Category: Event

  • Author Kyle Smith Reads from His New Novel 85A

    85A

    Kyle Smith will read from his Chicago-set coming-of-age novel out this summer from Bascom Hill Publishing Group. Set in late 1980s Chicago, 85A follows its half Johnny Rotten, half Holden Caulfield antihero, Seamus O’Grady, through a watershed day in his adolescent life. As a gay teen from a conservative Catholic home—in one of the most racist neighborhoods of a notoriously segregated city—Seamus begins to seek his niche in 1980s Chicago’s multicultural punk and bohemian circles.

    Originally from Chicago, Smith infuses 85A with the rich detail of his own experiences with the Chicago punk scene as his protagonist struggles with universal themes of identity, rebellion and belonging. Today, Smith lives in Brooklyn, New York and regularly contributes to Edge, The Brooklyn Rail, and WhiteHot Magazine.

    “Like Holden [Caulfield], Seamus serves as an important reminder of the universal urge to self-define in a world hostile to anyone who dares to be different.” – Edge on the Net

    “[Seamus’] treatment at the hands of his family and his teachers is heart-wrenching.” – Booklist

    For more information, visit: http://85anovel.com/events.htm

  • Zines On Toast Show at Quimby's

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    An evening of entertainment and information with zine writers from the UK (Rumlad, Last Hours, Hey Monkey Riot and Morgenmuffel) on tour with Portland’s Alex Wrekk (Brainscan zine and Stolen Sharpie Revolution). Join them for accounts of UK zine culture including stories from Alex’s trip to the UK last year, plus tales of the London zine symposium, vegan mass catering, UK social centres, revolution, punk rock, anarchy and more! For more info: http://zinesontoast.org

    Alex Wrekk “Author of the popular how-to guide of zine-making, Stolen Sharpie Revolution, over fifteen years of zine-making under her belt, and the most intimate details of her life photocopied, stapled, and mailed around the world, this is a woman committed to taking her experiences in life and putting them on display in a way that is not for ratings or profit. Rather, she does it for the love of writing, creating, and sharing.” (Feminist Review) www.smallworldbuttons.com

    Isy Morgenmuffel “For the past ten years Morgenmuffel comic zine has been documenting the world that Isy inhabits. A world of riots in the city of London, cooking for hundreds of punks, starting housing co-ops, local social centres, or simply hanging out with friends and drinking. Through it all Isy’s love of life, and humour, is at the heart of the stories.” (Last Hours)  www.morgenmuffel.co.uk

    Edd Baldry, a radical illustrator and editor of Last Hours, and creator of Hey Monkey Riot: “Edd’s perhaps one of the few people drawing autobio comics who actually does interesting stuff, … with an angle on activism which is celebratory rather than polemical, yet also unafraid to point out absurdities.” (Lucid Frenzy) www.eddbaldry.co.uk

    Steve Larder “Rum Lad is part comic, part scene report, part diary but all with a subtle positivity that works to remind you that being a punk is fucking awesome.” (Pete Willis)  www.stevelarder.co.uk

    Tom Fiction and Natalie of Last Hours magazine and resource for creative resistance, and the London Zine Symposium, an annual event now in its 6th year.  www.lasthours.org.uk

  • Joey Comeau Reads From One Bloody Thing After Another

    One Bloody Thing

    One Bloody Thing After Another is a funny, strange, and sad book about the horror of losing family, and the things people will do to hold on. Jackie’s mother, who died of cancer, is still around. Glowing in the dark, vomiting into the toilet, but nobody else can see her. And Jackie has a crush on a girl named Ann, though Ann has other things to worry about. Her own mother and sister have turned into violent creatures, and she has to keep them locked in the basement so they won’t hurt anyone. But they need to be fed living things, so Ann starts hunting neighbourhood pets. She’s against this idea, but, you know, family is important.

    Joey Comeau, writes the comic A Softer World, which has appeared in The Guardian and been profiled in Rolling Stone. He’s the author of Overqualified and Lockpick Pornography. You can find him online at http://www.asofterworld.com.

