Archive for the 'readings' Category

Page 8 of 38

Zizobotchi Rises at Quimby’s: Selected Readings from Volume 2 on Friday, March 2nd

Published on January 23, 2018 0 Comments
Mar ’18
2
7:00 pm

Join us for a night of selected readings from Zizobotchi Papers: volume 2, fall, 2017.

Zizobotchi Papers is a literary journal dedicated to the novella. Think double feature, with a paperback spine instead of a marquee.

Jeff Phillips will read from his latest novella, God’s Least Likely to Succeed, about the derailing of a secret agent’s first day on the job by an ancient cult’s infiltration of their operation.

Erin Makowski will read from Dan MacRae’s latest novella, The Dollmaker’s Grin, where an altercation changes a shuttle bus driver’s life, for better, and for much much worse.

Copies of the book will be for sale for $13.

Find out more about Zizobotchi Papers on the web at Zizobotchi.com

Jeff Phillips is a washed up varsity cross country skier and storefront theatre method actor. For two years he was co-host of The Liquid Burning, an apocalypse themed reading series, and for just shy of three years, he co-hosted the Chicago reading series Pungent Parlour. His short fiction has appeared in Seeding Meat, This Zine Will Change Your Life, Metazen, Chicago Literati, and Literary Orphans. He is the co-founder of Zizobotchi Papers, a literary journal dedicated to the novella and a regular contributor of short stories and essays at the site Drinkers With Writing Problems. You can find him on Twitter as @TheIglooOven or at theotherauthorjeffphillips.com

Erin Makowski has been acting and singing since her childhood. Her first production was as Gretel in ‘The Sound of Music’. Most of her younger years were spent in the Gilbert and Sullivan Company of El Paso going from the high seas in ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ to a little maid in school in Mikado. After her early schooling in the theater Erin received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College right here in Chicago. Erin has worked with many companies in town, played extras on TV and sung her heart out for Cabaret audiences.

Fri, March 2nd, 7pm – Free Event

Click here to see the Facebook invite for this event.

Tags: , , .

Singer-Songwriter-Guitarist and Author Phil Circle Launches His New Book The Outback Musician’s Survival Guide 10/19

Published on September 26, 2017 0 Comments
Oct ’17
19
7:00 pm

In Phil Circle’s new book The Outback Musician’s Survival Guide (Guilt By Association), he uses his 30+ years as an independent musician to shed some light on the real world of music for 99% of American musicians. Through a series of tales both whimsical and dark, reflections on the craft and the business, and admissions of his own faults, he brings a human face to a seemingly glamorous world. You’re likely to find that some of what you’ve heard about being a musician is sadly or hysterically true, and that other widely held beliefs are little more than hot air.

“Towards the end of the book, Phil says, “I don’t have some profound message.” In fact, by sharing his humanity and his failings as well as his high points, he has created a profound message. It is often in mere survival that we create greatness, although we ourselves don’t know it at the time. The touch of human grief amidst all of the adrenaline pumping adventure makes this book something of a celebration of what it means to be human.” -Sarah Jane Clarke, Beat Media, Oxford, UK

Phil Circle has written, recorded and produced eight albums of his own music and two albums of cover songs, one featuring almost entirely music by Chicago songwriters. As a writer, Phil’s work has appeared in articles for various music zines and other publications over the years, including Chicago Music Guide, Pro-Am Guide and a report on the industry for NARAS.

For more info: www.philcirclemusic.com @philcircle

Here’s the Facebook invite for this event!

Thursday, October 19th, 7pm – Free Event

Tags: , .

Coco Picard presents “Autobiography with Stones” from The Chronicles of Fortune 9/22

Published on August 15, 2017 0 Comments
Sep ’17
22
7:00 pm

On Friday, September 22nd at 7pm, Coco Picard presents “Autobiography with Stones” a diagrammed artist talk about rocks, foreign encounters, and possible futures. This performative lecture is based on a dream Picard had in which the protagonist of her graphic novel, The Chronicles of Fortune (Radiator Comics, 2017), is hired by the government to psychoanalyze non-human kinds in a post-apocalyptic world. Picard explores the potential of this prospective narrative in relation to famous rocks she has encountered and Dr. Rock, her exhibition at Franklin Gallery where visitors were invited to tell their troubles to a stone. Following the lecture, Picard will sign copies of her graphic novel.

Originally published as a series of minicomics, The Chronicles of Fortune is a quirky and idiosyncratic adventure of Fortuna, the greatest superhero who could do anything to improve the world (and her alter-ego, Edith-May) but is tragically stricken with ennui, as they learn to cope with loss and recruit a team of friends along the way. At once charming, sad, funny, poignant, and bizarre, The Chronicles of Fortune includes a temperamental stove, a nosy mountain, a goofy crocodile, a loner moth, and a singing goldfish as they lead Fortuna on her greatest adventure.

