Category: readings

  • CZF 2019 Friday Event: Exhibitor Reading at Quimby's, Zine Jeopardy at Cards Against Humanity Theater

    On Friday night of #CZF2019, Chicago Zine Fest has two special events. The annual Exhibitor Reading will be here at Quimby’s Bookstore, Friday May 17th from 6-8pm. Zine creators share stories and comics from the pages of their publications. Hosted by Megan Kirby. Readers include David Alvarado, Julia Arredondo, Ed Blair, Eileen Chavez, Casey Goonan, Jonas, Jaclyn Miller, LizMarie Palomo, Leslie Perrine, Jami Sailor, and Alejandra Trigoso.

    Afterwards head over to the Cards Against Humanity Theater (1551 W. Homer St) for Zine Jeopardy at 9pm. Chicago Zine Fest organizer Johnny Misfit will host and contestants John Porcellino, Julia Eff and Billy the Bunny will go head-to-head as we test their knowledge of all things zine.  More info about that here.

    Quimby’s is proud to co-sponsor CZF and congratulates the festival for celebrating 10 years!  The Chicago Zine Fest is a celebration of small press and independent publishers, with an annual festival of workshops, events, and the big expo day where 250+ zinesters set up tables to sell and trade their zines. All the events are free and open to the public. CZF 2019 will be held May 16th, 17th, and 18th. More info at chicagozinefest.org.

    Want the Facebook Event Invite for this special Friday double header? It’s here.

     

    Art by Neil Brideau.

  • Chicago Zine Fest 2019, May 16th-18th

    Quimby’s is proud to co-sponsor Chicago Zine Fest, a celebration of small press and independent publishers, with free workshops, events, and an annual festival. CZF 2019 is in its tenth year! CZF 2019 will take place over three days: May 16th-18th. Saturday, May 18th is the main exhibition at Plumbers Union Hall (1340 W Washington Blvd). All events during CZF weekend are always FREE, wheelchair accessible, and open to the public.

    For CZF Thursday Programming:

    To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Chicago Zine Fest, CZF has added an official third day of events this year! Join the fest on the campus of DePaul University in Lincoln Park for two special events on Thursday, May 16th: a special visit to the DePaul University Special Collections and Archives at 6pm and a Zines + Social Justice Panel at 7pm. More info at chicagozinefest.org

    For CZF Friday Programming:

    2 special events!

    Quimby’s will host the Exhibitor Reading from 6-8pm Friday, May 17th here at 1854 W. North Ave. in Wicker Park. Zine creators exhibiting at this year’s fest will share stories and comics from the pages of their publications. Details are here. After the reading, head over to the Cards Against Humanity Theater at 9pm for a rousing game of Zine Jeopardy at 9pm. Details here.

    For the Saturday Programming:

    Tabling Exhibiton at Plumbers Union Hall (1340 W Washington Blvd) 11am-6pm.

    CHIPRC’s Zine Club at Chicago Zine Fest 2019: Baby’s First Zine Edition, sponsored by Quimby’s, 4:30-5:30pm, at Plumbers Union Hall. This month, we’ll be talking about our early steps into the world of zines. Bring one of the first zines you made or read and join us at Chicago Zine Fest’s Exhibition Day for a fun discussion and snacks! Zine newbies and longtime enthusiasts are welcome. First 25 attendees will receive a special-edition Chicago Zine Fest notebook! This event is produced by Chicago Zine Fest organizer Cynthia E. Hanifin. More info here.

    Don’t miss the CZF 2019 Official Afterparty at Emporium Arcade Bar Logan Square Pop Up space at 8pm, 2367 N. Milwaukee Ave. 21+. Free event. Karaoke sign up begins at 8pm! Come out early to play some arcade games and have some drinks care of your hosts. $1 of each specialty cocktail featured benefits CZF! Hosted by Shameless Karaoke. More info about the afterparty here.

    Stay tuned for more information about this year’s Chicago Zine Fest! Visit chicagozinefest.org for more info.

