New Guild Executive Director: Introducing Lisa Wagner Following an intensive search, the Guild Literary Complex has hired a new Executive Director, Lisa Wagner. She will start her new position on December 7. Lisa has been very involved in the literature and art scene in Chicago. For the past three years, she has been Managing and…
Rare Book Auction To Support The Guild The nights are getting longer, making it a perfect time to settle in with a good book. And November provides a unique opportunity for book lovers: bid on the rare books up for auction from the library of Reginald Gibbons. The proceeds will support the Guild! Many of you know Reginald as the Guild…
Fall Is In The Air If the calendar didn’t tell you, the cool, crisp air has definitely signaled that Autumn has arrived. And with that fall weather comes another month of “cool” programming from the Guild Literary Complex, if you forgive us the pun. This month’s Palabra Pura is curated by Cynthia Pelayo and features…
September brings the last days of summer and the first days of autumn In a word: transitions. The same is true for the Guild. Last month it was announced that John Rich, our Director for the past three years, accepted a position at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. We wish him the best, and…
In theater, nights without performance are “dark” nights. The lights are not on. At the Guild, we take a programming break in August. But we still are making noise. You can catch the entire 22nd Annual Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Award on YouTube [LINK], and listen to this month’s GuildCast where Debbie Carlson interviews Kevin…
July includes our last hurrah before we take a little summer vacation, so be sure to join us for this month’s Palabra Pura (July 15), curated by Ruben Quesada, and the 22nd annual Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards (July 22), with 20 poets competing for a $600 top prize. These two events will feed your…
Our June programs include a celebration of Gwendolyn Brooks, the Chicago return of poet Luis Rodriguez, and a Palabra Pura that asks, Does English matter? We also announce our call for submissions to the Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Award, now in its 22nd year—and with an increased prize amount! On Sunday, June 7, celebrate the…
You know that feeling when you’re in love, and you simply can’t wait to hang out with the object of your affection again—even after you just left them? That’s how we hope you see the Guild’s programming this month. There’s a lot to love, and we think each event will make you hungry for that…
This month’s forecast includes vast geography, musicality, and respect, all played out in the first three weeks. Outside temperatures may vary, but the artists and projects featured by the Guild this April are hot. We jump right in on Monday, April 6, with a continuation of our new series foregrounding Asian / American authors and…
March roars like a lion all month long. No lambs about it. The Guild means business. And it begins with a Voices of Protest “Home Edition” on Thursday, March 12. The emerging authors we sent to Kapittel, Norway’s international festival of literature and freedom of expression, will give readings inspired by the project and talk…
February is a winter month of storms (check), sub-zero temperatures (check), and gray skies (check). While the Guild doesn’t control the weather, every month we program events that bring people together to celebrate diverse, divergent, and emerging voices. And that’s hot—regardless of the season. The 10th year of Palabra Pura continues on February 18 with…
Happy new year to you! All of us at the Guild wish you a happy, healthy, and productive 2015. For our part, we’ll work on “productive” with a January party to celebrate 10 years of Palabra Pura. This energetic and lively series continues to support and showcase emerging and established authors in the Latino and…
December is one of two months the Guild takes a break from programming, and we use this end-of-the-year “quiet” time for two important tasks: finalize a compelling program plan for the upcoming year, and secure financial support through an annual fundraising appeal. Regarding the latter, we are in the middle of the most successful…
It’s November! Time to recover from your Halloween-candy coma with a trio of festive Guild Literary Complex events! But before we put our party hats on, we want to remind you about our Author Challenge Grant! Some sterling Chicago authors have pledged $2500 to the Guild if we can match it by November 15. Can…
You know the saying good things come in pairs? We couldn’t agree more and this month we have quite the literary duo – Palabra Pura: Want and our Annual Prose Awards. But before we get into those events, let’s not forget one very important deadline. Submissions for the 2014 Prose Awards are due on…
