Category: Store Events

  • Chicago Zine Fest Karaoke Night Fundraiser 1/23 at Beauty Bar

    CZF KaraokeCheck one, check two. Get set to sing the night away Friday, January 23rd, 9pm, at Chicago Zine Fest’s annual karaoke fundraiser at Beauty Bar, 1444 W Chicago Ave.

    The entertainment will be provided by Shameless Karaoke. Their diverse songbook covers all genres with selections from artists including David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Neil Diamond, Duran Duran, Erasure, Michael Jackson, the Kinks, Madonna, Motley Crue, Oasis, Ozzy Osbourne, Prince, Rolling Stones, Sir Mixalot, Britney Spears and a variety of punk and new wave classics as well.

    There is a $5 admission which will benefit the 2015 Chicago Zine Fest. The event beings at 9pm and is 21+. Hosted by Shameless Karaoke KJ, Caboose zinester and Quimby’s manager Liz Mason. Beauty Bar will offer drink specials all night long including a signature martini and a manicure.

    Take the stage and own it. Bring friends and sing a duet. Or enjoy from the crowd. Come out and have a good time and support self-publishing in Chicago.

    About CZF: The Chicago Zine Fest is an independent event creating an outlet for small press and independent publishers to showcase their work. Our goal is to make DIY zine-making accessible, highlight the talents of self-published artists, and give independent artists a chance to interact, and swap skills through tabling, community events, and workshops. Quimby’s Bookstore is proud to be a sponsor of CZF. For more information visit chicagozinefest.org.

    Click here for the Shameless Karaoke Song List.

    Please note this event is NOT at Quimby’s, it is at at Beauty Bar, 1444 W Chicago Ave.

  • Zine & Comics Events: Making Magic Happen Librarians & Zinesters, at Quimby’s 1/30

    10525990_754931634597050_5967572867258852891_n

    Join librarians and zine enthusiasts at Quimby’s Bookstore to discuss running a successful zine or comics event – whether it’s a one-hour DIY workshop for teens or a festival with thousands of attendees. Librarians, zinesters, and comics makers will share stories and tips about developing community through events, and then open the floor to your questions. This workshop to learn about promoting comics and zines from successful planners from the Chicago Zine Fest, Chicago Public Library and more.

    Featured speakers include: Johnny from Chicago Zine Fest, Julie Koslowsky (Outreach Coordinator for YOUmedia at the Chicago Public Library and CZF) & Joshua for Mid-Michigan Zine Fest.

    Coordinated with the 2015 American Library Association Midwinter Conference, this is your chance to meet and talk about zines with some of the 12,000 librarians who will be in Chicago. After the event (and time for browsing), head around the corner to Dimo’s for vegan-friendly pizza (1615 North Damen Avenue).

    This event is free and open to the public – anyone interested in zines or libraries is encouraged to attend!

    For more info:

    Violet Fox (violetfox(at)gmail(dot)com)

    Log in to Facebook for event page here.

    Friday, Jan 30th, 7pm – Free EventUntitled1

  • Quimby’s 2015 Zlumber Party 1/31 and 2/1!

    Sharpies & Long Arm

    Hey zinesters and comics artists! Come to our Zine Slumber Party (Zlumber Party, geddit? Gosh we’re clever.) This is the fourth year in a row we’re inviting you to come in and spend the night with us working on your zine, because we’ve had so much fun doing it in the past. The store closes at 10pm on Sat the 31st and then you’re invited to spend the night here (and yes, you can leave whenever you want). So bring yer jammies and a sleeping bag if you wanna take a break to catch a few zzzz, then leave in the morning with what you’ve been workin’ on. Interested in attending? Give us a holler so we have a head count, at either: info(at)quimbys(dot)com or call us at 773-342-0910. PLUS: Snacks! Coffee! Creative weirdos!

    Pizzas took over the new table at The #QuimbysBookstore Zlumber party. Riot Grrrl book review included.

