Women & Children First

When her boyfriend of one year walks out on her, Tildy Glick experiences trauma more painful than even she believes may be warranted. This begins an obsessive examination of what went wrong, leading her to the dysfunctional relationships of her childhood. Rendered in luminous prose, Messing’s debut ... (more)novel offers moving and compelling observations about the love/pain continuum, explored through characters profoundly human and profoundly flawed, hoping for greater things, helpless in the face of their own failings, yet determined to make sense of their lives.

This is a ticketed event. To attend this event, you must purchase a copy of Unaccustomed Earth from Women & Children First. At the time of purchase, one ticket will be issued to you. You may pre-order the book online, by telephone or in person.

This is a ticketed event. To attend this event, you must purchase a copy of The Sum of Our Days from Women & Children First. At the time of purchase, one ticket will be issued to you. You may pre-order the book online, by telephone or in person.

In mid-twentieth century America, an era when there were few opportunities for women in general, and even fewer for African American women, illustrator Jackie Ormes blazed a trail as a popular cartoonist (Torchy Brown, Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger) with the major black newspapers of her day. A member of Chicago’s ... (more)Black elite, Ormes social circle included leading political figures and entertainers. Her progressive politics were apparent in her work, and eventually led to her investigation by the FBI. Included in this fascinating biography is a generous selection of Ormes’s illustrations, touching upon many of the major political issues of her time, including segregation, Cold War politics, education equality, and the atom bomb.

We are delighted to welcome Chicago poet Gregg Shapiro, who will be reading from his new collection of poems, Protection. Poet David Trinidad raves, “(Shapiro’s) in-your-face intimacy feels as necessary as it does generous and brave. Protection is a blessedly open and refreshingly out books ... (more)of poems.” And Denise Duhamel says, “The stirring poems in Gregg Shapiro’s Protection offer anything but,” adding, “Shapiro’s voice is both freshly innovative and strikingly mature.” Shapiro’s reading will be ASL interpreted for the hearing impaired. Joining Shapiro will be musician Scott Free. Free, the Out Music Musician of the Year for 2005, expresses gay life through musical styles as wide-ranging as folk, rap, cabaret, and punk. Free is the producer of the bi-monthly queer performance series, Homolatte, and of the annual Alt Q festival at the Old Town School of Folk Music. His latest CD is The Pink Album: A Pop Opera. Opening the show is LaNita Joseph, a multi-media artist, writer, dancer, and choreographer, who will be reading from her first book, The Things She Said Behind Closed Doors.

Five local poets respond humorously, thoughtfully, impertinently, or with awe, to encounters with the divine in its myriad guises. Nina Corwin is author of the collection Conversations with Friendly Demons and Tainted Saints. Judith Valente, a correspondent for PBS-TV and Chicago Public radio, is co-editor ... (more)of the anthology, Twenty Poems to Nourish Your Soul. Alice George, an Illinois Arts Council fellow, is author of the chapbook This Must Be the Place. Donna Pucciani has published more than 300 poems and three books of poetry, including The Other Side of Thunder, and Larry Janowski is a Franciscan friar and author of the collections, Brother Keeper and Celibate Dazzled. Refreshments will be served.

Since their inception, the DC and Marvel Comics universes have developed into narrative constructs that rival or surpass in size almost anything else in Western culture. However, surprisingly little critical attention has been paid to comic books. In her new book, critic and commentator Kaveney (Reading ... (more)the Vampire Slayer) discusses the slow accretion of comic book universes from the thirties to now, adds her two cents to the debate over the value of superheroes, and examines the extent to which superhero comics are disfigured by misogyny and sexism. Kaveney, one of the first mainstream critics to write about graphic novels, was a founding member of Feminists Against Censorship and has been a long-term queer and trans rights activist.

n her new book, Polikoff, a LGBT rights activist and professor of law at American University Washington College of Law, charts the shifting legal, political, and cultural perceptions about marriage, including social movements and landmark cases that have shaped opinion and ideologies. Championing a “value-all-families” ... (more)approach, she provides expert insight into legally complicated issues, and outlines a thoughtful, new vision for nurturing all families by reframing legal priorities. As she explains, “Marriage as a family form is not more important or valuable than other forms of family, so the law should not give it more value. Couples should have the right to marry based on the spiritual, cultural, or religious meaning of marriage in their lives; they should never have to marry to reap specific and unique legal benefits.”

Award-winning Evanston poet Cherry (Reflection Pool) will be reading from her new book, I am the Pool’s Perimeter, a collection that examines and celebrates different aspects of mothering. Goldsmith’s poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals. Her first published collection, Imaging Center, ... (more)has just been released by Puddin’head Press.

We are thrilled to welcome New York Times-bestselling author Elizabeth Berg for a reading of The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted, her twentieth book and second short story collection.

