Category: Store Events

  • Off-Site: Quimby's Selling Anders Nilsen's Poetry Is Useless at Poetry Magazine Release Party at the Poetry Foundation

    PoetrySummertime_Final_webDon’t miss Quimby’s at the launch party celebrating the newest issues of Poetry magazine, its contributors, readers, and the poetry curious. The POETRY Summertime PARTY, celebrating Poetry magazine’s June and July/August 2015 issues, features readings and visual presentations from contributors Erika L. Sánchez, Amy Newman, and Anders Nilsen—followed by a “useless” Q & A with Poetry editors Fred Sasaki and Lindsay Garbutt and a performance by musical guest KSRA. Quimby’s will be there selling issues of Poetry Mag as well as Anders Nilsen’s new book Poetry Is Useless!

    This free, all-ages bash features snacks from Lula Café, book sales courtesy of Quimby’s, and a GlitterGuts photobooth. Grab the newest issues of Poetry and take advantage of special subscription offers, plus a book signing with Anders Nilsen for his forthcoming title Poetry Is Useless. Performances begin at 7:00PM.

    Amy Newman’s most recent books include On This Day in Poetry History (forthcoming) and Dear Editor (Persea Books, 2011). She teaches at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Her poem “Howl” appears in the July/August issue.

    Anders Nilsen is the artist and author of, most recently, Poetry Is Useless (2015) and Rage of Poseidon (2013), both published by Drawn & Quarterly, and The End (Fantagraphics Books, 2013). His comics appear in the July/August’s “The View from Here” portfolio.

    Erika L. Sánchez is a Fulbright Scholar, CantoMundo Fellow, and winner of a 2013 “Discovery”/Boston Review Poetry Prize. Her poem “Narco” appears in the June  issue.

    With special musical guest KSRA. Producer, singer, and songwriter KSRA (pronounced que sera) is known for her performances featuring sampling and killer operatic soul vocals. Her single “Bad Habit,” featuring Talib Kweli, is available through her website, ksramusic.com.

    Please note! This event is NOT at Quimby’s! It is at:

    Poetry Foundation & Poetry Magazine

    61 W Superior St, Chicago, Illinois 60654


    More information at http://poet.ly/OoRVM

    Facebook event page here.

  • Bob Suren reads from Crate Digger: An Obsession with Punk Records 7/17

    cdig_lgCrate Digger: An Obsession with Punk Records is a funny, honest and personal memoir of thirty years in the D.I.Y. punk scene. There are stories about touring, recording studios and record stores. There are stories about success, failure, disappointment, self-actualization and heartbreak. There are 60,000+ words, 192 pages and 39 photos. The story takes place over three decades in nine countries on four continents. There are nine deaths, two basset hounds and one love poem. There are special appearances by Jello Biafra, Ron Reyes (possibly), Tesco Vee, Joey Shithead, Cheetah Chrome and one very serious FBI agent.

    

    "Really brings to life the early days of the American punk scene as it spread slowly across the country, through turntables, fanzines, and word of mouth.  His vivid vinyl recollections illustrate how good record stores and adventurous college radio stations were so essential in bringing startling new music into the lives of many previously isolated kids.  It follows the trajectory of a kid as his passion for music became all-consuming."
    

    – Jeff Nelson, Minor Threat and Dischord Records
    

    

    "A fun, easy-to-read, personal narrative of 30 years of living through "Punk Rock" - finding records, going to concerts, making discoveries, and a myriad of other experiences - that help the reader "make sense" of a still-inspiring cultural revolution and breakthrough "philosophy of life" that spawned the current "entrepreneurial culture" (where everybody wants to start their own "start-up"). D-I-Y, indeed..."
    

    -- V. Vale, founder of SEARCH & DESTROY and RE/SEARCH Publications
    

     
    

    Bob Suren has written for numerous underground music magazines over the decades such as Maximum Rocknroll, Engine, Seven Inches to Freedom and published his own magazine, Heavy Rotation. Crate Digger is his first book.
    

    For more info: microcosmpublishing.com or surentime(at)gmail(dot)com 
    

    Untitled2Fri, July 17th, 7pm
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Sophie Goldstein Reads From The Oven 7/10
    
			
    theovenIn Sophie Goldstein’s new book The Oven (AdHouse Books), she talks about a hopeful and dystopian future. Ozone depletion and dwindling resources have driven the human race into domed cities where population controls are strictly enforced. When a young couple goes looking for an anti-government paradise in the desert they may have found more than they bargained for.
    

    “Sophie Goldstein’s artwork looks very simple, but it’s the kind of simplicity that’s complexity boiled down to a potent concentrate.” –Douglas Wolk, NYTimes.com
    

     
    

    Sophie Goldstein is a 2013 graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies.  In 2014 she won an Ignatz Award for her mini-comic, House of Women, Part I. Her first book Darwin Carmichael is Going to Hell, co-written with Jenn Jordan, was self-published in 2013 with funding from Kickstarter. Her second book, The Oven, was released by AdHouse Books in April, 2015. Sophie has also illustrated a children’s book, Poopy Claws, written by Gene Ambaum. Her work has appeared in various publications including Best American Comics 2013, The Pitchfork Review, Maple Key Comics, Sleep of Reason, Symbolia, Trip 8 and Irene 3. She currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA.
    

     
    

    For more info: redinkradio.com
    

     
    

     
    

    Friday, July 10th, 7pm – Free Event
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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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
    
			
    nystoriesbeerIn 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
    
			
    3Songs June 2015
    

    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
    

    Facebook event invite here.
    

    Sun, June 28th, 6pm
    
LiveWire Lounge
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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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.
    

    1Signings
    

    For information about signings for Special Guests, Publishers, and CAKE poster artist Ivan Brunetti, visit www.cakechicago.com/2015-expo/signing-schedules
    

    2
    

    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
    

    Screen shot 2015-06-03 at 11.07.24 AMCAKE 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).
    

    Screen shot 2015-06-03 at 11.15.28 AM
    

    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
    
			
    Poster_Low-Res porcWhat 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
    
			
    Adobe Photoshop PDF
    

    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
    

    DCS-JHopp-bookpicpreview-54270002
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Off-Site: Chicago Zine Fest 2015 – Celebrates its Sixth Year with New Dates and Locations
    
			
    CZF 15 Art
    

    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
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Josh Simmons Reads From Black River 5/7
    
			
    

    blackrivertour_quimbys
    

    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:
    

    jhscomics.tumblr.com/
    

    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