Your cart is currently empty!
Category: Event
-
Quimby’s Welcomes Dan Gleason and Friends 7/6
It’s a celebratory event for the release of Dan Gleason’s 50th zine, ‘A Book Of Themes!’ Skip all of those 6th of July firework-filled galas, which inevitably end in the emergency room, and take heed to the words of a cavalcade of weirdos at your favorite local bookstore. This night’s roster of readers includes the great Rachel McPadden, former lead singer of the hardcore punk band Shit Ass, the artists behind the early 90’s hit ‘Playground.’ She has contributed to Mr. Skin’s website and is the only person ever to have claimed a crush on film actor George C. Scott. Mike McPadden – he’s head writer at Mr. Skin and author of the books ‘Heavy Metal Movies: From Anvil to Zardoz, the 666 Most Headbanging Movies of All Time’ and ‘If You Like Metallica.’ He also briefly replaced Bowzer in Sha Na Na back in ’83 after that artist’s split from the group. Gregory Jacobsen is lead singer of the band Lovely Little Girls, the Fatty Jubbo behind Fatty Jubbo’s Cake and Polka Parade podcast, brought to you by WFMU, and the finest painter in all of Chicagolandia. For a time he danced with a box on his head on the Chic-A-Go-Go! show, too. Jenny Inzerillo writes, paints, molds the minds of the youth and is the only thing worth two shakes any more in that stinking Logan Square neighborhood. She aspires to leave this planet one day soon on Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo. Gabriel Wallace is Jeffrey-Elaine Shotzenberger, and host of the Pamela monthly reading series, and Dan Gleason is a hirsute hermit who has produced fifty of those little fold up zine/books that you (hopefully) enjoy.
Come try their words on for size, evolve, and then leave the premises with a much more promising outlook on life, which should include a sudden longing to work with wicker, the ability to make your own gillie suit with only a half dozen discarded hairnets and five feet of twine, a won’t for knowledge of the ‘inner algorithms,’ a potential subscription to the H&R Block monthly newsletter, a lust for vice, a turning out, a tuning in, a tuna rolling, and a rin-tin-tin-atuding. GET DOWN FOR THE UPSTROKE! ’88 was great, ’99 was fine, but damn do I miss the music of GENUWINE! LOVE LIVING- AND BE THERE!
Dan Gleason has at least 25 books on the market for your pleasure, here are the titles of just a few of them: The Unexpected Gratification I Received From Taking In The Sexual Act With A Homeless Person And Other Less Contemplative Thoughts Rendered In Short Story Form By Dan Gleason, The NCA’s Introductory Book To Your Newest Saints, Fairy Tales With Important Morals For Children And Other Unambitious Writings By Dan Gleason, The Great American Novella, Stories Of Life Minus Context And Sense Plus Other Little Ditties By Dan Gleason, I Married A White Woman, Satansbraten: Stories For The Season Of The Witch, The Gospel According To Dan Gleason, All Of Those Happier Thoughts I Was Too Afraid To Express Before (AKA My Big Bland Book Of Feelings) By Dan Gleason, Memoirs Of A Guy In The Band, and Interludes. He is a Quimby’s favorite.
For more info: stopgostop.com/dangleason/
Saturday, July 6th, 7pm – Free Event
-
Off-Site: Quimby's sells Marijuanamerica by Alfred Ryan Nerz at Jerry's Sandwiches
Quimby’s will journey down the street to Jerry’s (the Wicker Park location, at 1938 W. Division) to welcome Alfred Ryan Nerz and sell his book Marijuanamerica: One Man’s Quest to Understand America’s Dysfunctional Love Affair with Weed. What BoingBoing called “a fascinating and entertaining snapshot…it reads something Hunter S. Thompson might have written in his Hell’s Angels days, had he laid off the hard stuff and graduated from Yale.”
