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Book Club Fri Jun 05 2015
Plan Your Printers Row Lit Fest Weekend With A Little Help From Us
Get ready, Book Club, because it's almost time to descend upon Dearborn Street for the Midwest's largest outdoor literary festival. That's right, the Printers Row Lit Fest is merely hours away--and with a lineup featuring over 200 events, there will be something for every book lover.
Now in its 31st year, the Printers Row Lit Fest runs from June 6-7, celebrating all things literary with an unparalleled book fair and schedule of performances. Show up with a tote or two (or three) to stock up on summer reading material, or purchase tickets to panels on fiction writing, papal ponderings, or humorous fashion blogging.
If you want to be more hands-on, there will be workshops galore. Check out Jill Pollack's (director of StoryStudio Chicago) Prompt-A-Palooza, Wilda Morris' "On a Line by: Writing Poetry Inspired by Other Poems," or 826CHI's "Behind the Book: Around That Age, I Liked to Play with Fire."
If you're hungering for a more savory experience, there are several events that blend culinary and literary inspiration, including cooking demonstrations by Rick Bayless and Mexique's Carlos Gaytan, as well as wine pairing tips from journos.
For the more raucous among us, Lit After Dark will return on Saturday with Bob Saget discussing his memoir at Jones College Prep. There will also be a special Lit Fest installment of monthly storytelling series, This Much Is True, and a C2E2 Drink & Draw event where you can mingle with local comic book artists.
Here's just a taste of the panels and discussion that will take place this year. Please note that there are multiple venues and tents. But if you feel your FOMO coming on, relax--Printers Row Lit Fest and Tribbooks have ways to keep you organized, from sorting through events by stage and time online, to offering an app that will make sure you don't miss out on a single word. Well, you can try not to.
Printers Row Lit Fest kicks off at 10am on Saturday, June 6 and runs through 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 7. Festival passes (which include a digital membership to Printers Row Journal) have sold out, but you can still purchase individual tickets.
Saturday suggestions:
Curbside Splendor author Cyn Vargas is part of the First Fiction panel at 10 a.m. at Jones College Prep, Room 5006.
Levar Burton will be presented with the Chicago Tribune Young Adult Literary Award at 12 p.m. at Jones College Prep.
Have "lunch" with Tavis Smiley at the Harold Washington Library's Pritzker Auditorium at 12:30 p.m.
At 3 p.m., join WRITE CLUB Overlord Ian Belknap and co-producer Lindsay Muscato for some bare-knuckled lit.
The Hoy tent hosts their editors Beatriz Rivas and Gisela Orozco for a conversation on women in literature at 3:30 p.m.
Sunday suggestions:
Early birds: have coffee at 10 a.m. with John Kass, William Lee, and Trevor Jensen at the Good Eating Stage.
The RedEye tent will hold a Writers Challenge panel at 11 a.m. with host Mason Johnson; hilarity may or may not ensue.
At 12 p.m., check out Cassandra, a "comedy collective that seamlessly weaves outrageous characters, storytelling, live lit, and music into one hilarious live show," at the RedEye Tent as well.
Tribune Books Editor Jennifer Day chats with local authors Rebecca Makkai and Vendela Vida at the Harold Washington Library Center at 2 p.m.
At 2:15 p.m., Alison Cuddy talks with music journalist Jessica Hopper about her new book, "The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic."
Head to Jones College Prep at 4 p.m. to hear James McGrath Morris discuss his biography of Ethel Payne, "The First Lady of the Black Press."
