B.Y.O.P. - “Bring Your Own People” is the Guild’s literary cocktail party, where diverse literary organizations (and their audiences) come together for a single night to sample work, learn something about a literary experience they might not have encountered otherwise, and hopefully build more connections with each other.

B.Y.O.P. was launched in 2007 to help build networks among Chicago's literary presenters. Though there is a tremendous amount of literary programming going on in the city -- volunteer-run reading series, non-profit organizations that present local and national writers, university creative writing programs, innovative small magazines -- the literary scene in Chicago still remains very siloed. At B.Y.O.P., we invite two or more literary innovators to appear together and bring their own people so that everyone can benefit from knowing more about Chicago's comprehensive literary culture. Past guests have included The Encyclopedia Show, Rec(construction) Room and Rhino Reads!/Rhino magazine. The curator/emcee for B.Y.O.P. is Guild board member Kurt Heintz.