    2019 CZF art by Neil Brideau of Radiator Comics. Afterparty flyer by Robert Hendricks.

  • Video Game Art Gallery Celebrates the Release of Issue 2 of the VGA Reader at Quimby's, March 9th

    Come join the staff of the Video Game Art Gallery, the editorial board, and their colleagues in celebrating the release of issue 2 of the Video Game Art Reader, a scholarly peer-reviewed art history publication. The VGAR is an attempt to not only deepen the discourse around video games, but to also make it more accessible to the public and inclusive of marginalized voices. The theme for this issue was “survival strategy,” an investigation not just into the defined genre of “survival games,” but the methods by which all games can become tools for conditioning, coping, and creating within the digital world. Issue 2 includes works by Martin Zeilinger writing on the limits of digital performance art, Andrew Bailey examining how exploration of digital spaces can transform understanding of physical ones, Michael Anthony DeAnda investigating the consequences of digital surveillance, Luisa Salvador Dias discussing how video games depict war, Michael Paramo arguing for better representation of queer characters, and Treva Michelle Legassie probing the implications of rendering oneself in a video game. This issue also includes a practitioner statement by Elizabeth LaPensée on her water-protecting side-scroller, Thunderbird Strike, and an interview with the evocative game designer and scholar Anna Anthropy.

    The event will begin at 7pm. Light snacks and refreshments will be served. Copies of the latest VGAR will be available for sale, as will the Chicago New Media 1973-1992 exhibition catalogue, also produced by the VGA Gallery. The event is free and open to the public.

    For more info: 

    vgagallery.com

    mreed(at)vgagallery(dot)com

    facebook event invite here

    Sat, March 9th, 7pm – Free Event

  • MLA Comics and Graphic Narratives Forum: David Carlson and Landis Blair Present The Hunting Accident 1/4

    The MLA Comics and Graphic Narratives Forum Is Delighted to Sponsor a Presentation and Social Event at Quimby’s with Creators of The Hunting Accident David Carlson and Landis Blair.

    Drawing in the Imagination: The Power of Image and Text

    It was a hunting accident—that much Charlie is sure of. That’s how his father, Matt Rizzo—a gentle intellectual who writes epic poems in Braille—had lost his vision. It’s not until Charlie’s troubled teenage years, when he’s facing time for his petty crimes, that he learns the truth.

    Matt Rizzo was blinded by a shotgun blast to the face—but it was while participating in an armed robbery.

    Newly blind and without hope, Matt began his bleak new life at Stateville Prison. But in this unlikely place, Matt’s life and very soul were saved by one of America’s most notorious killers: Nathan Leopold Jr., of the infamous Leopold and Loeb.

    In The Hunting Accident, light comes from darkness, crime leads to redemption, and killers save lives. It’ll probably be a movie or Netflix show in a couple years, but for now, it’s a damn great comic book.” —GQ

    “The subtitle barely captures the scope of this ambitious debut graphic novel, a mix of biography, history, social commentary, literary analysis, and more.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

    For more info: Susan Kirtley  skirtley(at)pdx(at)edu

    Here’s the Facebook invite for this event.

    Fri, Jan 4th, 7pm – Free Event

    Refreshments will be provided.

  • Kate Gavino Reads From SANPAKU in Discussion with Michi Trota at Quimby’s, Thurs, 8/23

    In Kate Gavino’s new book SANPAKU (BOOM! Studios), the author gives voice to the insecurities that haunt teens of all cultures through the lens of her own Catholic, Filipino background. This powerful coming-of-age story about challenging the world around you stars a young woman named Marceline who’s fascinated with the Japanese idea of Sanpaku—the belief that seeing the white above or below the iris of your eyes is a bad omen. But it’s everywhere Marcine looks—her grandmother has it, some classmates at Catholic school have it, JFK had it…even Marcine might suffer from this odd condition. Eating a strict macrobiotic diet and meditating is supposed to help, but no matter how much Marcine wants it to, it can’t save her grandmother’s life or make her days at school any easier.

    “[Marcine’s] cynical yet naive worldview provides a deadpan humor to a unique coming-of-age story,” raved Publishers Weekly about SANPAKU.

    The work of Kate Gavino has been featured in Rookie Magazine, The Rumpus, Hello Giggles, Buzzfeed, Bustle, The Boston Globe Mashable and more. Her novel Last Night’s Reading drew universal praise as a “love letter to the literary world” (Boston Globe).

    Kate Gavino will be in discussion with Michi Trota.

    Michi Trota (see below) is a Chicago-based Filipina American freelance writer/editor, communications & content development manager, community organizer, and firespinning geek who collects projects like the Dominion conquers quadrants. She’s the Managing Editor of the Hugo Award-winning and World Fantasy Award finalist Uncanny: A Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy, a two-time Hugo Award winner, and the first Filipina to win a Hugo Award. She’s also President of the Chicago Nerd Social Club Board of Organizers; a board member for the Chicago Full Moon Jams Foundation; and a resident fire performer/object manipulation artist with the Raks Geek performance troupe. Michi was featured in the 2016 Chicago Reader People Issue, and was also a featured essayist in Invisible: An Anthology of Representation in SF/F (edited by Jim C. Hines).

