| Dec |
| 18 |
| 6:00 pm |
Quimby’s After Hours Reading with readers from Match Factory Editions; Paul Martínez Pompa, Carma Lynn Park, Dawn Tefft, & Snežana Žabi?! Hosted By Taylor Thornburg
In person at Quimby’s Bookstore
1854 W. North Ave, Chicago
Match Factory Editions is a brand new small press out of Chicago and LA. By the downwardly mobile for the downwardly mobile, our press champions fabulous stories that tell a deeper truth. We are a place for all who missed the gravy train or were never offered the fare.
Paul Martínez Pompa is a papa and poet whose first book, My Kill Adore Him (University of Notre Dame Press), was selected for the Andres Montoya Poetry Prize by Martín Espada. Match Factory Editions is publishing his most recent book, Domestic Corpse. Martínez Pompa’s work has been widely anthologized, including in What Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage in the Trump Era, and The Breakbeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop. His poetry was commissioned for a Chicago Public Radio project called In Verse, which aimed to explore the emotional weight of gun violence. He is currently on the editorial board at Packingtown Review.
Chicago-based writer, poet, and photographer Carma Lynn Park is the author of Through the Bronze Mirror: Speculative Poems and Stories, forthcoming from Match Factory Editions in 2026. Her mother passed on a love of writing, and her father gave her a taste for fantasy and science fiction. She fondly remembers sitting on the cold linoleum floor of the back porch surrounded by cardboard boxes of speculative fiction magazines.
Dawn Tefft’s poems appear in Denver Quarterly, Fence, and Witness. Her chapbooks include Gosling (Anhinga Press), Fist (Dancing Girl Press), and Field Trip to My Mother and Other Exotic Locations (Mudlark). Her debut collection Once Upon a Riot (Match Factory Editions, 2025) insists upon the necessity of resisting forms of oppression such as fascism and economic exploitation, while exploring both the challenges and the moments of beauty in raising a young child in our current political moment. Tefft volunteers as an editor for Packingtown Review and works as a union representative in Chicago, where she raises the most wonderful child and enjoys life-affirming friendships.
Chicago-based transnational writer and musician Snežana Žabi? is a co-founder of Match Factory Editions and the author of several books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, including her latest poetry collection Concrete Is More Beautiful Disfigured and Stained (Match Factory Editions, 2025). She plays guitar, writes songs, and sings in Rent Party, everyone’s favorite feminist garage folk band. She teaches writing and literature as a part of the contingent academic workforce and has been a proud union member of UIC GEO, SEIU Faculty Forward, and UIC United Faculty.
–.- ..- .. — -… -.– .—-. …
Your generous donation directly supports artist honorariums and ensures the continuation of this program. We are so grateful for your support of local creators, Quimby’s Bookstore, and DIY culture—we truly couldn’t do it without you!
Pay what you can afford. Suggested $10+
Venmo or PayPal (Please include “After Hours” in the note) or make a Credit Card or Cash donation in person at the register the night of the event!
Your generous donation directly supports artist honorariums and ensures the continuation of this program. We are so grateful for your support of local authors, publishers, creators, Quimby’s Bookstore, and DIY culture—we truly couldn’t do it without you!