Alfred Ryan Nerz is a Yale-educated author, journalist, and TV producer. He’s also a longtime marijuana enthusiast who has made it his mission to better understand America’s long-standing love-hate relationship with our favorite (sometimes) illegal drug. His cross-country investigation started out sensibly enough: taking classes at a cannabis college, hanging out with a man who gets three hundred pre-rolled joints per month from the federal government, and visiting the world’s largest medical marijuana dispensary.
However, after connecting with a mysterious friend of a friend, his journey took an unexpected turn and he found himself embedded with one of the largest growers and dealers on the West Coast. He quickly transformed from respectable journalist into an underworld apprentice — surrounded by pit bulls, exotic drugs, beanbags full of cash, and trunks full of weed.
While struggling to navigate the eccentric characters and rampant paranoia of the black market, he maintained enough equanimity to explore a number of vital questions: Is marijuana hurting or helping us? How is it affecting our lungs, our brains, and our ambitions? Is it truly addictive, and if so, are too many of us dependent on it? Should we legalize it? Does he need to quit?
As entertaining as it is illuminating, Marijuanamerica is one man’s attempt to humanize the myriad hot-button topics surrounding the nation’s worst-kept secret—our obsession with weed—while learning something about himself along the way.
Alfred Ryan Nerz is a freelance journalist whose pieces have appeared in Esquire, the Village Voice, and Time Out New York. In addition, he has written for NPR and produced television shows on Spike TV and the Biography channel. He lives in Brooklyn. He is also the author of Eat This Book: A Year on the Competitive Eating Circut.
Marijuanamerica: One Man’s Quest to Understand America’s Dysfunctional Love Affair with Weed
By Alfred Ryan Nerz
Abrams Image / April 2013
U.S. $19.95
ISBN 978-1-4197-0408-6
Hardcover
272 pagesPlease note this event IS NOT at Quimby’s. It’s at Jerrys Sandwiches (the Wicker Park location) at 1938 W. Division, 773.235.1006.
-
Michael DeForge, Lisa Hanawalt & Patrick Kyle sign at Quimby's 6/14
Come to Quimby’s the night before the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo to meet three of the most exciting alternative comics makers working today. Michael DeForge (Very Casual, Koyama Press), Lisa Hanawalt (My Dirty Dumb Eyes, Drawn & Quarterly), and Patrick Kyle (Black Mass) will be signing their graphic novels and minicomics as part of the official festivities surrounding CAKE. This event will be followed by Ezra Claytan Daniels’ Comic Art Battle.
Michael DeForge lives in Toronto and works as a cartoonist and illustrator. His series Lose is published annually by Koyama Press. His web strip Ant Comic is serialized weekly and will be collected into a graphic novel by Drawn and Quarterly upon its completion. Michael DeForge is a Special Guest at CAKE this year.
Lisa Hanawalt is a renowned self-publisher and illustrator living in Brooklyn, New York. Her comics work has won several awards, and she was recently nominated for a James Beard Award for Humor for her piece, “The Secret Lives of Chefs.” Hanawalt’s illustration and comics clients include The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Hairpin, McSweeneys, Chronicle Books, and Vanity Fair. She lives in Brooklyn with a dog and a comedian. MY DIRTY DUMB EYES (May 2013) is her first book with Drawn & Quarterly.
Patrick Kyle is an artist and illustrator from Toronto, Canada. He is the author of Black Mass and the monthly science fiction series Distance Mover. Patrick was nominated for a Doug Wright Award and an Ignatz award in 2012 for his work in Black Mass. Patrick’s newest work New Comics #1 was published in May 2013 by Mother Books.
Quimby’s is a proud sponsor of the CAKE which will take place Saturday and Sunday, June 15 & 16th, 11am – 6pm at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N Halsted.
This event previously featured a presentation by Derf Backderf. Unfortunately, Derf had to cancel his trip to Chicago, and will no longer be involved in this event. We hope to host him again soon. -
Quimby's Hosts Comic Art Battle with Ezra Claytan Daniels CAKE Edition!
