July
Events
at Women & Children First

Dear Friends of Women & Children First,

 

June was a phenomenal month of LGBTQ Pride! All of us at the bookstore are thrilled about last week's Supreme Court decision--a stunning victory some of us never thought we'd see in our lifetimes! We honor and thank everyone who has worked so hard making this victory possible.

 

Co-owners Lynn and Sarah started last month with a big surprise, seeing their faces on the cover of Newcity's Lit50 issue! They were both amazed and proud to be included in a list that features so many inspiring Chicagoans who devote their lives to making the city's literary scene strong and diverse.

 

Looking at this month's calendar of events is also stunning! Don't miss Caitlin Moran, Roxane Gay, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Sara Paretsky, and more! If you haven't connected with our Facebook page, do so now! Along with fantastic articles about books and feminism, this is where we frequently post updates and additional info about our author readings and other events.

 

And, this year our summer traditions continue with our neighborhood-wide Where's Waldo Scavenger Hunt for the kiddos and our Annual Used Book Sale. If you'd like to volunteer to help out at the Used Book Sale (July 25th and 26th), email Sarah at [email protected].

 

Happy summer reading!


W&CF

 


Thursday, July 2 - LGBTQ Pride Open Mic
Hosted by C. Russell Price, featuring Marty McConnell and John Mortara

7:30 p.m.  

 

The Pride parade might be over, but we're still celebrating all things LGBTQ with our Pride Open Mic hosted by C. Russell Price! There will be 30 minutes of open mic followed by a reading by two sensational poets, John Mortara and Marty McConnell. This annual event celebrates Chicago's queer scene through spoken word, slam, song, or as our host puts it "whatever makes you melt." Open mic slots will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please email [email protected] to reserve your spot! John Mortara is the founder of voicemailpoems.org and the author of some planet. Learn more at johnmortara.com. The work of Chicago-based poet Marty McConnell has recently appeared in Best American Poetry 2014, Southern Humanities Review, Gulf Coast, and TriQuarterly. Her first full-length collection, wine for a shotgun, received the Silver Medal in the 2013 Independent Publishers Awards and was a finalist for both the Audre Lorde and the Lambda Literary awards. More on Marty at www.martyoutloud.com.

 

 

Wednesday, July 8 -
I Live for Trans Education

Screening and Discussion

7 p.m.  

  

Join the Trans Oral History Project for a screening and discussion of documentary shorts from I Live for Trans Education, a grassroots multimedia curriculum. Learn about how Chicago activists brought together trans folks from across the racial, class, and cultural spectrum to develop educational material about issues effecting the transgender community. This is an opportunity for trans educators, youth workers, and youth leaders to learn about how to use this multimedia toolkit to educate about issues that effect the trans community from an intersectional perspective.

  

Thursday, July 9 - Patricia Skalka
Reading and Signing
7:30 p.m. 

A READ LOCAL EVENT

 

Angst-laden former Chicago homicide detective Dave Cubiak uncovers long-buried secrets in this sequel to Death Stalks Door County. Now the sheriff of Door County, Cubiak is bothered by inconsistent details at the scene where three prominent locals, heroes from World War II, have died in an apparent accident at Gills Rock. Cubiak studies the people involved more than the physical evidence, peeling back decades of deception by the dead men. Skalka writes with rich detail about her story's setting and with unflinching empathy for her characters. Patricia Skalka, a Chicago writer, turned to fiction following a successful career in nonfiction, as a staff writer for Reader's Digest, freelancer, ghostwriter, writing instructor, and book reviewer.

 

Friday, July 10 - Caitlin Moran
Reading and Signing
7:30 p.m.   

 

**Please note: this is a ticketed event that will be held at the Swedish American Museum (5211 N. Clark Street). Doors open at 7 p.m. In order to attend, you can buy a $10 ticket or a copy of ANY of Moran's books from Women & Children First. Tickets are available by calling the bookstore at 773-769-9299 or coming to the store in person. More info HERE

 

Caitlin Moran, dubbed the "British Tina Fey," is an award-winning British broadcaster, TV critic, and columnist at the Times and the author of the bestselling, raucously hilarious essay collection How to Be a Woman. Moran has been named British Press Awards Columnist of the Year, Critic of the Year, and Interviewer of the Year. Her first novel, How to Build a Girl, soon to be released in paperback, begins in 1990 and follows the rise of 14-year-old Johanna Morrigan, who has shamed herself so badly on local TV that she decides that there's no point in being Johanna anymore and reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde--fast-talking, hard-drinking gothic hero and full-time "Lady Sex Adventurer." How to Build a Girl is a funny and heartbreakingly evocative story of self-discovery and invention. The reading will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.

  

Tuesday, July 14 -
Sappho's Salon

A monthly performance salon, featuring expressions of queerness, gender and feminism

Co-curated by Eileen Tull and
Liz Baudler

Doors open 7 p.m.
Show starts at 7:30 p.m.
 

