News Wed Oct 07 2009

Chicago Literary Hall of Fame

The Chicago Writers Association has been working on a project to shine the spotlight on our city's literary greats: the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. This week they launched a new website to introduce their inaugural nominees, many of which faithful Book Club readers will be familiar with. The list boasts such names as Nelson Algren, Saul Bellow, Lorraine Hansberry, Norman McLean, Studs Terkel and many others whose contributions have significantly affected Chicago. Nominators include a flurry of current literary notables, such as Booklist's Donna Seaman, Lake Claremont Press's Sharon Woodhouse and our own Alice Maggio (whoo!) and on the judges panel sit more Book Club selection authors, such as Achy Obejas and Stuart Dybek. The judges will select six of the nominees to be inducted into the 2010 Hall of Fame, though the selection date doesn't seem to be posted on the website yet. Nevertheless, take a moment to browse through the nominees and reacquaint yourself with writers you've read in the past and get acquainted with writers that have escaped your literary eye. The full list of nominees is, as expected, impressive and the project will do well to uphold their mission of "promot[ing] and celebrat[ing] Chicago's rich literary tradition."

— Veronica Bond / Comments (1)