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Category: Store Events
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Ben Tanzer and Jonathan Travelstead read from The New York Stories and How We Bury Our Dead With Zoe Zolbrod and Seth Berg 7/7
In 2006, celebrated author Ben Tanzer began working on a series of short stories all set in the fictional upstate New York town of Two Rivers, most of them published in various literary journals over the years and eventually collected into the three small volumes Repetition Patterns (2008), So Different Now (2011), and After the Flood (2014). Now for the first time, all 33 of these stories have been gathered in The New York Stories, for what is already being recognized as career defining collection.“With great humor and the natural voice of your closest confidant, Ben Tanzer brings us stories set in our shared fictional hometown of Two Rivers, NY. With tenderness and heart, Ben brings us real people and their poignant, messy struggles, reminding us of the folly of our youth and the beauty in even our most mundane histories. Though my family left when I was small for the big city, Tanzer has given this reader the gift of a sliding door here, and I think you’ll feel the same way, wherever you’re from.” – Elizabeth Crane, author of We Only Know So Much
Winner of the 2013 Cobalt Poetry Prize for his poem “Trucker,” Jonathan Travelstead has compiled an astounding collection of adrenalized poetry. How We Bury Our Dead is a narrative work which follows a single speaker as he jumps from one intense situation to the next in order to avoid his mother’s struggle with cancer. An Air Force firefighter, he volunteers to accompany his unit to Kuwait, and, after returning and still unable to cope, he hitchhikes his way across Alaska before finally going home.
“Jonathan Travelstead maps the quest for his elemental “end points and beginnings.” Doing so, he spans topography as various as Southern Illinois strip mines, automobile accident scenes, and Iraqi battle zones. What results are narratives that bare-knuckle gut-punch easy redemption. These poems honor the dead and the dying, refusing to avert the eye from certain explosion. It’s no wonder the keenest offer “prayers” for hand tools that do something palpably useful, say, prying open the wrecked heart’s flaming chariot of half-spoken desires.” —Kevin Stein, author of Wrestling Li Po for the Remote
Tanzer and Travelstead will be joined Zoe Zolbrod, author of the acclaimed novel Currency (Other Voices Books, 2010) and poet Seth Berg, co-author of The Aviary, the recent Twin Antlers Prize for poetry from Artistically Declined Press.
For more info: Ben Tanzer: tanzerben(at)gmail(dot)com
Tuesday, July 7th, 7pm – Free Event
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Offsite: Quimby’s Night at LiveWire Lounge: 3 Songs, 3 Writers Reading About Those Songs 6/28
The LiveWire Lounge (3394 N Milwaukee) asked Quimby’s to curate a night at their lounge. So this is what we’re bringing, a themed mix of reading and music with a very specific focus.
Ben Tanzer, reading about The World’s a Mess by X
Shay DeGrandis, reading about Ever Fallen In Love by the Buzzcocks
Paul Durica, reading about Children of the Revolution by T. Rex
All 3 songs performed by The Blue Ribbon Glee Club
Original Readings by:
Ben Tanzer is the author of the books 99 Problems, My Father’s House, You Can Make Him Like You, Orphans, which won the 24th Annual Midwest Book Award in Fantasy/SciFi/Horror/Paranormal and a Bronze medal in the Science Fiction category at the 2015 IPPY Awards, and Lost in Space, which received an Honorable Mention in the Chicago Writers Association 2014 Book Awards Traditional Non-Fiction category, among others. He has also contributed to Punk Planet, Clamor, and Men’s Health, serves as Senior Director, Acquisitions for Curbside Splendor and can be found online at This Blog Will Change Your Life.