Join translator Puga, professor of theater history at Northwestern, and noted actor Mary Poole for a dramatic reading of Juan Radrigan’s play, “Isabel Banished in Isabel.” The play looks inside the mind of a woman who refuses to be crushed by poverty and the loneliness of life under dictatorship, ... (more)and is one of many plays in this newly translated collection of Chilean playwright Juan Radrigan’s work.

"Join us for a night of lesbian mystery and romance with two local authors. Anne Laughlin will be reading from her romantic debut novel, Sometimes Quickly, about a Chicago attorney who must reconcile the mistakes of her past. Kate Sweeney is the author of the award-winning Kate Ryan series. She’ll ... (more)be reading from the third book in the series."

"Responding to an Internet job offer to teach English to Asians in New Zealand proves to be a life-altering event for MBA and 30-year corporate vet, J.A. Flynn."

"Beginning with the failed Camp David summit of July 2000 and ending with the waning of the second Palestinian uprising in the summer of 2004, Marda Dunsky takes a close look at how more than two dozen major American print and broadcast outlets have reported the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including ... (more)frequent contextual omissions that yield devastating consequences. Dunsky is a former Arab affairs reporter for the Jerusalem Post and editor on the national/foreign desk at the Chicago Tribune."

"Persian Girls traces novelist Rachlin’s coming-of-age in Iran, including a domineering father, a tangled family life, and a soul mate in her older sister, Pari. "

"Featuring work by such notable writers as Eileen Myles, bell hooks, Inga Muscio, Cristy Road, Nan Goldin, Daphne Gottlieb, Kate Bornstein, and more, Live Through This looks at the way that these and other cutting-edge women artists have used their art to survive madness, abuse, incest, depression, and ... (more)the impulse towards self-destruction. "

"Anthropologist and novelist Sarah Levine has researched mothers, children, and families for forty years and on four continents. In her new book, Levine, who speaks many languages, including Hausa, Swahili, Gusii, Hindi, Nepali, and Newari, shares how she made sense of the religious beliefs and practices ... (more)of some of the people she became close to in various communities around the world."

Anthropologist and novelist Sarah Levine has researched mothers, children, and families for forty years and on four continents. In her new book, Levine, who speaks many languages, including Hausa, Swahili, Gusii, Hindi, Nepali, and Newari, shares how she made sense of the religious beliefs and practices ... (more)of some of the people she became close to in various communities around the world.

Thirty acclaimed writers of international fiction explore the stranger in tales of cultural clashes and bonds. These are stories of travelers, expatriates, exiles, immigrants, explorers and runaways – disparate experiences that travel beyond politics and cultural confusion, resulting in an essential ... (more)discussion of otherness. Join this discussion with Editor Stacy Berlein, as well as readings by local contributors Gina Frangello and Carolyn Alessio.

The suggested donation for this event is $10-12. All donations over $30 will include a signed copy of Pushed. All proceeds benefit the Coalition for Illinois Midwifery, helping CFIM achieve its goal of assuring legal and safe maternity care options for all birth settings. n her groundbreaking book, ... (more)Pushed, Block examines the role that politics plays in affecting maternity care options, how the U.S., and Illinois in particular, is failing to protect women and children, and sets a course of action for how to defend the rights of mothers-to-be and newborn children.

A found diary, written during the years 1929 to 1934, reveals the life of an intensely creative young woman living in New York, and enchants its finder, New York Times journalist Lily Koppel, with tales of art and theater, literary salons, the diarist’s obsession with avant-garde actress Eva La Galliene, ... (more)and her love affair with an Italian count. Charmed and intrigued by the life unfolding in the diary pages, Koppel sets off to find the journal’s author, and to recreate the magical world portrayed within its pages.

Bestselling author and Village Voice columnist Tristan Taormino will read from her new book, Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships and share what she learned from all the people she interviewed in open relationships around the country. Plus, she’ll take questions and facilitate ... (more)a discussion on the benefits and challenges of venturing beyond monogamy. Location: Women and Children First, 5233 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60640 Admission: Free Info: 773-769-9299 Email: wcfbooks (at) aol.com

mmediately following a live set at our neighboring business, Turley Road, the internationally renowned blues harmonica master and blues and classical composer, will be autographing his book, Let Your Music Soar: The Emotional Connection. This is a ground- breaking book for professionals and teachers, ... (more)students and hobbyists, about making emotional connections with music. It is also an entertaining and inspiring exploration for anyone interested in the world of artistic expression. Contact Turley Road (773-878-0097) for more information about Seigal’s live performance.

For much of her life, Catherine Friend preferred not to think about where the meat on her plate came from, but her attitude began to change when she and her partner bought a small farm in Minnesota and began raising sheep. Now, in the same witty and warm style that characterized her memoir Hit by a Farm, ... (more)Friend walks consumers through the differences between organic, sustainable, conventional, and factory farms, and labels like organic, grass-fed, and grain-fed, while offering critical insights into how meat is raised, why we buy it and from whom, and why change is both desirable and possible.