Coco Picard is an artist, writer and curator based out of Chicago where she founded The Green Lantern Press and co-founded Sector 2337. Her critical writing appears under the name Caroline Picard in Art21, Artforum, Artslant, and Hyperallergic. Astrophil Press recently published her long-form cat essay, The Strangers Among Us and forthcoming novel, TSK, is due out from Goldwake Press in 2019.  cocopicard.com 

The Chronicles of Fortune is the first book published by Radiator Comics, a comics distributor run by former Quimby’s employee Neil Brideau, also a founding member of Chicago Zine Fest and CAKE [the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo].  radiatorcomics.com

Praise for The Chronicles of Fortune

“In the guise of a fantastical hero comedy, The Chronicles of Fortune is a story about succumbing to and triumphing over loss and grief in all its forms…” – Hyperallergic

“…each facet of [The Chronicles of Fortune’s] publication illustrates how, when publishers, distributors, and creators are truly invested in a work, the result will be wonderful.”-Women Write About Comics

“The Chronicles Of Fortune stands as a confirmation of the misfit’s path in life. Not only is it okay to be different, it’s okay to look like a failure in the eyes of others. Who cares? Just you, you’re the only one who needs to care. And are you happy? That seems to be what Picard is asking.” – Comics Beat

“Edith May/Fortuna’s urban adventures are reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland’s vignettes. With the appearance of Death as the ultimate foe, Picard creates a superhero with emotional resonance and a deeply empathetic story of one woman re-entering the world.” – Chicago Artist Writers

“You should buy The Chronicles of Fortune, read it, then share it with someone you love.” – Entropy

Here’s the Facebook invite to Share that you’re coming and invite your friends!

Tags: , , , .

Poet Carrie McGath Reads From Her New Chapbook, Dollface: Poem-Songs 9/7

Published on August 8, 2017 0 Comments
Sep ’17
7
7:00 pm

Carrie McGath’s new chapbook, Dollface: Poem-Songs (self-published), is comprised of lyrical strains representing conversations between Surrealist artists, Hans Bellmer and Unica Zürn. After studying the work of these artists and their tumultuous love affair that ended with Zürn jumping out of the window of Bellmer’s Paris apartment, these poem-songs started to come to life for McGath. In addition to the poems that make up Dollface, collage emerged as well as an amalgam of work by Bellmer and Zürn commingled with McGath’s.

“Dark, playful, and startling, these poems read like a lucid dream hovering at the edge of nightmare; no, not nightmare. Ecstasy. They feel their way around staircases, ribcage muscles, gray smoke, rolling pins – oh, the “hard, cold, beautiful” rolling pin. McGath invites us to the recesses wher  e bodies revise, scatter, retrograde, reify: ‘Touch,’ she writes, ‘Your hearts are hot.’ Indeed, there is much to feel, face, and reface in these irresistible pages.” –Kathleen Blackburn, Essayist and PhD in the UIC Program for Writers

Carrie McGath’s first collection of poetry, Small Murders (New Issues Poetry and Prose, 2006) was followed by several handmade chapbooks including So Sorry to See You Go and Ward Eighty-One. Her poems have appeared in journals such as The Chariton Review, Barrow Street, The Hiram Poetry Review, Nude Bruce Review, and others. She is currently a doctoral candidate in the Program for Writers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is at work on her second full-length poetry collection, The Luck of Anhedonia. She is also an arts contributor to Chicagoist and  resides in Chicago.

For more info: carriemcgath.com

Share the Facebook invite for this event!

Thurs, Sept 7th, 7pm – Free Event

Tags: , , .

Erin Osmon Reads From Jason Molina: Riding with the Ghost & Hosts a Q&A with members of Songs: Ohia 6/17

Published on May 13, 2017 0 Comments
Jun ’17
17
7:00 pm

In Jason Molina: Riding with the Ghost (Rowman & Littlefield), author Erin Osmon presents an intensely researched, yet human account of the Rust Belt-born musician Jason Molina. The songwriting giant behind the bands Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. had a knack for spinning tales, from the many personal myths he created and cultivated throughout this life, to the volumes of oblique poems and working man ballads he penned and performed. With the help of Molina’s family, friends and record label, Osmon details Molina’s trials and triumphs, from his earliest days as a trailer park kid in Lorain, Ohio, though his extensive world touring and his last days as a struggling artist addicted to alcohol. As the first authorized account of the prolific musician, Jason Molina: Riding with the Ghost provides readers with unparalleled insight into Molina’s life and the Midwest underground that supported his meteoric rise.

“In Jason Molina: Riding with the Ghost, Erin Osmon gives us a riveting biography not only of a great musician whose work deserves to be much wider known, but a well-rounded portrait of a fascinating human being, as well as a glimpse into the creative process. It’s a ride well worth taking.”—Jim DeRogatis, co-host, Sound Opinions, author, Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs

Erin Osmon is a Chicago-based writer who covers music and culture. Her work has appeared in dozens of local and national publications like the Chicago Tribune and SPIN. She also writes liner notes for deluxe reissues of historic albums. For more info: erinosmon.com

Saturday, June 17, 7pm – Free Event

Invite your friends with this handy Facebook Event Invite!

Suggested listening to The Magnolia Electric Co., the seventh regular and final album by Songs: Ohia here on Spotify here!

Tags: , , , .