Shay DeGrandis is an artist, writer, producer, administrator, well-meaning amateur therapist, and accidental comedian. She produces and hosts the Chicago edition of Mortified, a comedy show of “personal redemption through public humiliation.” Helping performers bring to light their most awkward adolescent writing, she persuades them to share their shame with strangers. Shay also likes to share her own shame both on stage and off and has, in fact, fallen in love with someone she shouldn’t have fallen in love with . . . multiple times. You can see what the results look like at shaydegrandis.com
Paul Durica is a teacher, writer, and public historian. Since 2008 he has been producing a series of free and interactive public history programs under the name Pocket Guide to Hell. These talks, walks, and reenactments use costumes, props, music, and audience participation to make the past feel present. Paul has collaborated on programs with a range of cultural institutions from across Chicago including the Jane Addams Hull House Museum, Chicago History Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Gallery 400, Smart Museum, and Sullivan Galleries among others. Paul’s writing on Chicago history and culture has appeared in Poetry, The Chicagoan, Mash Tun, Lumpen, and elsewhere and, with Bill Savage, he is the editor of Chicago By Day and Night: The Pleasure Seeker’s Guide to the Paris of America (Northwestern UP, 2013). pocketguidetohell.com
The Blue Ribbon Glee Club is Chicago’s punk rock a capella glee club, and regularly performs songs by Fugazi, Gang of Four, the Dead Kennedys, the Buzzcocks and more.
Please note: This event is NOT at Quimby’s. It is at the LIVEWIRE LOUNGE | 3394 N MILWAUKEE AVE, CHICAGO, IL
Sun, June 28th, 6pm
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CAKE Chicago Alternative Comics Expo & CAKE Satellite Events Thurs-Sun, 6/4-6/7
If you haven’t been living under a rock then you know CAKE is this weekend. Quimby’s is proud to co-sponsor. The tabling exhibition is at The Center on Halsted (3656 N. Halsted Ave) 6/6 & 6/7, but did you know there are other CAKE-related events going on around town? Here was a most recent missive from the folks at CAKE HQ that we thought it helpful to repost here!
The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo is this Saturday and Sunday, June 6 & 7! We can’t wait! Before the weekend get’s started, we wanted to share some more information about the exciting weekend ahead.
SigningsFor information about signings for Special Guests, Publishers, and CAKE poster artist Ivan Brunetti, visit www.cakechicago.com/2015-expo/signing-schedules
Satellite Events
Thursday, June 4:
Visiting Artist Lecture: Dash Shaw at the DePaul School of Cinematic Arts, 14 E Jackson Blvd #LL105 at 6pm
How to Draw Comics The Ladydrawers’ Way featuring Femicomix Finland at Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N Clark St at 6pm
Comic Reading at the Archer Ballroom 3012 S. Archer Ave 3rd floor at 7PM featuring readings by Lale Westvind, Blaise Larmee, Anna Haifisch, Andy Burkholder, Sarah Ferrick, Lane Milburn, Gina Wynbrandt, Krystal DiFronzo, Paul Nudd, and David Alvarado. Hosted by Nick Jackson.
Friday, June 5:
Jaime & Gilbert Hernandez Signing at Graham Crackers Comics, 77 E Madison St from 6-8pm
CAKE Presents: Eleanor Davis, John Porcellino & Keiler Roberts panel moderated by Hillary Chute at Quimby’s Bookstore, 1854 W North Ave at 7pm
Andy Burkholder’s Qviet Book Release/Exhibition at Learning Machine Gallery, 3145 Morgan at 7pm
CAKE Weekend Kickoff Concert, featuring CAKE exhibitors sound projects, 3012 S. Archer Ave 3rd floor at 8PM
CAKE Afterparty
Saturday, June 6:CAKE is hosting two Saturday after parties in the same building!
Enter through the 4th floor entrance for both parties, a $5 donation supports the bands & the Observatory, an independently run music space.
8pm – late The Observatory, 3036 N. Lincoln, 4th floor. CAKE will be hosting a night of musical performances after the first day of exhibition. Bring some cash, there will be a bar. Performers include: Ambergris featuring Matt Thurber, Traducer featuring Lane Milburn, Pet Theories featuring Brian Cremins, and Naff Whiff featuring Eddy Rivera.
8pm – midnight: 3036 N Lincoln, 3rd floor. For exhibitors looking for a quiet place to meet up, join us on the 3rd floor (below The Observatory) for a Drink & Draw sponsored by Print Ninja. Snacks will be provided by CAKE; BYOB, or purchase drinks at The Observatory and bring them downstairs to the drink & draw. To get to the Drink & Draw space, go to the 4th floor after party and go down the back stairwell to the 3rd floor (the same stairwell that allows rooftop access).
CAKE Minicomic Incentive Punchcard
We are so excited to have our punchcard incentive back this year- As if buying mini comics wasn’t reward enough!