Graceis a thirty-something New Yorker whose solitary habits reflect her detachment from society. When a girl is found dead and a student from her Midwestern hometown is arrested for the murder, Grace finds herself drawn to the accused, seeing in him her own loneliness and vulnerability. But while investigating ... (more)his case, she stirs up buried memories of her sister’s sudden death two decades earlier, and discovers that despite her efforts to get lost in someone else’s tragedy, she cannot escape her own. Meadows holds an MFA from the University of Utah, and resides in Madison, WI, with her husband and daughter.

In her arresting debut novel, Nangle uses the coming-of-age story of Colleen, a young, conscientious Rhodesian girl, to examine the tumultuous transition from English-ruled Rhodesia to African-ruled Zimbabwe. Of the book, Nobel prize-winning author J.M. Coetzee says, “The Leper Compound succeeds remarkably ... (more)in giving a sense of how, during the last years of white rule in southern Africa, the daily experience of ordinary people was interfused with the larger historical drama.” Nangle was the child of missionaries in South Africa and currently lives in Benton Harbor, MI.

Co-sponsored by A Field Guide to Gay and Lesbian Chicago Our Pride Open Mic is an annual tradition we look forward to every year. This year’s featured readers are Achy Obejas, Carol Anshaw, Gregg Shapiro, Drew Ferguson, Deb R. Lewis, Nikki Patin, Rick Karlin, and Darwyn Jones. Open mic ... (more)readers are invited to bring one double-spaced page of poetry or prose (300 words max) to read. Open mic slots fill up quickly, and readers are encouraged to sign up ahead of time by calling the store at 773-769-9299. Light refreshments will be served, courtesy of A Field Guide to Gay and Lesbian Chicago; the only book that tells you where to go and what to do for Big Gay Fun in the Windy City.

Female hysteria has a four-thousand-year history that deeply infects our contemporary ideas about women and illness. The Hysterical Alphabet is an abecedary offering a condensed history of hysteria, illustrated in the style of Edward Gorey, infused with levity, playfulness, and critical insight. Kapsalis, ... (more)(Public Privates: Performing Gynecology) a writer, performer, and cultural critic, is a founding member of Theater Oobleck, a health educator for the Chicago Women’s Health Center, and a teacher at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Lang is a teacher, translator, poet, and Illinois Arts Council awardee, whose work has appeared in The Baltimore Review, Kalliope, New Directions, Rhino, and more. She will be reading from her new poetry collection, Even Now, which poet Jeanne Marie Beaumont raves is “built of keen sensory attentiveness, ... (more)nuanced imagery, and slyly condensed stories.” She adds, “Lang makes for the reader worlds both tenderly haunted and alertly inhabited.” Jac Jemc, who we are delighted to claim as a WCF staffer, received an MFA in Creative Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Jemc has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize; her poetry, fiction, and reviews have appeared in numerous journals. This fall she will complete an artist residency with the Ragdale Foundation.

Packed with creative ideas and practical advice What Kindergarten Teachers Know is for any parent who has imagined how much easier life would be if their 3-to-6-year-old would cooperate at home just as they do with their favorite teachers. Learn what great teachers know about the way kids develop, ... (more)and how to use that knowledge to make your days easier and your time with your children more engaging.

Thirty-five, childless, and newly married, Wendy Bilen was struggling to find meaning in her life. When she leaves her corporate job and enters a writing program, she follows a path leading her back in time, where she discovers a young woman very much like her; ambitious but thwarted, committed yet restless, ... (more)creative yet dutiful. Weaving this story of a 1940’s farm wife – her grandmother – with her own life’s journey, Bilen creates a moving account of the intersections between our contemporary lives and those of our ancestors.

Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Stories: 167 Ways to Tell Your Life Stories Asserting that each life contains the makings of a memoir, the 167 exercises in this book give writers the tools to explore their memories and turn them into great stories. Condensing 20 years of teaching experience into stimulating ... (more)exercises, this book teaches the craft of whittling a life story into a polished memoir. Join our friend Carol, along with past workshop students, for an insightful presentation about honing the tools you have to render your life in print. Eight of the book’s thirty-two contributors will be sharing their stories.

Literary writers take on one of the most powerful and personal relationships in a woman’s life, that of mother and daughter, in this collection of essays. From Jonis Agee’s mother, who haunts her daughter’s plumbing, to Tai Coleman’s mother, who struggled to raise five children on her wits and ... (more)a single paycheck, to Ka Vang’s mother, who dodged hand grenades thrown by her husband’s first wife on their wedding day, these tales told with candor and insight, reflect the contradictions and compromises of this most complex relationship.