    For more info:

    listing on Facebook for this event

    boom-studios.com

    kategavino.com

    Thursday, August 23, 7pm – Free Event

  • Nate Powell Discusses Come Again on 8/9

    Nate Powell’s new graphic novel Come Again (Top Shelf) is a demon-filled 1970’s Ozark fairy tale, following two families pursuing elusive dreams in their dried-up hippie community. Under impossibly close scrutiny they carve out space for their secrets, while deep within the hills something monstrous stirs, ready to feast on village whispers. Come Again explores questions of changing ideals, privacy, love, parenthood, and the horror of casualness in the face of crisis. Powell will deliver a multimedia presentation exploring the book’s themes, influences, and creative development, followed by audience questions and a book signing.

    “With his work on Swallow Me Whole and March, Nate established himself as one of the premier talents in comics, but Come Again is his finest work yet. Profoundly moving, intimate, and haunting, this book will resonate with you for a long, long time.” – Jeff Lemire

    In 2016, Nate Powell became the first cartoonist ever to win the National Book Award for his work on the March trilogy, chronicling civil rights icon John Lewis’ experiences in the movement. His work includes Eisner Award-winning Swallow Me Whole, Any Empire, You Don’t Say, The Silence Of Our Friends, and Rick Riordan’s The Lost Hero. He has discussed his work at the United Nations, on The Rachel Maddow Show and CNN.

    For more info: seemybrotherdance.org

    Thurs, August 9th, 7pm – Free Event

    Here’s the Facebook invite for this event.

  • Keiler Roberts Reads From Chlorine Gardens & Jessica Campbell Reads from XTC69 on 10/5

     

    Quimby’s welcomes Keiler Roberts & Jessica Campbell on Fri, October 5th at 7pm!

    Dealing with pregnancy, child-rearing, art-making, mental illness, and an MS diagnosis, the parts of Chlorine Gardens (Koyama Press) sum sound heavy, but Keiler Roberts’ gift is the deft drollness in which she presents life’s darker moments. She doesn’t whistle past graveyards, but rather finds the punch line in the pitiful.

    “Keiler Roberts is forthright and adroit as she diagrams the pain inherent in memory, but it is Roberts’ idiosyncratic way of buckling you into her brilliant, uncomfortable, funny-as-fuck soul that lifts you above the ground.” — Emil Ferris, My Favorite Thing is Monsters

    In XTC69 Jessica Campbell, the artist, presents the tale Commander Jessica Campbell of the planet L8DZ N1T3 and her crew are searching for men to breed with when they discover the last human on Earth, the cryogenically frozen Jessica Campbell. With a new, but familiar crewmember, the search for men continues, but will it be worth it?

    “This oddball escapade delights from opening salvo to closing quip.” — Publishers Weekly

    KEILER ROBERTS is a Chicago-based artist whose autobiographical comic series Powdered Milk has received an Ignatz Award for Outstanding Series and was included in The Best American Comics 2016. Her first book with Koyama Press, Sunburning, was published in 2017.

    JESSICA CAMPBELL is from Victoria, BC and is an enthusiast of jokes, painting and comics. She completed her MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she is a comics instructor. In 2016, she unleashed the art world and chauvinist skewering: Hot or Not: 20th-Century Male Artists.

    For more info: koyamapress.com

    Friday, October 5, 7pm – Free Event

    Here’s the Facebook invite for this event.

  • Quimby's Welcomes Slackjaw Columnist Jim Knipfel, with Andy Slater 7/19

    Born in Wisconsin, Jim Knipfel was a staff writer at the now-defunct weekly alternative newspaper New York Press for thirteen years, where wrote the long-running and popular “Slackjaw” column, a cynical, misanthropic look at daily life. He is the author of ten books, including Slackjaw, Quitting the Nairobi Trio, These Children Who Come at You With Knives, The Blow-off: A Novel, and, most recently, Residue. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Daily News, The New York Post, The Village Voice, The Believer, OZY, and countless other publications. He’s also blind, and currently lives in the last remaining vestige of true Brooklyn.

    Self-described local blindo, Andy Slater aka Velcro Lewis, will host the event. Slater will be sharing excerpts from his comic How Many Fingers Am I Holding Up, his new stand-up act Permission To Fail, and details of his work with the Society of Visually Impaired Sound Artists.