Quimby’s is excited to host Ezra Claytan Daniels’ Comic Art Battle as part of official festivities surrounding the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo!
The Comic Art Battle pits teams of ferocious comics artists against each other in a knock-out, drag-down frenzy of improvised gags, comics strips and chaos. Hosted by its founder, Ezra Claytan Daniels, this battle will feature a match-up between Chicago’s favorite comic book sons and daughters against an all-star coalition of visiting comics makers. It’s Chicago vs. the world! You wont want to miss it! This event is preceded by a signing by Michael DeForge, Lisa Hanawalt and Patrick Kyle.
EZRA CLAYTAN DANIELS is a writer and illustrator based in Chicago, IL. His critically acclaimed graphic novel series, The Changers, began a unique comics career peppered with a number of collaborative multimedia projects ranging from video games to animation to feature documentaries. Ezra is also the creator of the popular live art spectacle, The Comic Art Battle, and Loaded Blanks Greetings, a line of fill-in-the-blanks comic-art greeting cards featuring both established as well as up and coming comics artists. Ezra recently collaborated with Chicago-based chamber group Fifth House Ensemble on the narrative concert series, Black Violet, which the Chicago Sun-Times called “a modern classic”. Ezra is currently working on Upgrade Soul, a science fiction graphic novel about an elderly couple and their malformed clones. Upgrade Soul will be released in 2012 from Opertoon. http://dream-chocolate.com
The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo [CAKE] is a weekend-long celebration of independent comics, inspired by Chicago’s rich legacy as home to many of underground and alternative comics’ most talented artists– past, present and future. Featuring comics for sale, workshops, exhibitions, panel discussions and more, CAKE is dedicated to fostering community and dialogue amongst independent artists, small presses, publishers and readers.
Quimby’s is a proud sponsor of the CAKE which will take place Saturday and Sunday, June 15 & 16th, 11am – 6pm at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N Halsted.
-
Laydeez Do Comics in June, CAKE-Inspired Edition: Mita Mahato & Zan Christensen 6/13
Laydeez Do Comics is London’s monthly comics salon. Quimby’s is host to the Chicago edition. Come hear comics creators speak about their work, their process, their plans, and whatever else they want to share with us.
The special June CAKE-inspired edition will feature Seattle visitors:
Cartoonist and academic Mita Mahato is an associate professor of English at University of Puget Sound. Her academic work often incorporates graphic novels, specifically those around illness. She is currently working on her own graphic novel in collage about grief and the loss of her mother. View her work in progress on her blog, theseframesarehidingplaces.com
LGBT comics writer and activist Charles ‘Zan’ Christensen founded Seattle’s Northwest Press in 2010. It’s a book publisher dedicated to publishing the best lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender comics collections and graphic novels and celebrating the LGBT comics community. He travels the country promoting and supporting his award winning creators. northwestpress.com
Peruse NW Press titles at http://northwestpress.com.
For more info: laydeezdocomics.com and comicnurse@mac.com
-
On & Off-Site: {CAKE} The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo 6/15-6/16
Quimby’s is proud to help sponsor The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo [CAKE], which is a weekend-long celebration of independent comics, inspired by Chicago’s rich legacy as home to many of underground and alternative comics’ most talented artists– past, present and future. Featuring comics for sale, workshops, exhibitions, panel discussions and more, CAKE is dedicated to fostering community and dialogue amongst independent artists, small presses, publishers and readers.
Special guests this year include Collective Stench, Michael DeForge, Kim Deitch, Phoebe Gloeckner, Oily Comics, Charles Forsman, Melissa Mendes, Jason Shiga and more!
Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE)
Saturday and Sunday, June 15 & 16, 2013
11 am – 6pm
Center on Halsted
3656 N Halsted
FREE and open to the public!
http://cakechicago.comDon’t miss other things going on ON THE 14th though, around the city! We’re particularly excited about DERF (My Friend Dahmer, The City) being at Quimby’s on Friday, June 14th at 9pm as well as a Comic Art Battle led by Ezra Claytan Daniels (Upgrade Soul, The Changers)!
