Tag Archive for 'chicago'

American Writers Museum Opens In Chicago

The American Writers Museum is the first and only museum of its kind in the United States, and it’s open here in Chicago. The mission of the American Writers Museum is to engage the public in celebrating American writers and exploring their influence on our history, our identity, and our daily lives. The museum is located at 180 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60601, and offers something for every age group including permanent exhibits and special galleries highlighting America’s favorite works and the authors behind them.

The American Writers Museum has garnered the enthusiastic support of scholars, and from cultural, civic and business leaders, and publications both domestic and international. Some of their events include publishing workshops, memoir workshops, readings and more. For a full event schedule, more information, or to sign up for one of the many upcoming programs, visit www.americanwritersmuseum.org.

Tickets to the museum are $12 for adults, $8 for seniors and students, and free for children under 12. Museum hours are Tuesday – Sunday 10 AM – 5 PM, Thursdays 10AM- 8PM. For more information visit www.americanwritersmuseum.org or call 312-374-8790.

And oh yeah, follow them on Twitter at @AmerWriteMuseum.

Cartoonist Glenn Head Presents Chicago 10/10

Oct ’15
10
7:00 pm

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From Harvey and Eisner-nominated cartoonist and editor Glenn Head comes Chicago (from Fantagraphics Books), the hilarious and harrowing tale of a nineteen-year-old virgin who drops out of everything and into the unknown. Abandoning suburbia for art school and then the gritty streets of Chicago, young Glenn finds himself fending off street predators and fighting depression. Like Scorsese circa Mean Streets crossed with revealing autobiography like Jim Carroll’s The Basketball Diaries, Chicago is an unforgettable tale of losing one’s mind, finding one’s identity, and discovering love where it’s least expected.

 

“In Chicago, Head’s graphic memoir, he nakedly airs out his struggles as a teen living on the street, his insecurities, and his transition into adulthood. It’s a blunt take on growing up and finding one’s identity.” (Andrea Towers – Entertainment Weekly)

 

Glenn Head is a cartoonist living in Brooklyn, New York. He edited and contributed to the comix anthology Hotwire from 2006-2009. He will be at Quimby’s to read selections from his graphic memoir, and to speak about his creative experiences. A signing of the book will follow.

 

For more info:

For Excerpts from the book and more: fantagraphics.com/chicago

email pederson(at)fantagraphics(dot)com

Facebook event invite: https://www.facebook.com/events/403384009856931/

Saturday, October 10th, 7pm – Free Event

Press:

“Unflinching” (John Porcellino (King-Cat, The Hospital Suite))

Chicago by Glenn Head is a true rarity: a modern graphic novel that could hold its own with many titles from the heyday of the Underground. With unsparing honesty and sometimes disturbing imagery, Head charts a trajectory spanning three decades. The work is cut from whole cloth, in that his intense  visual style owes zilch to the abundant style books and polemics that inform much contemporary work. His writing is obviously informed by authentic experience, so it has a consistent verve. That live current throbs through the whole panorama: it’s a coming of age story; a dangerous psychic battle; a love story; a scary urban survival saga; a career overview and a reflection on fatherhood. At least, I know it’s about those things. The elusive author/artist voice outside of all this varied experience is the true subject. It’s well worth hearing!” (Justin Green (Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary))

“Glenn has at last found his voice, found the way to tell his own truth, and has produced a very fine graphic novel, strange, unique, deeply personal, a very rewarding comic book reading experience.” (R. Crumb)

“Mr. Head’s work as an editor and creator has earned him well-deserved Harvey and Eisner-award nominations and it’s easy to see why. His time contributing to Weirdo magazine and Bad News was at times funny, entertaining, and enlightening?but always worked to make the reader experience something.” (Jed W. Harris-Keith – FreakSugar)

“…Glenn Head [uses] a flowing, sometimes loopy style to accent works grounded in austere reality. … [Chicago] provides an entertaining autobiographical ride…” (Hillary Brown – Paste)

“Glenn Head is one of the strongest artists I relate to later-period underground comix… He has style to burn, and his comics are always a highlight wherever they appear. In Chicago, …the art is a joy and the voice appealing, but Head gets at some ideas and states of mind that aren’t the common fodder of issue- or event-oriented memoir writing. I was most impressed with how he wrote about the growing realization you have as a young man that life is mostly arbitrary and the result of an accumulation of decisions from those you can’t remember to the most recent.” (Tom Spurgeon – The Comics Reporter)

“Glenn Head’s work is cut from the fabric of his being with a rusty straight razor, he knows that you can’t be open and exposed without a little blood. His honesty is nearly unappreciated in a culture built on lies and social Darwinism, but is as vital and necessary to remind us of the freedoms we lost in the past two decades as anything penned by Orwell. His work is a wail of freedom; not the bumper sticker shrink wrapped kind that always falls out of the mouth of millionaire politicians, but the freedom that comes only when you have sacrificed everything.” (Johnny ‘Thief’ Di Donna (Seppuku Tattoo))

“Glenn’s story is crazy and delightful and his work masterfully done.  His combination of old school comics and adult retrospective is a rare and impressive thing, and makes for an incredibly satisfying read.” (Julia Wertz (Drinking at the Movies))

“Head’s comics style ties right into the Underground setting of the late 1970’s that he’s exploring, and with innovative stylistic choices, Head manages to take us inside the psychological perceptions and reactions of the youthful protagonist to create an emotional and unfailingly truthful narrative.” (Hannah Means Shannon – Bleeding Cool)

Last Minute Hasty Valentine Gift Guide

Don't get burned this year on V-Day! Get your Valentine something'll they're hot for!

