Fiction, Lists, Lit

Son of Featured Creatures: Chicago Horror Writers and Artists Share Their Favorite Chicago Horror Creators

Unless you’re an easily frightened tourist, Chicago is rarely considered a hotbed of horror. But as Third Coast Review has pointed out before, our town has a distinguished pedigree in […]

Dan Kelly /
Fiction, Lit

Review: Raising Issues Beyond Entertainment, In the Aftermath, by Jane Ward

In the Aftermath By Jane Ward She Writes Press Jane Ward’s In the Aftermath is an earnest, even affecting examination of the strong waves of guilt, sadness, and anger among […]

Patrick T. Reardon /
Fiction, Interviews, Lit, Nonfiction

Interview: Willa, Ernest, William, and Scott—A Talk with Dr. Michelle Moore about Chicago and American Modernism

Dr. Michelle Moore is a professor of English at the College of DuPage whose most recent book is Chicago and the Making of American Modernism: Cather, Hemingway, Faulkner and Fitzgerald […]

Dan Kelly /
Fiction, Lit, Nonfiction, Reviews

Review: Small-Town Ghosts, Spoon River America, by Jason Stacy

Picture of the author

Spoon River America: Edgar Lee Masters and the Myth of the American Small Town By Jason Stacy University of Illinois Press It’s ironic that Spoon River Anthology—perhaps the most famous […]

Patrick T. Reardon /
Art & Museums, Fiction, Lit, Live lit events

The Illustrative Man: New Exhibit on Local Speculative Fiction Writer Ray Bradbury

  Ray Bradbury’s work and reputation have aged like fine dandelion wine. Unlike many of his fellow 20th century science-fiction and fantasy writers, he’s entered the current millennium fairly woke […]

Dan Kelly /
Fiction, Interviews, Lit

Interview: Gloria Chao on Love and Romance in the Asian Diaspora

In Gloria Chao’s third YA novel Rent A Boyfriend, University of Chicago freshman Chloe Wang suddenly has to worry about more than grades when her parents start pressuring her to […]

Terry Galvan /
Events, Fiction, Interviews, Lit, Live lit events, Nonfiction, Poetry

Interview: Don Evans, Sandra Cisneros, and the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame

Picture of the author

Even via Zoom, Don Evans is passionate about Chicago’s relationship with the written word. A writer, editor, and teacher, Evans is also the executive director of the Chicago Literary Hall […]

Dan Kelly /
Fiction, Lit

Book Review: The Right Amount of Daring: How to Walk on Water by Rachel Swearingen

By Allison Manley How to Walk on Water by Rachel Swearingen New American Press It’s energizing to pick up a short story collection, knowing almost nothing about it, and finding yourself […]

Guest Author /
Comics and Graphic Novels, Fiction, Interviews, Lists, Lit

Featured Creatures: Chicago Horror Writers and Artists Share Their Favorite (or Un-favorite) Scary Stories

Chicago and horror may not seem synonymous, but the city and surrounding area have produced a bevy of creators of chilling art and hair-raising tales. Author Ray Bradbury hailed from […]

Dan Kelly /
Fiction, Interviews, Lit

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 […]

Dan Kelly /
Fiction, Interviews, Lit

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 […]

Dan Kelly /
Children's books, Comics and Graphic Novels, Fiction, Lit, Reviews

Review: Re-Animaniac: Dr. Herbert West & Astounding Tales of Medical Malpractice

Dr. Herbert West & Astounding Tales of Medical Malpractice By Bruce Brown and Thomas Boatwright Arcana Comics Howard Phillips Lovecraft was once a rare beast. Following a personal literary philosophy […]

Dan Kelly /