-
Quimby's welcomes Annie Mok with Sam Sharpe 5/25
Annie Mok reads recent comics from Frank Santoro’s online magazine Comics Workbook and elsewhere that touch on themes of childhood trauma, resilience, sexuality, and trans identity. She will sell Risograph-printed comics and digital prints, such as the Jim Henson bio comic Stitching Together, and the American Illustration 2012 ‘Archive’ selection Annie Mok Draws James Joyce. She lived in Chicago from 2009-2011. A Q&A and signing follow the reading. Annie & Sam Sharpe collaborated on “Roosterlegs” for the 2012 2DCloud anthology, Little Heart.
“Annie Mok is bursting with ideas… ‘Roosterlegs’ is by far the best-looking strip in [Little Heart] thanks to the bold, confident lines, clever character design, and interesting use of spot color.”
– Rob Clough, The Comics Journal / High-LowAnnie Mok’s minicomics have been chosen to be archived for the Library of Congress’s Small Press Expo Collection. She has been featured on the podcast Inkstuds. She was awarded the Xeric Grant to self-publish the 2009 anthology she edited and contributed to, Ghost Comics. Her work has appeared in anthologies such as The Graphic Canon Volume 3 from Seven Stories Press. She collaborated on a story with Emily Carroll for DC/Vertigo’s fall 2013 anthology The Witching Hour.
http://anniemakesstories.com/
http://anniemok.tumblr.com/
@HeyAnnieMok on twitter & InstagramAnnie will be joined by Sam Sharpe, who has self-published over a dozen comics with such names as Koolosaurus, Poop, Return Me to the Sea and These Yams Are Delicious. His work has made the Best American Comics’s “Notable Comics” list. He was born and raised in Madison Wisconsin, attended college at the Rhode Island School of Design, and now lives in Chicago. The first collection of his work will be published next year by Carpet-Bugle Press.
http://www.sambsharpe.com/Annie & Sam collaborated on “Roosterlegs” for the 2012 2DCloud anthology, “Little Heart.”“Annie Mok is bursting with ideas… ‘Roosterlegs’ is by far the best-looking strip in [the ‘Little Heart’ anthology] thanks to the bold, confident lines, clever character design, and interesting use of spot color.” – Rob Clough, The Comics Journal / High-Low
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/367416030043049/
-
Teens Read Work Inspired by Chicago Zine Fest 5/14
In the week following March’s Chicago Zine Fest, 13 high school students participated in a series of talks and workshops with exciting self-publishing artists from the greater Chicagoland area. Now here’s their chance to present and read from their self-published works inspired by what they learned during the series, that include essays, poems, comics and stories. Quimby’s is proud to support the next era of self-publishers.
F E A T U R I N G T A L E S OF . . .
Eggplants <> Deep Fears <> Deep Loves
White Castle <> Radio Reception and more!
