Interview: “His Darkest Shadow Self”—A Talk with Horror/Romance Author Rick R. Reed
Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing career. It’s hard for me to believe my writing “career” has been going on now for more than three decades. My […]
Dialogs: Nick Hornby Talks About His Latest Novel, the Writer’s Viewpoint and Writing for Film and TV
Chicagoans may think of Nick Hornby as one of our own because of the 2000 film, High Fidelity. It’s set in a grungy record shop in Wicker Park and features […]
Dialogs: 2020 CHF Event—Discussing MLK and Malcolm X with Dr. Peniel E. Joseph
Reported by Carr Harkrader “Whoever heard of a revolution that came out singing, and not swinging,” Malcolm X asked about the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent civil rights strategy. […]
Interview: Bringing Background Characters to the Fore: A Talk with Author David Lazar
Sidekicks, comic foils, and other stock and background characters: cinephile and essayist David Lazar loves watching old movie character actors more than the leads. In his latest book, Celeste Holm […]
Dialogs: 2020 CHF Panel—A Scholarly Conversation on Author Elena Ferrante’s Transnational Appeal
The Chicago Humanities Festival recently hosted a conversation among Katherine Hill, Merve Emre, and translator Ann Goldstein, all scholars of elusive Italian novelist Elena Ferrante. The discussion is available to […]
Dialogs: 2020 CHF Panel Discusses Art as a Means to Social Change
Art in the Moment Reported by C.E. Archer-Helke Speaking from separate corners of Chicago, Chicago artists Bob Faust, Edra Soto, and Sadie Woods and art historian Greg Foster-Rice brought warmth, […]
Review: All-American Party Girl: “Dirty Helen” Autobiography Is Steamy Biopic Fodder
Good Time Party Girl: The Notorious Life of Dirty Helen Cromwell, 1886–1969 Helen Cromwell & Robert Dougherty Originally published in 1966, Good Time Party Girl is the life story of […]
Review: A Long-Ago Blaze That Echoes the Pandemic, Chicago’s Great Fire, by Carl Smith
Chicago’s Great Fire: The Destruction and Resurrection of an Iconic American City by Carl Smith Atlantic Monthly Press Devastation is devastation, whether brought about by fire or pandemic. The Great […]
Interview: Pigeon English: A Talk with Author Kathleen Rooney
Chicago writer Kathleen Rooney recently released her latest novel, Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey. A fictional retelling of the true story of World War I’s “Lost Battalion” (though mostly regarding […]
Dialogs: 99% Invisible Team Explores Hidden Beauties of Urbanism. Always Read the Plaque
Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt have a new book. It’s a beautiful city field guide with almost 400 pages of stories, history and illustrations on the “hidden world of everyday […]
Dialogs: CHF Panel Explores Racist Corners of American History in What’s Next: Wealth, Property and Inequality
Reported by C.E. Archer-Helke In a Chicago Humanities Festival panel moderated by Chicago journalist Natalie Moore, economist William Darity, legal scholar Matthew L.M. Fletcher, and historian Rebecca K. Marchiel brought […]
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death, A Story of Plague and Dissipation for Our Day
In 1842, Edgar Allan Poe published one of his most famous stories, which turns out to be a parable for 2020. The Masque of the Red Death concerns a prince […]