    “The tone is poignant, sometimes wistful, and deadpan funny . . . The novel is more eccentric than gory, and what’s really shocking about it is that all the mayhem is finally about family ties, both severed and reconnected.” — Booklist

    “Canadian author Comeau, best known for his darkly surreal Web comic, A Softer World, turns his adaptable talents to overt horror in this oddly touching novel of ghosts, friendship, bloody secrets, and family relationships. . . . the crescendos of terror are leavened by moments of unexpected humor and warmth.” — Publishers Weekly

    For more info: http://www.ecwpress.com/onebloodything

  • Susan Slaviero and Kristina Marie Darling

    When asked about her influences, Susan Slaviero points to three enduring sources: popular culture, feminist theory, and a fascination with the lyric tradition. Not a likely combination for a poet, but one that has brought forth Cyborgia (Mayapple Press), a stunning debut collection that explores the intersection of female identity, technology, and the body.  Filled zombies, robots, “nickel marionettes,” and “electric women,” Slaviero’s book presents physical reality alongside the artificial and constructed, skillfully blurring the boundaries between the two.
    CyborgiaNightSongs
    “Melding the language of sci-fi and sensuality, Cyborgia wallows delightfully in its rhythm and vocabulary, yet remains sharp and meticulous, slicing through the barriers of mechanism and the female body, of systems and viscera, where the women are filled with milk and smoke, rainwater and wristwatches, fractals and fish”—Kristy Bowen

    Also reading is Kristina Marie Darling, a St. Louis author whose first book of poems, Night Songs, was just released by Gold Wake Press.  Kristina is the author of several chapbooks, which include Fevers and Clocks (March Street Press) and The Traffic in Women (Dancing Girl Press).  Awards include residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, VCCA, and Ragdale.

  • Jon Cotner and Andy Fitch read from Ten Walks/Two Talks

    Ten Walks/Two Talks combines a series of sixty-minute, sixty-sentence walks around Manhattan with a pair of roving dialogues—one of which takes place during a late-night “philosophical” ramble through Central Park. Mapping 21st-centure New York, Cotner and Fitch update the meandering and meditative form of Basho’s travel diaries to construct a descriptive/dialogic fugue.

    TenWalks

    “Barbed with genius.” -Wayne Koestenbaum

    “Poetry in motion.” -Lynne Tillman

    “Magic… A new way of moving through our worlds.” -The Boston Phoenix

    [Five-Star Review] “Fantastic… A deceptively simple book, Ten Walks/Two Talks demands little but offers much. Cotner and Fitch invite us to experience our city with fresh pleasure and renewed awe.” -Time Out New York

    “I hate exercise, and I hate conversation, but I love Ten Walks/Two Talks.” -HTMLGIANT

    “This is a gift, a beautiful book, and nothing in it is forgettable.” -Bookslut

    Also joining the bill are Chicago authors Joel Craig, who will read from his book Shine Tomorrow (Lost Horse), and Jessica Savits, who will read from her book Hunting is Painting (&Now Books).

    For more info: http://www.uglyducklingpresse.org/catalog/browse/item/?pubID=63

  • Quimby’s Co-Sponsors Dating for Nerds Singles Trivia Night at the Holiday Club!

    Nerds_at_Heart_Logo

    Think the brain really is the sexiest organ? Find out with other unattached smarties during a singles trivia night featuring a video quiz by local filmmaker and critic Collin Souter (“Breakup Date” and “Meet the Monkeys”), an audio quiz by staff from Record Breakers music store and guest rounds by staff from Quimby’s Bookstore, American Science and Surplus, G-Mart Comics and Abraham Lincoln Book Shop.

    How it works: Singles mingle over moderate-level trivia questions in a variety of general interest categories, including books, music and movies, with a different round dedicated to each subject. Each round, the winners score prizes and all attendees get the chance to win a themed giveaway inspired by the topic. Singles meet by rotating tables and forming new teams every round. Includes a cocktail.

    Venue: Holiday Club

    Address: 4000 North Sheridan Road, Chicago

    Date: 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 13

    Price: $20 advance/$25 door

    Registration: nerdsatheart.com <http://nerdsatheart.com> or 312-265-6085

    For more info: http://nerdsatheart.com>

    NOT AT QUIMBY’S!

    IT’S AT HOLIDAY CLUB

    4000 North Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60613-2005 – (773) 348-9600, www.holidayclubchicago.com

  • Work In Progress at Quimbys

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    The rumors are true, our monthly social get together, Work In Progress is tons of fun! It happens that last Wednesday of the month, and involves free snacks, and working on projects in a social atmosphere.

    You can either present something your working on, and get feedback, or just hang out and work on your project and not feel so all alone for one night.

    Stop by July 28th from 7 – 8:30pm for a good time!