Sappho's Salon continues to enjoy its mighty return! Month after month, we've had standing room only for this performance series featuring female-identifying performers exploring gender, sexuality, and feminism in their work. This month, Sappho's will present a curated showcase of local performers, including storytellers Lily Be and Maggie Jenkins, solo performance artist Hope Miller, and your co-host Eileen Tull. Check out the Sappho's Salon Facebook page for more information. Admission is $7-10, sliding scale, benefitting our featured performers and the Women's Voices Fund. Please direct questions to [email protected].


 

Thursday, July 16 - Roxane Gay, Bonnie Jo Campbell, and
April Lindala   
Reading and Signing
7:30 p.m.
 

We are thrilled to host this phenomenal reading, signing, and discussion featuring Roxane Gay, Bonnie Jo Campbell, and April Lindala. These three authors will be discussing and reading their contributions to Here: Women Writing on Chicago's Upper Peninsula. This anthology explores the question, "How does place impact prose?" by drawing on the fiction and nonfiction of Upper Peninsula authors past and present. Roxane Gay is the author of Bad Feminist, Untamed State, and Ayiti. Her work has appeared in McSweeney's, Tin House, the New York Times, the Nation, the Rumpus, and many others. She is the co-editor of PANK. Her highly anticipated memoir Hunger is coming in 2016. Bonnie Jo Campbell is the author of Q Road, Once Upon a River, and American Salvage, which was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award in Fiction. She will return to Women & Children First in October to celebrate her forthcoming collection Mothers Tell Your Daughters. She lives with her husband and other animals outside Kalamazoo, and she teaches writing in the low residency program at Pacific University. April Lindala is the director of the Center for Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University, where she also teaches. She has had several poems published in various anthologies. Most recently, she was the project director and assistant editor for the anthology Voice on the Water: Great Lakes Native America Now.


 

Friday, July 17 - Bert Ashe  
Reading and Signing
7:30 p.m.  
After forty years, author and professor Bert Ashe began the long, arduous, and uncertain process of growing dreadlocks in an attempt to step out of his conventional American life. As his hair takes on a life of its own, Ashe chronicles the reactions of his family, friends, strangers, and colleagues--along with his own frustration and bewilderment at his locked hair. With humor and exacting self-reflection, Ashe uses his own experience not only to explain the history of dreadlocks, but also to unpack the complicated issues of identity, politics, gender, and culture in America. Bert Ashe is an associate professor of English and American Studies at the University of Richmond. He earned an MA in English at Virginia Commonwealth University and a doctorate at the College of William and Mary. He has been published in numerous academic journals and has contributed to several essay collections. He lives in Virginia with his wife.


Tuesday, July 21 - Where's Waldo Party: Waldo on the Loose!
Kids' Party 
Recommended for ages 4 to 9  
4 p.m.
 

Where's Waldo returns to Andersonville! This year, participants  need to:

  • Pick up their Waldo Passport at Women & Children First any time after July 1st.
  • Travel to at least five of the participating businesses to find Waldo and get their passports stamped.
  • Bring their stamped passport to Women & Children First on Tuesday, July 21st at 4 p.m. for a Waldo on the Loose Party with snacks, games, and activities! Participants with passports that have five stamps or more will be entered into a raffle for fantastical prizes, many of which have been donated by local businesses.
Thursday, July 23 -
Michael Czyzniejewski
Reading and Signing
7:30 p.m.

Michael Czyzniejewski examines 29 cases of human love at their most critical junctures, bearing witness to the absurdity of longing. An astronaut's husband cheats while his wife is in space; a man exploits his peanut allergy for kinky sex; a blind date turns into a bestial kidnapping. Self-doubt, unshakable distrust, unrequited longing, and the prospect of eternal loneliness haunt these romantics. Michael Czyzniejewski is the author of Elephants in Our Bedroom and Chicago Stories: 40 Dramatic Fictions. He received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship for his fiction. He is an assistant professor at Missouri State University and managing editor of Moon City Review. He lives in Springfield, Missouri, with his family. 

Sat., July 25  - Sun., July 26 - Annual Used Book Sale
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  
Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  
 

Mark your calendars! Our annual used book sale (part of Andersonville's Sidewalk Sale weekend) will be taking place July 25th and 26th! Book lovers and bargain hunters won't want to miss this Women & Children First tradition and opportunity to treasure hunt through the stacks for great deals on fiction, nonfiction, children's books, LGBTQ titles, CDs, DVDs, and collectibles; all priced to sell. Proceeds benefit our nonprofit arm, the Women's Voices Fund.

 

Monday, July 27 - 
Eileen Favorite - Dynamic Dialogue Workshop   
Writing Workshop
7 p.m.