    This event is supported by 3Arts, Bodies Of Work, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

    “[Slackjaw] is an extraordinary emotional ride, through the lives and times of reader and writer alike, maniacally aglow with a born storyteller’s gifts of observation, an amiably deranged sense of humor, and a heart too bounced around by his history, and ours, not to have earned Mr. Knipfel, at last, an unsentimental clarity that is generous and deep.” –Thomas Pynchon

    “Life hasn’t been easy for Jim Knipfel. He’s blind…He’s got a drinking problem. He’s been in an out of mental hospitals. He’s attempted suicide. But he’s managed to keep his sense of humor.”—Boston Herald

     

     

    Thurs, July 19th, 7pm

    More info:

    Facebook Invite For This Event

    jimknipfel.com

    missioncreep.com/slackjaw

    electronpress.com

    books by Knipfel 

  • Robert K. Elder shares memories from THE MIXTAPE OF MY LIFE May 10th

    Award-winning author, former rock photographer and journalist Robert K. Elder has composed the perfect walk down music memory lane in THE MIXTAPE OF MY LIFE: A Do-It-Yourself Music Memoir (Running Press; Trade Paperback Original; ISBN-13: 978-0762464074; 192 Pages/ $14.99).

    THE MIXTAPE OF MY LIFE is a journal that guides user to write their autobiography through their music collection.

    Sample questions from the book include:
    What song or artist can’t you listen to because of a past romance?
    What songwriter lied to or misled you?
    What song allows you to time travel — that brings back a time and place so strongly that it’s palpable?

    No matter which musical generation you belong to, or whether your musical tastes range from doo-wop to Daft Punk, THE MIXTAPE OF MY LIFE can be instant conversation starter among friends and family.

    Also enjoy work from these fine readers!
    Andrew Huff
    Liz Mason
    Lou Carlozo

    “We all know that music is deeply intertwined with memory. The Mixtape of My Life is an astonishing tool for unlocking your long-forgotten histories.”

    —Jason Bitner, author, Cassette From My Ex: Stories and Soundtracks of Lost Loves

    Elder is the author of seven books, including 2016’s Hidden Hemingway. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Salon.com, and many other publications. He has worked for Sun-Times Media and Crain Communications, and is the founder of Odd Hours Media.

    For more info, visit: mixtapeofmylife.com

    Thursday, May 10, 7pm – 8pm

    Free Event

    Here’s the Facebook Invite for this event!

     

  • Esther K Smith & Dikko Faust show and tell Specimens of Chromatic Wood Type Borders &c & Purgatory Pie Press 4/19

     

    Rustic Bride Mun! The Most Beautiful Book in the World! Esther K Smith & Dikko Faust of Purgatory Pie Press will show and tell William H. Page’s classic book Specimens of Chromatic Wood Type, Borders, &c.: The 1874 Masterpiece of Colorful Typography.

    Esther K Smith first saw The Most Beautiful Book in the World at Chicago’s Newberry Library. As she turned the pages, she knew she needed to work with a big publisher to reprint the book so that she could own a copy. Specimens of Chromatic Wood Type Borders &c (Rizzoli) is a reprint of WH Page’s 1874 catalog of typography and ink from the exuberant early decades of manufactured color–available to the public for the first time. Page produced the largest and most detailed wood type which he distributed his type all over the world– throughout the US, Europe, and Asia–even Burma. One librarian said that though clothing faded and architecture was repainted, the brilliant inks inside the book retained the vivid intensity of the Victorian era. The text is found poetry which one viewer likened to Gertrude Stein. Smith and Faust will show pages from the book and talk about producing the reprint, working with six original copies in three rare book libraries. And they will discuss their own experience at Purgatory Pie Press, one of the longest running artist presses, printing and designing with wood type. Chromatic Wood Type is an opera of a  book–and the opera it inspired (Soundscapes of Color) premiers April 22 at 6018 North. The composer, Michal Dzitko, will be present and they will show a short clip of the opera-in-progress.

    “Take a wild ride through the polychrome world of nineteenth-century poster type. These letters are slathered with more ink and ornament than a tattooed sailor.” –Ellen Lupton, Senior Curator, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

    “WOW. What a treasure to be saved and savored. And what an insane genius craftsman William H. Page was. this book is as fun to read as it is to look at, with its accidental (or perhaps totally intentional) bits of poetry, decades ahead of its time.” —Chip Kidd,  

    Esther K Smith is the author of the best-selling How to Make Books and Making Books with Kids, which Bank St. Education included in their Best Children’s Books of the Year. Smith collaborates with Dikko Faust making limited editions and artist books at Purgatory Pie Press. Their work is in many collections including the Newberry Library, The Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and London’s V&A.

    For more info:

    Images from the book!
    Specimens-cover
    detail 
    wood type
    page
    another page

    esther(at)purgatorypiepress(dot)com

    purgatorypiepress.com

    Facebook Event Invite for this event.

    Thurs April 19, 7pm – Free Event