Need to drop a few shekels on someone special this Heart Day? Fear not, dear Quimby’s shopper. We are here to guide your wayward soul.

FOR THE ON THE FENCE FRIEND… OR IF YOU’RE ON THE FENCE AND CARE TO SEND A POINTED MESSAGE?
I Swallowed the Key to My Heart #3 Truer Than True Tales of Strange Romance  by Liz Prince, $5

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Not everyone is the right one. Let them down easy with a comic all about being in a relationship and falling for someone else who scores you gratis concert tickets. You could even bake a cake with a sea creature to really bring the point home. (You’ll get it if you do end up getting this  poignant yet adorable comic).

FOR THE NOSTALGIC BGFF (best grrlfriend foreverrrr)
-Dude Diligence Unsolicited Messages via an Electronic Matchmaker by Marissa, $4

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Bring it back to the days of M.A.S.H and Miss Suzy and her steamboat with this treat of a cootie catcher. Kristin/Ashlee/Jennipher/Kimberli will, like, totally love you if you buy this for herrrr. She may even share her Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker with you and give you the left half of her friendship necklace from Claire’s.

FOR THE PERV WITH CLASSY TASTE
-Tasteful Vintage Nude Photograph (Grab Bag), $5

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Spice things up with a partner or make someone in your family very uncomfortable with a black and white nudie photo of a sexy lady, probably long dead. Much like a box of Valentine’s chocolates, you never know which vintage buxom goddess you’re gonna get when you order one of these babies. Yoyza, USSR, watch out for those land-attack missiles. Pow, pow, pow!

FOR THE TRIXIE THAT YOU CAN’T HELP BUT LOVE
-Chicago Girls by Molly Hills, $10

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Fill their condo with love this year when you buy them this Second-City spin on “Intercourse and the Municipality,” or whatever that HBO show was called. Hot cocktails, lipstick, buff dudes, ladypal hijinks and steamy hookups pepper this novella. If you’re enamored with someone whose secret dream is having their diary turned into a major motion picture, jump on this on the immediate. We guarantee sparkly, fuchsia, freesia-scented fireworks!

FOR THE BRASH, BOLD BOSS BITCH IN YOUR LIFE
-Meaty by Samantha Irby, $15.95

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Bitches Gotta Eat blogger Samantha Irby attacks love, relationships, sex and contemporary life with a golden fondue skewer of brutally honest snarkitude. Her uproarious candor in this collection of essays is sure to be just the gift for any fan of witty takedowns, real talk and reality checks. You’ll score major points with bae if you wrap it in either faux or real bacon.

FOR YOUR FAVORITE QUEER GEOLOGIST
-Pinups #16 Jeff by Christopher Schulz, $14

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It’s not every day a naked dude takes a bare-ass stroll among some boulders. But, hey, we bet your partner/husband/boyfriend/buddy/local park ranger would get def down with this rad pictorial spread for V-Day. Ooh, Jeff, be careful on all those sharp, pointy rocks. Or, hey, go ahead and sit down and make yourself comfortable. We couldn’t “bear” the thought of leaving.

FOR THE ASPIRING, LOVELORN GUITARIST
-Love Song by Drew Brockington, $3

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The age old way to bag any babe is by slamming a spine-tingling chord on your gee-tair. But what if, instead of a hottie, you’re up against the devil and, whoa, you’re not in Georgia but your name sure is George. And nary is there a violin to be found, just your rad-a-Stratocaster. Warm the cockles of your pining yet crushworthy musician with Brockington’s ode to the purest form of love – groupie and rocker.

FOR THE LOVER WHO MAY OR MAY NOT LOVE FOOD MORE THAN YOU
-My Complicated Relationship With Food by Zach, $1mycomplicfood_lgMuch like seeking the perfect partner in a sea of duds on a dating website, our protagonist Zach seems to have a hard time finding foods he actually wants to really “be” with. And why should he settle? He has discerning tastes. If this sounds at all like your giftee in question, picking through  the blueberries, onions and “pointless” brie of life, give this one a go.

-Nicki Yowell

 

 

Get “Lei’ed” at Quimby’s for Tiki Day !!!

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Hang ten at your favorite small press book purveyor on Tiki Day this Friday 8/29. Join us for day-long Hawaiian musical groves, get “lei’ed” and see your favorite Quimby’s employees in full on island garb. We’ll wowie your Maui with gratis (that means free on the mainland) appetizers, drinkies and a resplendent tiki window display.

Get your island on….while it lasts.

International Zine Month Day 5: Teach Yourself a New Zine Skill

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So with travel season is upon us, why not write and draw about travel? If you’re coming to Chicago, consider checking out some of the places Quimby’s friend Becky Barnicoat suggests, in a zine she made for folks new to Chicago. And we think she’s just the bees knees for putting Quimby’s on it. Also, hey! When you’re done, you’ll have a very cool travel guide.

One Day In Chicago

So now that you know how to cut and fold, start making zines and comics! Then come and consign them at Quimby’s!

Becky Barnicoat draws comics and lives in London. See more of her work at everyoneisherealready.blogspot.com

International Zine Month is all through July! More info here.