Join local writer Eileen Favorite for this writing workshop, which focuses on strategies to create more vivid, informative, and compelling dialogue. She'll lead a discussion about what dialogue accomplishes more efficiently than narrative, how and when to use taglines, and tips for developing your ear for dialogue. Short exercises and the examination of short stories will help participants identify dialogue that hits the mark. The workshop is $30 payable to Plume Writing Studios. Eileen Favorite's novel, The Heroines, was named a best debut novel by the Rocky Mountain News. Her essays, poems, and stories have appeared in many publications, including Triquarterly, the Chicago Reader, and Poetry East. She's received fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council for poetry and for prose. She teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies.

Wednesday, July 29 -
From Bloomers to Lycra: Three Short Films Celebrating Women and Cycling
Co-sponsored by Women Bike Chicago

Screening Event
7 p.m.

Come to this viewing and discussion of three short documentary films directed by women about women who have found self-empowerment and happiness on their bicycles: The Wind in Our Hair; The New Woman: Annie 'Londonderry' Kopchovsky; and Georgena Terry. The Wind in Our Hair, directed by Jennifer Hardacker, is a mini documentary following the personal experiences of five women that represent various ages, riding abilities, and backgrounds. The film also touches on issues of gender inequality in sport, body image issues, and exercise as a means to combat depression. The New Woman, directed by Gillian K. Willman, tells the story of 23-year-old Jewish immigrant and mother of three Annie "Londonderry" Kopchovsky. In 1894, Annie climbed aboard a 42-pound bicycle and set off from the tenements of Boston to circle the globe. At the time, the New York World called her trip "the most extraordinary journey ever undertaken by a woman." Georgena Terry is a 6-minute documentary, directed by Amanda Zackem, about the founder of Terry Bicycles. Terry revolutionized the women's biking industry by creating a women-specific frame. This is the story of how she got her start and the challenges within the women's biking movement.  
 
Thursday, July 30 - Ella Leya
Reading and Signing
7:30 p.m.

Set in the late 1970s Soviet Azerbaijan, The Orphan Sky introduces Leila, a young piano prodigy from a privileged family. Leila's life takes a dramatic turn when she receives an assignment from her communist mentor to investigate a music shop suspected of funneling Western influences to young people. But when Leila meets Tahir, the rebellious painter who owns the music shop, she falls in love with his jazz recordings, abstract art, and subversive political opinions--and, ultimately, Tahir himself. When their relationship is exposed, Leila must make an impossible choice. Ella Leya was born to communist parents in Baku, Azerbaijan. She studied composition at the Moscow Conservatory of Music. Her album of children's songs has sold nine million copies. She now lives in Laguna Beach and London with her husband and son. The Orphan Sky is her first novel. 

  

Friday, July 31 - Sara Paretsky
Reading and Signing
7:30 p.m.

A READ LOCAL EVENT

 

Paretsky's latest novel finds our intrepid Chicago private investigator doing a favor for old high school boyfriend Frank Guzzo. Back in the South Side neighborhood, the Warshawski clan and the Guzzos have a long-standing and seemingly inexplicable feud, but V.I. reluctantly agrees to look into an unlikely claim that Stella, Frank's mother, was framed for the bludgeoning death of her daughter Annie, 25 years ago. Against her better judgment, V.I. pursues the case, raising the hackles of the friends, family, and colleagues readers have come to know. Longtime friend of the bookstore, Sara Paretsky is the author of twenty books, including the renowned V. I. Warshawski novels. She was named 2011 Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America and is also the recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award given by the British Crime Writers Association. She lives in Chicago.


 

Save the Dates

Wednesday, August 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Robin McLean

Reptile House

Reading and Signing

 

Thursday, August 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Martha Ertman

Love's Promises: How Formal and Informal Contracts Shape All Kinds of Families

Reading and Signing

 

Thursday, August 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Rebecca Makkai

Music for Wartime

Reading and Signing

A Read Local Event

 

Wednesday, August 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Tamara Winfrey Harris

The Sisters are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative for Black Women in America

Reading and Signing

 

Friday, August 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Kate Harding

Asking For It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture-and What We Can Do about It

Reading and Signing

 

Thursday, August 27 at 7:30 p.m.

The Sex Myth: The Gap Between Our Fantasies and Our Realities 

Rachel Hills

Reading and Signing

 

Friday, August 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Jessica Hopper & Suzanne Scanlon

The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic (Hopper)

Her 37th Year: An Index (Scanlon)

 

   

Book Groups

 

Classics of Women's Literature 
Tuesday, July 7 at 7:15 p.m. 
The Group by Mary McCarthy

Family of Women Book Group

Sunday, July 14 at 2 p.m.  

The Wife by Meg Wolitzer

 

Kids First Book Group  

Sunday, July 14 at 5 p.m. 

The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente

Feminist Book Group 

Sunday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m.

Abolition Democracy: Beyond Prison, Torture, and Empire by Angela Davis

 

Women's Book Group

Tuesday, July 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon 

 

Queer Readers Book Group

Sunday, June 21 at 2 p.m.

Sub Rosa by Amber Dawn 

 

Women & Children First | [email protected] | http://www.womenandchildrenfirst.com
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Chicago, IL 60640