Chicago -
Terror And Moral Failure
Over the transom.
1. Why Chicago Teachers Struck.
“Luis Gabriel Aguilera, the author of Gabriel’s Fire: A Memoir, reminds us that the Chicago teachers strike of 2012 was not about salaries or benefits. It was a counter-attack against the brutality of corporate school reforms,” John Thompson writes for This Week In Education.
Posted on April 9, 2013
By The Society of Midland Authors
The Society of Midland Authors will present its annual awards May 14 in Chicago, honoring its choices for the best books by Midwest authors published in 2012, in the LaSalle Room at Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza.
The master of ceremonies will be Steve Bertrand, a morning anchor on WGN-AM radio and host of the video podcast “Steve Bertrand on Books,” which features his interviews with leading writers.
Tickets are $75 each. A cash bar opens at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the awards ceremony at 7 p.m. Reservations can by made by PayPal or check at www.midlandauthors.com.
*
ADULT FICTION
(Two winners in this category.)
WINNERS:
Nick Dybek, When Captain Flint Was Still A Good Man, Riverhead. (Dybek grew up in Kalamazoo, Mich.; his father, Chicago author Stuart Dybek, is a two-time winner of the same award.)
Jack Driscoll, The World of a Few Minutes Ago, Wayne State University Press. (Author lives in Interlochen, Mich.)
FINALISTS:
Peter Geye, The Lighthouse Road, Unbridled Books. (Author lives in Minneapolis.)
Richard Babcock, Are You Happy Now, Amazon Publishing. (Author lives in Chicago.)
Posted on April 5, 2013
Coming Fall 2013
From Montrose Pictures:
“Algren is the first feature-length documentary that spotlights the creative legacy of one of the most underrated American writers of the twentieth century, Nelson Algren, recipient of the first National Book Award for Man With a Golden Arm (1950); Simone de Beauvoir’s ‘Chicago Bohemian’ lover; a Beat writer before the Beats; a forerunner of the Gonzo movement. Through interviews with internationally known artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers, Algren will re-establish Algren’s huge impact on countless literary and artistic champions, while defining American urban fiction.”
Posted on April 4, 2013
Plus: Poetry vs. MIT
Over the transom.
1. Poetry Nominated.
The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is proud to announce that the magazine is a finalist for a National Magazine Award in the category of “General Excellence, Print.” Poetry shares distinguished company with fellow finalists MIT Technology Review, Mother Jones, The New Republic, and The Paris Review in the group classified as “Literary, Political and Professional Magazines.”
Congratulations to Poetry, but the oddity of that grouping illustrates the futility (and incompetence) of most awards-giving.
Posted on April 3, 2013
By Joy Heard
Drastically snatched from my reality, my golden ray of sunshine died. Father told me this was just the way the world worked.
Posted on March 28, 2013
Plus: Zines And Scenes
Over the transom.
1. “Books about bullying, for youngsters and adults, are now so numerous they are a genre in themselves.”
Slow train coming . . . here’s a 1998 Steve Rhodes USA Weekend story about “bullyproofing” at a Colorado school.
Posted on March 27, 2013
Chicago Voices, Chicago Stories
Over the transom.
1. Oak Forest 9-Year-Old Wins Voice Part In Animated Film of The Boxcar Children.
Olivia Bell, a third-grader at Trinity Lutheran School in Tinley Park and resident of Oak Forest, will voice a small part in the upcoming animated adaptation of the classic book The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner.
The contest, run by the publisher of the series Albert Whitman & Company (Park Ridge, IL), took place in Fall 2012 to celebrate both the new film and the 70th Anniversary of the series.
The taping will take place on Thursday, March 21 in the Carol Stream studios of Oasis Audio, the publisher of the audio versions of many of the books in The Boxcar Children Mysteries books.
The director of the film, Mark Dippe, from Hammerhead Production, will direct Olivia in the role via phone.
Eh. Sounds a little gimmicky. But here’s the Wikpedia entry for The Boxcar Children.
Posted on March 20, 2013
On Hallmark, Hip-Hop And Her Work
The Chicago-based Poetry Foundation announced Monday that it was awarding Marie Ponsot its 2013 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.
Here she is in action.
Posted on March 19, 2013
A Fest, A Snow Home And A Long-Arm Stapler
In two-and-a-half to three parts.
1. Chicago Zine Fest 2013.
Posted on March 18, 2013
By Bader TV
“Listen up! Teen poets from the Windy City grabbed the microphone and told the stories of their lives at the 13th annual Louder Than a Bomb – Return to the Craft (LTAB) Chicago Youth Poetry Festival at the Cadillac Palace Theater. Winners were selected from individual and team categories.
“LTAB, which is the world’s largest youth poetry festival, was founded in 2001 by Kevin Coval, and Anna West in collaboration with Young Chicago Authors. LTAB was created to give Chicago city youth a platform to share their stories.
“The festival has since become a ‘bridge’ for young people from diverse backgrounds to come together and find a common ground through their narratives.
“LTAB poets often incorporate themes of empathy, love, and forgiveness in their work to reconcile difficulties in their lives and relationships.
“LTAB is a friendly competition that emphasizes self-expression and community via poetry, oral storytelling, and hip-hop spoken word for young people from all neighborhoods, socio-economic statuses, race and culture to come together and understand one another.
“LTAB 2013 featured more than 900 students from Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. For the high-school student slam segments – a tournament competition pitted teams in two preliminary matches before the winning teams went against each other in the semifinal and final rounds. One hundred and ten teams (110) contended for four spots in the final team round.”
Posted on March 15, 2013