When you buy a mini-comic you support a fantastic self-publishing artist! We will be handing out incentive punchcards to all of our exhibitors at the beginning of the day Saturday.
Spend $8- $15- Get a free CAKE 2015 poster!
Spend $15- $25- Get a free CAKE 2015 poster, and an assortment of 5 1-inch CAKE buttons, provided by CAKE sponsor Busy Beaver Buttons!
Spend over $25- Get an assortment of 5 1-inch CAKE buttons, and a CAKE 2015 screenprinted poster printed by Steve Walters of Screwball Press!
Thank you Mike Freiheit for the wonderful punchcard design!
The Fourth Annual Chicago Alternative Comics Expo will take place on Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7, 2015 at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N Halsted Ave.For more info: cakechicago.com
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CAKE Presents . . . A Conversation with Eleanor Davis, John Porcellino, and Keiler Roberts Moderated by Hillary Chute 6/5
What better way to usher in CAKE weekend than a conversation with three of the most innovative cartoonists working today? If there’s a graphic narratives supergroup—the Emerson, Lake, & Palmer of American indie comics—this is it.Eleanor Davis’s Fantagraphics collection How to Be Happy was just nominated for a 2015 Eisner Award. Keiler Roberts’s series Powdered Milk is a consistently stunning example of why so many of us fell in love with autobiographical comics in the first place. John Porcellino’s The Hospital Suite was one of the most critically acclaimed comics of 2014. With King-Cat Comics and Stories now 25 years old and going stronger than ever, John remains one of the guiding lights of the indie comics scene and for CAKE itself. Hillary Chute, comics scholar extraordinaire, author of Graphic Women: Life Narrative and Contemporary Comics and Outside the Box: Interviews with Contemporary Cartoonists, will moderate this exciting roundtable.
Please join us for a rocking, inspiring kick-off event for CAKE 2015! For more information on this event & on the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo, visit cakechicago.com . CAKE is June 6th-June 7th. Quimby’s is proud to be a co-sponsor.
Click here for the Facebook invite for this event.
Friday, June 5th, 7pm – Free Event!
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Jessica Hopper Reads From The First Collection of Criticism By a Living Female Rock Critic 5/29
Featherproof is proud to announce the publication of legendary rock critic Jessica Hopper’s newest book, The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic, in Spring 2015.
Jessica Hopper’s music criticism has earned her a reputation as one of the firebrands of the form, a keen observer and fearless critic not just of music, but the culture around it, revealing new truths that often challenge us to consider what it is to be a fan.
With this premiere volume, spanning from her punk fanzine roots to her landmark piece on R. Kelly’s past, The First Collection leaves no doubt why the New York Times has called Hopper’s work “influential.” Not merely a selection of two decades of Hopper’s most engaging, thoughtful and humorous writing, this book serves as a document of the last 20 years of American music making and the shifting landscape of music consumption.
Through this vast range of album reviews, essays, columns, interviews, and oral histories, Hopper chronicles what it is to be truly obsessed with music, the ideas in songs and albums, how fantasies of artists become complicated by real life, and just what happens when you follow that obsession into muddy festival fields, dank basements, corporate offices or court records.
PRAISE FOR THE FIRST COLLECTION OF CRITICISM BY A LIVING FEMALE ROCK CRITIC BY JESSICA HOPPER
“Jessica Hopper’s criticsm is a trenchant and necessary counterpoint not just on music, but on our culture at large.” —Annie Clark, St. Vincent
“In this crucial book, Hopper schools us all on the art of criticism. You’ll be reminded, as I was, why you care to read and write about (and listen to!) music to begin with. Hopper’s relationship with music is a joy to behold.” —Tavi Gevinson, Editor-in-Chief, Rookie
“I read Hopper’s book with a sense of bewildered gratitude. She concedes nothing to the idea that it is dumb to care so much. The excitement in her work is that these things are worth scrapping about.” —Rob Sheffield, author of Love is a Mixtape
About Jessica Hopper:
Jessica Hopper’s music criticism has been included in Best Music Writing 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2011. Her first book, The Girls Guide to Rocking, was named one of 2009’s Notable Books for Young Readers by the American Library Associa- tion. She is Senior Editor at Pitchfork and the Editor-in-Chief of The Pitchfork Review. She lives in Chicago with her husband and two young sons.
