A panel on the history, evolution and future of culturally-specific reading series like Palabra Pura with a co-founder, former featured artists, curators and hosts of Palabra Pura.
Experience a true Chicago poetry experience with three of the founders of the city's original poetry scene. This powerhouse trio of poet/performers will deliver a Guild-style reunion.
April 13th is the official deadline to r.s.v.p. for this year's annual Benefit "Illuminate" - the art and craft of graphic novels, with Nicole Hollander, Audrey Niffenegger, C. Spike Trotman and Chris Ware. A very limited number of tickets will be available for sale at the door - click here for more details...
This year’s theme is the art and craft of graphic novels and features cocktails, appetizers and a panel discussion with Nicole Hollander, Audrey Niffenegger, C. Spike Trotman and Chris Ware! Learn more here.
Curated by Beatriz Badikian Gartler and featuring Fernando Olszanski and Bernardo Navia. Curator Beatriz Badikian-Gartler was born and reared in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has lived in the Chicago area for over thirty-five years. Badikian-Gartler holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago and teaches at various institutions of higher learning....
The Guild's annual contest awards two $250 prizes, one for short fiction and one for short non-fiction. 2012 judges are Amina Gautier (fiction) and David Lazar (non-fiction). The submission deadline to enter this year's contest (for email OR snail mail arrival) is 5pm, September 28th, 2012. To complete your entry, CLICK HERE for judge biographies...
As part of Chicago Artists Month, the Guild and Voice of the City will host a workshop featuring the Set Designer and Costume Designer for the Poetry Performance Incubator show "Unnatural Spaces" (playing Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in October). Because the show's theme is the environmental complexities of urban living, as part of the creative...
As part of Chicago Artists Month, the Guild and Voice of the City will host a workshop featuring the Set Designer and Costume Designer for the Poetry Performance Incubator show "Unnatural Spaces" (playing Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in October). Because the show's theme is the environmental complexities of urban living, as part of the creative...
The Guild Literary Complex's Prose Awards (short fiction and non-fiction) help to surface emerging and mid-career prose writers and bring them to the public's attention through an open call for submissions and judged competition. Past judges have included luminaries such as Stuart Dybek, Alex Kotlowitz, Antonya Nelson, and Sam Weller. On October 24, we will...
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...
Every fall we recognize outstanding short fiction and non-fiction from across the State of Illinois and award $250 cash prizes to one outstanding writer in each category. Please join us...
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....
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,...
We are very pleased to be partnering with the Poetry Foundation for a special Poetry off the Shelf. Inspired by Cave Canem and Kundiman, CantoMundo is a national collective for Latina/o poets. Carmen Giménez-Smith is the author of four poetry collections—Milk and Filth, Goodbye, Flicker, The City She Was, and Odalisque in Pieces. Sheryl Luna received...
David Hernandez in rehearsal. (Photo by Tanya Tucka) The Guild Literary Complex and Columbia College Creative Writing Department are pleased to celebrate the life of David Hernandez in this one-of-a-kind event in conjunction with Story Week 2014: “Street Sounds take music, lyrics and song a stimulating step further.” – Chicago Sun Times Chicago’s “unofficial Poet Laureate,”...
Saturday, April 12, 2:00 p.m. Woodson Regional Library (Auditorium), 9525 South Halsted In conjunction with Brooksday—the Guild's annual tribute to author Gwendolyn Brooks—we're pleased to present the Gwendolyn Brooks Community...
Wednesday, April 23 6:00 p.m. Chicago Temple Building, Pierce Hall Helge Lunde 77 W Washington Street FREE Safe, But Not Silent: How ICORN helps persecuted writers A public talk by...
Friday, April 25, 7:00 p.m. Facets Multimedia 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. (Note: The same program takes place at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 26.) Al-Sheikh, Maarouf Voices of Protest,...
Presented by Victory Gardens Moderated by John Rich, Executive Director of the Guild Literary Complex Being forced to leave one’s homeland can leave one with a sense of loss, trauma,...
The Guild’s “good for you” year-end party has returned! This year, after much celebration of our 25th anniversary, we look forward to the future. We plan to celebrate with music, libation, and the best company in Chicago: YOU. Also, a very special guest will be joining us: Marcel Proust. Best known for his recollections of...
As part of the Guild's 25th anniversary last year, we highlighted 25 Chicago area Writers to Watch. This year, we program all of them—starting now! "Uncharted" features readings by Eric...
In September 2014, the Guild Literary Complex sent five Chicago writers to the 2014 Kapittel International Festival of Literature and Freedom of Speech in Stavanger, Norway. NOW, for the first time since their return, the authors will give a special reading of creative work inspired by the trip and lead a community dialogue on free...
For this Applied Words event, we ask our featured artists to give us a dose of health-connected stories of the body and/or mind. Tonight's line-up includes two "Writers to Watch,"...
Saint Teresa of Jesús held a special, privileged place for books during her life. Not only did she consider books important for her work as a writer, but also as...
The Guild Complex continues a new reading platform to foreground Asian / American authors and themes. Curated by Dipika Mukherjee, this spring's program—The Alphabet of Distant Harbours—features Toni Nealie, Zhou Sivan, and Angela Narciso Torres. “The Alphabet of Distant Harbours'” will bring together writers who explore the suppression as well as expression of identity in...
The Guild Literary Complex joins the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and other partners in a symposium launch event tonight to honor and discuss the legacy of the Wall of Respect. The Wall of Respect and People’s Art Since 1967 is a symposium (April 17-18) that launches a two-year critical conversation on the...
In a city—let alone a world—of vast geographies, identities, experience and more, how do we understand our place? Using personal stories, our guest authors will navigate the territory of belonging...
Click here to buy tickets! The Guild Complex is re-imagining the 1920s through music, song, comedy, and dance in our sixth annual benefit, Wink & Whisper: A 1920s LGBT Cabaret. Emceed by Tamale Sepp, this year’s benefit will celebrate the vibrant spirit and culture of a 1920s LGBT community with a fusion of talented performers,...
Please note this month's Palabra Pura is taking place at a special location: the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center (4048 W Armitage Ave). Three fearless and unique feminine voices with Chicago roots come together for an evening of poetic expressions. Inner and outside landscapes, light, sounds and ultimately, words transmit each artist’s expressions. Arica Hilton,...
Tickets available at door (advance sales have ended). Reverend Billy & The Stop Shopping Choir is a radical performance community based in New York City, and they are coming...