Quimby’s Bookstore · 1854 W. North Ave · Chicago, IL 60622 · 773-342-0910

Category: readings

  • Postponing March 16th Event Until a Undeclared later date: Isabelle Rizo Reads Tarot

     

    *Until COVID-19 status has been changed, we are post-poning this event until an undeclared later date. Stay tuned to quimbys.com for info about the rescheduling.*

     

     

     

    Last month’s tarot readings went so well with Isabelle Rizo that we’ve invited her back for another night!

    In this evening of exploring Tarot with Transylvanian Mystic, Hypnotist, and Artist Isabelle Rizo learn what the tarot cards will tell you. Having used tarot since 2014 as a way to ground herself on her travels she found the collective unconscious easily mirrored through her own experience.You can bring a simple question and we have a conversation with the cards, or bring something that you need specific guidance on. Isabelle’s readings are inspired by her Romanian upbringing, using Eastern European folk stories, symbolism, and ethnographic influences to give nuanced readings and performances. 

    “Isabelle witnesses and holds safe space wherever she goes.” –Emily Stroia, Author of Into the Light

    Isabelle has been featured in such places as: Atlas Obscura, Prague College, The Whoroscope Witch Podcast, and was hired by GOOP as a resident tarot reader. Way Cool Magazine. She is the resident tarot teacher at Inner Sense Healing Arts where she teaches every Wednesday night in Chicago. Her work and workshops have also been featured at Occult of the Bazaar, She Spoke International Art Exhibition, and Sideshow Gallery. She runs her hypnosis practice with a group of amazing diverse and queer therapists at Art of Balance in Chicago as well Head Facilitator of The Coven which is an online and offline group of artists, healers, and liminal space dwellers with international and local members. 

    Readings $5 – $25

    For more info visit isabellerizo.com

    Monday, March 16th, 6-9pm

    Facebook event invite here.

  • Amy Lockhart & Maggie Umber Signing, March 12th

    Local treasures, Amy Lockhart and Maggie Umber join forces to celebrate new works at Quimby’s! Animator and cartoonist Amy Lockhart (aka Amy Logheart) will read from and sign her new book, Ditch Life, an absurdist black comedy published via Fantagraphics FU Press imprint. Ditch Life tells the tale of two luckless ditch dwellers as they navigate a shape-shifting pizza box, a botched lobotomy, Hollywood betrayal, celebrity obsession, wealth disparity, and a brood of maggot children who just want to be loved!  The book is published in full-color hardcover and also includes a fold-out board game, Females As: Furniture!

    Amy Lockhart is a filmmaker, animator and artist. Her animations have screened internationally, including the Whitney, NY, British Film Institute, N.Y. Anthology Film Archives, Carnegie Mellon, GLAS Animation Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Hiroshima International Animation Festival and The Ottawa International Animation Festival. Lockhart has received fellowship at the National Film Board of Canada and support from the Canada Council for the Arts. She has completed residencies at Calgary’s Quickdraw Animation Society, Struts Gallery, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her drawings, comics and paintings have been published by Fantagraphics (Ditch Life, 2019), Drawn & Quarterly (Dirty Dishes, 2009), and by Colour Code (Looking Inward), 2016.

    Maggie Umber paints, prints and programs comics and she’s a co-Founder of the alternative comics publishing label 2dcloud. She’s published three graphic novels with 2dcloud (Sound of Snow Falling, Time Capsule and 270°) and her work has been widely anthologized. She’ll be signing a new story, “The Intoxicated” in Now: The New Anthology #8, which will debut at the event and also includes new work from Zuzu, Noah Van Sciver, Tara Booth, and others!

    “[Ditch Life] is legitimately armed and even dangerous stuff, with its barbs aimed at entirely deserving targets.” –Daily Grindhouse

    “Maggie Umber is one of the unsung heroes of art comics.” –Sequential State

    For more info:

    Fantagraphics.com

    Facebook Event Invite

    Thursday, March 12th, 7pm – Free Event

  • Transylvanian Mystic Isabelle Rizo Reads Tarot at Quimby’s, Feb 11th

    In this evening of exploring Tarot with Transylvanian Mystic, Hypnotist, and Artist Isabelle Rizo learn what the tarot cards will tell you. Having used tarot since 2014 as a way to ground herself on her travels she found the collective unconscious easily mirrored through her own experience.You can bring a simple question and we have a conversation with the cards, or bring something that you need specific guidance on. Isabelle’s readings are inspired by her Romanian upbringing, using Eastern European folk stories, symbolism, and ethnographic influences to give nuanced readings and performances. 

    “Isabelle witnesses and holds safe space wherever she goes.” –Emily Stroia, Author of Into the Light

    Isabelle has been featured in such places as: Atlas Obscura, Prague College, The Whoroscope Witch Podcast, and was hired by GOOP as a resident tarot reader. Way Cool Magazine. She is the resident tarot teacher at Inner Sense Healing Arts where she teaches every Wednesday night in Chicago. Her work and workshops have also been featured at Occult of the Bazaar, She Spoke International Art Exhibition, and Sideshow Gallery. She runs her hypnosis practice with a group of amazing diverse and queer therapists at Art of Balance in Chicago as well Head Facilitator of The Coven which is an online and offline group of artists, healers, and liminal space dwellers with international and local members. 

    Readings $5 – $25

    For more info visit isabellerizo.com

    Facebook Event Invite here.

    Tuesday, February 11th, 6pm

  • Al Burian Brings Anarchy and Apocalypse to Quimby's June 20th

    Writer, musician, comic artist zine-maker (and former Quimby’s employee) Al Burian (best known for his Orwellian-themed band Milemarker and darkly humorous personal zine Burn Collector) reads from new work and presents his newest book, NO APOCALYPSE: PUNK, POLITICS AND THE GREAT AMERICAN WEIRDNESS, a collection of columns and miscellany from turn-of-the-millennium publications such as PUNK PLANET and THE SKELETON. Seen through our contemporary lens, The 00’s reveal themselves to have been a time of splendidly naive optimism: remember when we all thought George W. Bush was the worst US president there could possibly be? Remember when the neighborhood seemed too crappy to ever get gentrified? Return to those carefree days, when the Y2K computer virus had just failed to happen and environmental collapse was still near-future science fiction.

    The evening also sees the first US appearance of DEAN STREET, an epic comic book series (we dare not say “serialized graphic novel”) by Al Burian and Berlin comic artist Oska Wald. The action in DEAN STREET takes place in a mythical version of Chicago, and features a zany cast of characters, some unnerving supernatural occurrences, and the best rock show ever drawn. 

    Plus a brief music performance by ANARKUSS, the post-apocalyptic no-electricity song and story act. A glimpse into what punk bands will sound like when the power grid fails and we all revert to eating nuts and berries…

    “Al Burian is the bastard love-child of Spalding Gray and Henry Rollins”  -Ex Berliner

    Thursday, June 20, 2019   7pm – Free Event

    More info:

    alburian.blogspot.com

    anarkuss.bandcamp.com

    Facebook Invite here.

  • 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.