Tuesday (a good day for mail), May 14th, 7pm
-
off-site but of interest: Long-Arm Stapler First Aid: OPENING RECEPTION at Spudnik Press Cooperative
Long-Arm Stapler First Aid: Self-Care In Zines and Mini Comics
Curated by Liz Mason and Neil Brideau
4/20/13 – 5/31/13Opening Reception: April 20, 2013 6:00 – 9:00pm
The Annex @ Spudnik Press Cooperative, 1821 W Hubbard, Suite 303, Chicago, IL(NOT at Quimby’s)Whether we’re soothing, grooming or creating major life changes, we’re always involved in some sort of self-care, no matter how big or trivial. Drinking coffee, petting animals, getting stuff off our chests, confronting personal and societal demons, we are perpetually creating a space for our own personal world to exist healthfully in the bigger world. Indeed, the personal is social.Instead of relying on professional services, one can create change using a DIY mentality, often with the help of some sort of reference. At their core, the pieces in this group show suggest we must be our own proponents for health and well-being.The exhibit “Long-Arm Stapler First Aid” features pieces by a variety of zinesters and comics artists. The pieces discuss and/or illustrate self-care topics that both help themselves and inspire the reader to be their own advocate in self-improvement. In honor of self-publishing as a means to foster well-being, Spudnik Press is proud to host this exhibition featuring dozens of zine makers from across the country, including Edie Fake, Rinko Endo, Kathleen McIntyre, Ramsey Beyer, Liz Prince, Dina Kelberman, Sara McHenry, Maris Wicks, Beth Barnett, Nate Beaty, Raleigh Briggs, Danielle Chenette, Emilja Frances, Turtel Onli, Trubble Club, Caroline Paquita, Sarah McNeil, Milo Miller, Corinne Mucha, Kitari Sporrong, Missy Kulik, Cathy Leamy, Erick Lyle and more.Long Arm Stapler First Aid will also include a limited edition exhibition zine, compiled by Liz Mason, encompassing relevant self-care themes in zines and mini-comics such as: healing, grief, fitness, and medical issues. The exhibit will also feature a limited edition screenprint by Ramsey Beyer, published by Spudnik Press.This show brings together an assortment of zines and comics that address health-related issues ranging from mental to physical, personal to societal, and preventative to regenerative, including such specifics as grooming, food preparation, self-defense, coping strategies, defense mechanisms, mental or spiritual development and even soul enrichment. These largely self-published works address, at times, incredibly personal experiences, usually with a large dose of wit.Unlike a film or a painting, readers of zines and comics are able to engage with these works at their own pace, choosing when they are ready to confront the next page. Perhaps this is what allows authors to broach difficult, and often very personal, topics with great breadth of emotion, honesty, and clarity. Through the combination of words and images, artists are able to rely on multiple modes of communication to bring together the tangible and the cerebral.Why the long-arm stapler? It’s the symbol of home-stapled periodicals, the best kind of stapler to use for getting to the center of the page that a normal stapler can’t reach. And the very act of making a zine and mini comic (and reading) is considered a therapeutic caring action.Long live (and maintain, groom and sooth) the long-arm stapler!About the curators:Liz Masonis the manager of Quimby’s Bookstore, known for selling a variety of self-published works, as well as the editor and publisher for the zine Caboose.Neil Brideau is comics artist and comics sommelier at Quimby’s Bookstore, as well as an organizer of CAKE, Chicago’s Alternative Comics Expo.
*Image Credit to Dina Kelbermann
More info: spudnikpress.org or e-mail caboosezine@yahoo.com -
Stories & Queer at Quimby’s 5/10
Stories & Queer, a traveling reading series for queer and queer-friendly poets & writers, presents Deborah Miranda, Erika L. Sánchez, and Gregg Shapiro at Quimby’s.
Deborah Miranda is the author of Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir (HeyDay Press, January 2013). Her collection of essays, The Hidden Stories of Isabel Meadows and Other California Indian Lacunae is under contract with University of Nebraska Press. As Associate Professor of English at Washington and Lee University, Deborah teaches Creative Writing (poetry and memoir), composition, and literature.
Erika L. Sánchez is a poet and writer living in Chicago. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Illinois at Chicago, holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Mexico, and was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship to Madrid, Spain. She is a 2013 CantoMundo Fellow and a winner of the 2013 “Discovery”/Boston Review Prize. She is currently a contributor for Cosmopolitan for Latinas, The Huffington Post, and NBC Latino. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Pleiades, Witness, Hunger Mountain, Crab Orchard Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Copper Nickel, The Boston Review, and many others.
Gregg Shapiro is the author of the chapbook GREGG SHAPIRO: 77 (Souvenir Spoon Press, 2012) and the poetry collection Protection (Gival Press, 2008). Shapiro is also an entertainment journalist whose interviews and reviews run in a variety of regional LGBT and mainstream publications and websites.
For more info: storiesandqueer.org
Friday, May 10, 7pm – Free Event
