books

Public and private politics in Vietnamese art

“A Village Before Us” offers counternarratives on the Vietnam War.

by Wendy Wei November 30, 2023December 1, 2023

Book Reviews

Writing as an act, not an artifact

An interview with Francesca Kritikos, the editor-in-chief of SARKA Publishing and author of Sweet Bloody Salty Clean.

by Maxwell Rabb October 24, 2023October 31, 2023

Teatime with Lisa Low

The Chicago poet discusses her new chapbook, Crown for the Girl Inside.

by Luz Magdaleno Flores August 24, 2023November 27, 2023

In the belly of the beast

In Daniel Kraus’s latest novel, a whale swallows a teenage boy whole.

by Janet Potter August 7, 2023August 16, 2023

The mother of a movement

Miss Major Speaks in powerful new book

by H. Melt July 5, 2023July 5, 2023

Rediscovering Frank London Brown

The short stories of Black Renaissance writer Frank London Brown offer a fascinating look at Chicagoans of all kinds.

by Reema Saleh June 27, 2023July 12, 2023

Wendell Smith’s legacy

A new book collects the work of the first Black sportswriter at a major daily newspaper.

by Max Blaisdell June 27, 2023June 27, 2023

The limits of solidarity

Alejandra Oliva on translation and the immigration system’s bureaucratic violence

by Mai Tran June 23, 2023June 27, 2023

Family secrets with a touch of the supernatural

Ana Castillo’s short story collection explores Mexican American identity, gender roles, and family dynamics.

by Emily McClanathan June 22, 2023June 26, 2023

Born inside a vulnerable brutalism

In Discipline Park, Toby Altman documents the wounds of the demolished Prentice Women’s Hospital.

by Maxwell Rabb June 19, 2023June 14, 2023

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Books Issue 2023

Finding poetry in flyover country

by Kerry Cardoza September 8, 2023

A new home for experimental literature

by Maxwell Rabb September 8, 2023

The couple at the center of Wellness are in love with an illusion

by Atavia Reed September 7, 2023

I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times follows its road home

by Reema Saleh September 7, 2023

Local food books you might have missed—and some you shouldn’t

by Mike Sula September 6, 2023

A dramatic top ten for fall

by The staff of the Understudy September 6, 2023

‘Because we are black, we are making black music’

by Hannah Edgar September 6, 2023

‘Parole presupposes that change—a correction—is possible’

by Shawn Mulcahy September 6, 2023

Anne K. Yoder on the artist-centered approach of Meekling Press

by Coco Picard September 5, 2023

Interviews

David Razowsky wants to set “yes, and” on fire

In this new book, the veteran actor and former Second City artistic director lays out a new vision for improv.

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by Sheri Flanders January 27, 2023January 27, 2023

Sandra Cisneros feels the love of the universe

Woman Without Shame is the writer’s first published collection of poems in 28 years.

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by Aaron Cohen September 6, 2022September 6, 2022

Race, fate, and sisterhood on the south side

Dawn Turner kicks off this year’s Printers Row Lit Fest with a conversation about her new book Three Girls From Bronzeville.

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by Kaylen Ralph September 10, 2021September 14, 2021

Poetry

Super Sad Black Girl plumbs the highs and lows of life

Diamond Sharp’s debut poetry collection cuts as deeply as it heals.

by Atavia Reed January 25, 2023September 6, 2023

Showing up for one another

Poet and organizer JazStarr builds bridges on the page and in the community.

by Alejandro Hernandez September 29, 2022June 27, 2023

‘I need to know trans joy exists in order to imagine myself living in the future.’

An interview with writer H. Melt, author of the new collection There Are Trans People Here

by Annie Howard November 16, 2021November 16, 2021

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Small press

‘Let this radicalize you rather than lead you to despair’

Author-activists Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes offer an antidote to nihilism in their new organizing handbook.

by Reema Saleh May 16, 2023May 29, 2023

A provocative ad stirs debate about abortion in Natalie Moore’s new play

In The Billboard, Moore explores the nuances of abortion through intraracial lens in the face of threats from a political gadfly.

by Kelly Garcia March 17, 2022May 3, 2022

Let us be beautiful on our own terms

Two poems from H. Melt’s new book There Are Trans People Here

by H. Melt November 16, 2021November 16, 2021

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Comics

Inkling Explains: the Bean

A cartoon riff on Anish Kapoor’s public sculpture Cloud Gate

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by Megan Kirby August 7, 2023August 7, 2023

The moon—it’s for the birds

Michael DeForge’s new graphic novel paints a human-free utopia.

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by Megan Kirby September 20, 2022September 20, 2022

’Art is the fuel for all things’

Artist Nick Cave on his process and his solo exhibition at the MCA

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by Coco Picard August 19, 2022May 9, 2023

Recombinations

Exhibitions this summer from Jennie C. Jones and Norman Teague interrogated the modernist canon.

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by Coco Picard July 21, 2022July 21, 2022

Building an opera in the waiting room

An illustrated conversation with artist Anna Martine Whitehead

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by Coco Picard June 17, 2022June 17, 2022

Loving, repeating, collaborating, and intimacy

A conversation with Chicago artist duo and couple Dutes Miller and Stan Shellabarger

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by Coco Picard May 16, 2022May 16, 2022

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Best chicago books: archives

The ten best Chicago books of 2022

Has there ever been a better year for funny books about Chicago? Thanks to a pithy rap memoir, an absurdist satire of the mayor’s office, and a pair of comedic novels, 2022 offered Chicago readers a refreshing dose of literary laughs. Per usual, I’ve limited this list to books with a strong focus on the…

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by Adam Morgan December 16, 2022December 19, 2022

The best Chicago books of 2021

Every year, I wonder if Chicago’s literary renaissance will ever start to ebb. No city can keep this up forever, right? But just like last year and the year before, dozens of new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books by Chicagoans garnered national acclaim in 2021. In no particular order, here are my favorite Chicago books…

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by Adam Morgan December 23, 2021March 18, 2022

The ten best Chicago books of 2020

Add these stories rooted in the city to your reading list.

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by Adam Morgan December 18, 2020August 18, 2021