The front page of the July 13, 1979, issue of the Chicago Sun-Times featured a photo of Sox fans storming the field. In the background, the scoreboard reads “please return to your […]

“Hole-in-the-wall” is the most popular description for the beloved music venue The Empty Bottle. Local Chicago publishing house Curbside Splendor has released a coffee table book, chronicling the shows, personalities […]

For anyone who’s ever felt like they’re slowly drowning in a pool of abandoned dreams and self loathing, Mickey is a drinking buddy and a good companion. Published by Chicago-based […]

I’m Brianna Kratz, a Chicago poet and literature enthusiast. In 2016, I’m reading only women authors for my Read Only Women Experiment (R.O.W.E.). For weekly updates on challenges, conversations, and […]

  I have been a terrible book reviewer, in both ways that can be taken. I meant well, oh I did. I even have a cadre of shit-lit lined up, […]

Jessa Crispin, world traveler and occasional Chicago resident recently shuttered her website Bookslut, a review and interview publication that’s been running hot since 2002 (full disclosure: I wrote for Bookslut […]

  If Rahm Emanuel solved all his critical problems and had time to think about something really important, he might decide Chicago needs a poet laureate. If so, there would […]

Papers, pamphlets, and publishers filled the auditorium of the Plumbers Union Hall last weekend. Writers, artists, and readers celebrated the community and spirit of self-publishing at the seventh annual Chicago […]

I’m Brianna Kratz, a Chicago poet and literature enthusiast. In 2016, I’m reading only women authors for my Read Only Women Experiment (R.O.W.E.). For weekly updates on challenges, conversations, and […]

On the morning of April 24, a Gmail notification appeared on my phone: “One new message from Juanna Rumbel.” Juanna Rumbel is the derby name of writer, storyteller, and stand-up comedian, […]

Celebrate the art of self-publishing this weekend at Chicago Zine Fest. It’s one of the city’s largest independent festivals. The seventh annual festival is happening this Friday and Saturday. All-ages […]

Everyone’s a critic, and yet no one seems to know what a critic’s good for. Or at least this is how New York Times film critic A. O. Scott started […]