Click here for the Facebook invite for this event.
For press inquiries: Dana Meyerson dana(at)biz3(dot)net
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Off-Site: Chicago Zine Fest 2015 – Celebrates its Sixth Year with New Dates and Locations
Quimby’s is proud to help co-sponsor Chicago Zine Fest, an annual celebration of self-publishing efforts, is now marking its sixth year. For the 2015 festival, there will be a new date as the festival moves to the month of May, held during the weekend of Friday May 8th and Saturday May 9th. The festival also brings its exhibition to a new location, Plumbers’ Union Hall in the West Loop. Come visit Quimby’s at table S07 at the zine exhibition tabling on Saturday, May 9th 11am-6pm there at Plumbers’ Union Hall!
“We’re excited for these changes. It’ll be great to welcome our audience to such a historic Chicago venue,” said festival promotion committee chair John Wawrzaszek.
The festival weekend kicks off Friday May 8th at 5 pm with a panel titled Zines: A Future Craft which will be a discussion with zine creators Jonas, Julia Eff, and Ocean Capewell, moderated by Jenna Freedman. This event is sponsored by The University of Chicago Library. The night continues with a pair of readings. At 7pm join our annual youth reading, Zines: The Next Generation followed by an 8 pm reading by festival exhibitors. CART services for the deaf and hard of hearing will be provided at each of Friday’s events. All events will be held at Access Living, 115 W. Chicago Ave.
The weekend’s main attraction will be a zine exhibition taking place on Saturday May 9th, 11 am- 6 pm. Over 250 zinesters will exhibit their publications, host workshops, and lead panel discussions in the spirit of self-publishing. The exhibition will be held at Plumbers’ Union Hall, 1340 W. Washington Blvd.
Organizing goals for the 2015 fest included increasing the number of festival exhibitors and forming new community partnerships. In choosing a new location for the festival exhibition, there has been room for more tables allowing more exhibitors to showcase their work. The festival registration filled up in record time this year with all tables selling out in under an hour. Nearly half of registered exhibitors will be taking part of CZF for their first time this year. New community partnerships have allowed the festival to schedule programming topics that meet the festival’s mission and support the work of its partner organizations.
“CZF strives to offer diverse programming every year in order to continue to engage our communities in conversations,” says festival programming coordinator Julie Koslowsky.
The zine exhibition will be supported with programming throughout the day including an activity making area, button making presented by Busy Beaver Buttons, and a photo booth provided by Glitter Guts. Workshop topics include radical poetry, interactive performances, resisting assimilation, and hands-on drawing techniques.
“There’s a different experience that we offer at an event like the Chicago Zine Fest where consumers can chat with the zinesters and artists who created the work,” says Koslowsky.
The Chicago Zine Fest is a volunteer-operated event creating an outlet for small press and independent publishers to showcase their work aiming to make DIY zine making accessible, highlight the talents of self-published artists, and give independent artists a chance to interact and swap skills. The Chicago Zine Fest 2015 is sponsored by 826CHI, Chicago Publishers Resource Center, CHIRP Radio, InoPrints, The International School of Comics, Perfectly Acceptable Press, The University of Chicago Library, and Quimby’s Bookstore.
CZF 2015 artwork was created by Chicago artist and illustrator Corinne Mucha.
All event spaces are wheelchair accessible. All events are free and open to the public.
Click here for the CZF Exhibitor List.
Click here to see the Facebook invite about a CZF volunteer meeting on April 19th!
For more info:
Visit chicagozinefest.org for more information.
Press inquiries: chicagozinefest(at)gmail(dot)com -
Josh Simmons Reads From Black River 5/7
Josh Simmons returns with his first full-length graphic novel since 2007’s acclaimed House. A group of women, one man, and two dogs are making their way through a post-apocalyptic world in search of a city that supposedly still has electricity and some sort of civilization. Along the way, they go to a comedy club, take a drug called Gumdrop, and encounter gangs of men who are fools, lunatics, or murderous sadists. In other words, all manner of terrors.
