largest English-language literary prize in the world for women and non-binary authors. This year the Prize’s second annual Shortlist of five fiction writers from the US and Canada includes Claudia Dey (Daughter), Kim Coleman Foote (Coleman Hill) and Janika Oza (A History of Burning)—all three of whom will be showcased at this special program.
Learning, Teaching, and Celebrating Black History in Chicago
Saturday, September 7, 2 pm, at Printers Row Lit Fest, Plymouth Court Stage at the corner of W. Polk St and Plymouth Court.
Free admission
As Chicago historian and influencer Shermann "Dilla" Thomas says, “everything dope about America comes from Chicago.” This discussion with pop culture expert Arionne Nettles, the author of We Are the Culture: Black Chicago's Influence on Everything, explores the history of how Black Chicagoans have led pop culture in America for decades. Nettles is joined by the Chicago History Museum’s Director of Education Erica Griffin-Fabicon and University of Illinois Chicago Associate Professor Elizabeth Todd-Breland.
“Books on the Chopping Block” from City Lit Theater Company
Thursday, September 12, 7 pm, at Park Ridge Library, 20 S. Prospect Avenue, Park Ridge
Sunday, September 22, 2 pm, at the Chicago Public Library’s Edgewater Branch, 6000 N. Broadway
Tuesday, September 24, 7 pm, at Northbrook Public Library, 1201 Cedar Lane, Northbrook
Wednesday, September 25, 6:30 pm, at McHenry Public Library (livestreamed on Zoom)
aThursday, September 26, 2 pm, at DePaul University Library, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave.
Saturday, September 28, 12 noon, at the Chicago Public Library’s Blackstone Branch, 4904 S. Lake Park Ave.
Free admission for all; registration for Zoom event available HERE
Held annually since 1982, Banned Books Week is an annual event advocating for free and open access to information nationwide, supported by a coalition of organizations including the American Library Association (ALA). Timed to coincide with this year’s event, Chicago’s City Lit Theater Company presents Books on the Chopping Block from September 12–28 at libraries across Chicagoland, in association with the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom.
The hour-long program includes readings of short excerpts from the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2023, accompanied by background on each book and the reasons for their challenges—including Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.