June is here! Our Director John Rich took a trip to Slovenia to attend the International Cities of Refuge Network conference, our Marketing Coordinator finished up her Master’s program, and we graduated yet another terrific intern, Anna Hayden-Roy. So between our fabulous REVEAL 25 birthday party and now—a lot has happened. But that’s not slowing…
This winter, the Guild is getting out and around just about every week. Kinda like a doctor making house calls, and if you think of the Guild as a literary tonic, that’s not far from the truth. Join us this January as we round out the month’s programs with a lively Palabra Pura and a…
In 2014, Guild Complex celebrates its 25th anniversary, a remarkable milestone for any literary organization. But the Guild is not just any literary organization. The Guild is a tonic. To commemorate the Guild’s history – and propel us onward – please consider making a special donation during our year-end fundraising appeal. It’s easy. Simply click…
The Guild will have a table at the Chicago Book Expo on Sunday, November 24 from 11am-5pm. The Chicago Book Expo has “Chicago’s best independent publishers and authors selling books, plus free author readings, panel discussions, writing workshops, and bilingual/Spanish programs” available to the public for free! Visit our booth, and enjoy the opportunity to…
Palabra Pura is the longest running bilingual reading series in Chicago. When asked to curate November’s Palabra Pura “El Amor”, multimedia artist Miguel Lopez Lemus engaged this legacy by inviting past Palabra Pura participants to contribute an original, unpublished poem or essay on the theme of Amor. The resulting collection, Cantalogia I, is at once…
Two shows only! Friday at 7pm, and Saturday at 2pm. A new performance about poetry, zombies, cliffs, and lifelines, created by the Poetry Performance Incubator at the Guild Complex. Presented in collaboration with Free Street Theatre. Join us for an in-progress performance of the brand new Poetry Performance Incubator production, Like Bread. Inspired by the…
You are cordially invited to TONIC: a soulful celebration! It’s been a year of recognition and achievement for the Guild, from inaugurating Brooksday to receiving a major MacArthur Foundation grant. We plan to celebrate with a night of music, libations, and the best company: YOU. It will be a TONIC, something good for the soul,…
SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED! The Guild Literary Complex is proud to announce an open submission period for our Annual Prose Awards. Every fall, the Guild Complex acknowledges emerging and established writers via a judged competition and recognition event at the historic Chopin Theatre in Chicago. A cash prize of $250 in each category (fiction and non-fiction)…
We are so very pleased to be kicking off our first Applied Words: On Architecture and the Urban Plan at the Polish Triangle located at the intersection of Division Street, Ashland Avenue, and Milwaukee Avenue. “Broken Windows” is the first reading in a series of three events to continue from now until October. The event takes place on Tuesday,…
The call for entries will be posted on September 3. In the meantime learn about all of our contests by clicking here.
The Poetry Performance Incubator is seeking poets and other writers to collaborate on the creation of a workshop production of Like Bread, a new theatrical performance about making space for a creative life. We are particularly interested in working with poets from a broad range of aesthetics, backgrounds, ages, and Chicago communities. Inspired by the Roque Dalton poem “Like You,”…
Please join us in congratulating the 2013 Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Award (GBOMA) semi-finalists! Olivia M. Arredondo, Lucia Blinn, Ann Breen-Greco, Quintin Collins, Dina Elenbogen, Glenn Ford, Amelia M. Garcia, Marc Livingston (a.k.a. G.P.A.), Nate Marshall, Maya Marshall, Diana Pando, Gregory Pickett, Kelly Reuter, Shanara “The MouthPeace” Sanders, Sandra Santiago, Rachel Slotnick, Javon Smith, M….
Join us Wednesday, July 17, for our monthly bilingual poetry night at La Bruquena Restaurant (2726 W. Division, 2nd Fl.). We will kick things off with an open mic at 7 pm followed by readings from Yolanda Nieves, Maya Emma Nnena Ruth Odim, and our July curater, Sandra Posadas. Be sure to check out our event page…
The 2013 Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards is now seeking submission from poets who are interested in showcasing their talents in a live event and competing for a $500 prize. This will be the 20th anniversary of the awards started by legendary Chicago poet Gwendolyn Brooks and to celebrate we will be have some surprises in-store for…
The Guild Literary Complex is pleased to announce the 2013 remount of “Tour Guides”. Produced in 2010 as part of the Poetry Performance Incubator, “Tour Guides”, gives audiences a lyrical tour of the Chicago tourists never see. Originally written by a team of six, “Tour Guides” has had twelve distinct voices take part in its development…