  • Dear Deer Wolf Bear Shark and Little Brother

    One and a half years ago, in an attempt to overcome his nigh crippling shyness and to get out of the basement, Brayton J. Cameron began the zine Dear Deer Wolf Bear Shark (Long Reach Publishing) so he wouldn’t just sit in the corner of venues silently weeping in the dark while on tour with local rock band Geronimo!  This kind of worked.    Issue 5 is Brayton’s celebrated final issue.  Some said it was funny, others said it was stupid, he just said the same as issue one, it was the “World’s best content.  World’s worst zine.”

    Shaylah Kloska and Lauren Hunter teamed up early this year to create Little Brother, a zine about, well anything, their first issue contained stories, poems, comics, and drawing ranging in topics from actual brothers, to strangers, to an octopus with a typewriter.    Throughout this year Shaylah and Lauren have worked across the ocean, but this event brings the two of them together once again to officially release their 2nd delightful issue and, of course, read a bit from it.

    Dear Dear Wolf Bear SharkLittle Brother Cover

    For more info: http://www.ddwbs.com & http://heylittlebrother.tumblr.com/ & Little Brother on Facebook.

  • Mike Faloon, James Jay and Jonathan Messinger

    Mike Faloon, editor of the world-famous Go Metric! zine, celebrates the launch of his new book of stories, The Hanging Gardens of Split Rock: Stories, out now on Gorsky Press. Faloon is on tour with fellow Gorsky-ite James Jay (The Undercards), and will be joined by Chicago guy Jonathan Messinger (Hiding Out).

    According to conventional wisdom some goals are best not pursued. The characters in The Hanging Gardens of Split Rock have yet to learn this. Pocket Hercules taps into the power of the ancient wonders to mend a broken heart, with some heavy metal to help. Little League coach Gary Shouldice probably goes too far in motivating his son. Leon Rayner serenades a girl he barely knows with his week-old punk band. From small town watering holes to veterinary clinics to jam band festivals the people portrayed in The Hanging Gardens of Split Rock are undeterred in the pursuit of their dreams. And maybe they should be. Deterred, that is.

    The Performers:

    Mike Faloon has paid the bills as a DJ, dishwasher, drummer, and school teacher. He is the publisher of two zines (Go Metric, Zisk) and a contributing writer to magazines such as Chunklet, Razorcake, and Roctober. His work has also appeared in The Zine Yearbook (Soft Skull) and The Overrated Book (Last Gasp). He lives in Brewster, New York with his family.

    Poet and essayist James Jay lives in Flagstaff, Arizona where he has worked as a bartender, fire fighter, dish washer, janitor, furniture mover, and the like. He has taught poetry in high schools, jails, and universities. Currently, he is the Executive Director for the Northern Arizona Book Festival and the Managing Editor for Two Dogs Press.

    Jonathan Messinger is the co-founder of Featherproof books, co-host of the Dollar Store reading series, Books Editor for Time Out Chicago and author of the short-story collection Hiding Out. He’s currently at work on Hiding Out 2: Hiding In, and Hiding Out 3: Don’t Stop Hiding.

    For more info:    Mike Faloon: http://www.gometric.typepad.com/ James Jay: http://jamesjay.org

    Jonathan Messinger: http://featherproof.com

  • Tesco Vee and Steve Miller from TOUCH AND GO: The Complete Hardcore Punk Zine ’79-83

    Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson launched Touch and Go fanzine in Lansing, MI, in 1979, and set out to chronicle, lambaste, ridicule, and heap praise on the new punk happenings. In laughably minuscule press runs by today’s standards, T & G was made by guys within the Midwest scene strictly for the edification of scenesters and pals in other cities like DC, Philly, Boston, LA, SF, and Chicago. Inspired by Slash and Search and Destroy and writers like Claude Bessy and Chris Desjardines, TV and DS pumped out twenty-two naughty, irreverent issues, spawned a legendary independent record label, and brought fame and fortune to the best bands in the land, including:  Black Flag, Minor Threat, the Misfits, Negative Approach, the Fix, the Avengers, the Necros, Discharge, Die Kreuzen, Poison Idea—any punks worth their weight in glorious black and white.

    T&G4T&G3T&G2T&G1

    balloon-proof

    I was inspired by how fearless and together Touch and Go were. They were really wild and extremely funny.”—Henry Rollins

    “It was really one of the first times anyone outside of Washington really paid us any mind. The fact that Touch and Go took an interest in us really blew us away.”—Ian MacKaye

    “Anyone who’s ever published a true DIY fanzine owes at least a small debt to Touch and Go.”—Decibel

    For more info: http://www.touchandgobook.com