Simmons is one of the field’s most distinctive voices in the genre of horror, (The Furry Trap, House) and this full-length graphic novel is his best work yet – echoing director John Carpenter’s perfect tick-tock pacing, as well as Shirley Jackson’s ability to transcend genre and turn it into literature.
“Josh Simmons has concocted a hellish world in which madwomen roam a post-apocalyptic landscape – but its battlescars are nothing compared to the self-obliterating hell of their own minds. A horrifying, unforgettable vision.”
– Kier-La Janisse (House of Psychotic Women)
Josh Simmons was born in Connecticut in 1977. He is the creator of the graphic novels House, Jessica Farm Volume One, and The Furry Trap. He currently lives in New Haven, CT.
For more info:
http://www.fantagraphics.com/blackriver
Click here to see video of pages from the book.
Facebook event invite for the event.
Thursday, May 7th, 7pm – Free Event
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There Will Be Popcorn: Celebrate Free Comic Book Day and Independent Bookstore Day
Have you heard the good news? This year both Free Comic Book Day and Independent Bookstore Day fall on the same awesome Saturday (May 2)! Come to Quimby’s for free comics PLUS popcorn and Quimby’s-centric movies playing all day long. Pop a squat with some corn and be awed by the rad collision of a mega-bookstore event.
Click here for Facebook invite.
*** Awesome concession stand artwork by Neil Brideau ***
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Quimby's Welcomes Joyce Brabner 4/18
The renowned graphic-book author Joyce Brabner’s Second Avenue Caper is the true story of a tight-knit group of artists and activists living in New York City in the early 1980s who found themselves on the front lines in the fight against AIDS.Struggling to understand the disease and how they could help, they made a deal with a bona fide goodfella, donned masterful disguises, piled into an “A-Team” van, and set off for the border, determined to save their bedridden friends by smuggling an experimental drug into the United States from Mexico.
With their community in crisis and the world turned against them, this impassioned gang of misfits never gave up hope as they searched for ways to raise awareness and beat the plague. Fast-paced, poignant, and beautifully illustrated by the award-winning illustrator Mark Zingarelli, Second Avenue Caper is a heartfelt tribute to the generation that faced down AIDS.
Joyce Brabner is an award-winning author of nonfiction comics about tough social issues. She frequently collaborated with her late husband, Harvey Pekar, on his American Splendor series. Her own titles include the Real War Stories series, Activists!, Brought to Light (with Alan Moore), numerous short stories, and Our Cancer Year (also with Harvey). She lives in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and is rather more lighthearted than any of the actresses who have portrayed her in various plays or in that movie.
Facebook event post: https://www.facebook.com/events/869711073072299/
Sat, April 18th, 7pm
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A Night of Cartoonists: Keiler Roberts, Gina Wynbrandt, and Special guest Nicole J. Georges 3/26
Nicole Georges will reading from her book, Calling Dr. Laura and discuss the process of making it, and will talk about her senior citizen zine project, Tell It Like It Tiz. Keiler Roberts (Powdered Milk) and Gina Wynbrandt (Big Pussy) will read from their comics.
Info about Keiler Roberts here and Gina Wynbrandt here.
Nicole J. Georges is a writer and illustrator from Portland, Oregon. Her Lambda Award winning graphic memoir, Calling Dr. Laura, was called “engrossing, lovable, smart and ultimately poignant” by Rachel Maddow, and “disarming and haunting, hip and sweet, all at one” by Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home. She has been publishing her own zines and comics for almost twenty years; and has toured the country extensively, including two appearances on Michelle Tea’s Sister Spit tour. Nicole’s diary comic zine, Invincible Summer, has been collected into two anthology books. Nicole was the 2013 Fellow at the Center for Cartoon Studies, where she was also on faculty. She won the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Arts Education in 2012, and currently teaches at California College for the Art’s MFA in Comics Program.
In her spare time, Nicole writes an advice column for Bitch Magazine, publishes a yearly animal calendar, and volunteers with senior citizens at Portland’s Marie Smith Center (she publishes a zine about these seniors, called Tell It Like It Tiz). She is currently at work on a graphic memoir called Fetch: How a Bad Dog Brought Me Home. It will be out with Mariner books in 2017.? More info: nicolejgeorges.tumblr.com.