    A photo posted by Quimbys Bookstore (@quimbysbookstore) on

    And oh yeah, we’ll feed you too.

    Facebook event link here.

    Sat, Jan 31st 9:30pm – Sun Feb 1st, 8am

    pockyeverybody

    hardatwork

    ——–

    Quimby’s Zlumber Party Helpful Info Update!

    Hi Everybody!

    In terms of what to bring, definitely whatever project you’re working on, whether it’s a zine, a comic, a book, a magazine, an artist book — independent publishing knows no bounds!

    Be here at 9:30pm this saturday, the 31st (the store closes at 10pm). This is NOT a lock in; you can leave whenever you want. You can stay as late as 8am on sunday morning, which is the official end time for the event.

    Wear comfy clothes! Don’t forget your sleeping gear! A sleeping bag if you wanna take a break to catch a few zzzz (or just be comfy), a pillow, footie pajamas, a blanket, slippers…whatever makes you comfy.

    We’ll provide some snacks and coffee, but you may want to bring some snacks with you if you like. A good way to make new friends is bring food, is all we’re saying. If you have food sensitivities or allergies please bring whatever nourishment you need to bring to sustain you.

    We’ll also provide some office supplies (papers, pens, scissors, staplers, that type of thing), chairs and tables.

    One final note: Please don’t feel pressured to feel like you have to finish whatever you’re working on before you leave. If you feel excited to work on your project once you’ve been working on it here, that you’ve started your 2015 off jazzed that you got the creative ball rolling, then we’ve done our job (that’s once of the reasons we do this event in January). When you’re all done with your zine and you want to consign it here, we’re excited to sell it for you. More info about consignment here.

    See you Saturday at 9:30pm!

  • Chloé Griffin presents Edgewise: A Picture of Cookie Mueller 10/28

    edgewise_cmCookie Mueller (1949-1989) was an actress, a writer, a go-go dancer, a mother and an icon. A child of suburban 1950s Maryland, she made her name as an actress in John Waters’s films, including Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble, and then as an art critic for Details magazine and a columnist for the East Village Eye, gaining a reputation as a writer of hilarious stories and a maven of New York’s downtown art world.

    Edgewise tells the story of Cookie’s life in the form of an oral history assembled from more than 80 interviews with the people who knew her, including John Waters, Mink Stole, Gary Indiana, Sharon Niesp, Max Mueller, Linda Yablonsky, Richard Hell, Amos Poe and Raymond Foye. The contributors take us from the late-1960s artist communes of Baltimore to 1970s Provincetown and New York, through 1980s Berlin and Positano.

    This book marks the first time Cookie’s full story has been told in any form—whether print, film or online.

    This event will feature a reading, multimedia presentation and conversation between the author and writer Britt Julious.

    “Quite possibly the best history of New York’s much-reprised ‘last avant-garde’ of the 1980s, Edgewise reinvents the inspired amateurism of Mueller’s work, and also creates unforgettable portraits of John Waters’s Baltimore and Provincetown in the 1970s, ‘when the water was still clean.’”

    —CHRIS KRAUS, author of I Love Dick and Summer of Hate

    Current press for Edgewise appears in the October issues of Interview, Bomb, Frontiers and Vice magazines.

    Emily Gould ranked Edgewise first in her top ten books for the Fall in PaperMag.

    For more info: cookiemuellerbook.com

  • Meet the Artists of Speculative Relationships at Quimby's Fri, 10/24

    Speculative Relationships poster

    Join the creators behind the recently released sci-fi romance comics anthology Speculative Relationships at Quimby’s on Fri, Oct 24th at 7pm.  The event will feature 4 Chicago comics creators featured in the book:

    Isabella Rotman (Scarleteen.com, Animal Sex, Dig)

    Daniel Warren Johnson (Space-Mullet.com, Ghost Fleet)

    Tyrell Cannon (Victus, Gary)

    Scott Kroll (Bone Dog, A Cramped Well-Pressurized Space)

    There will be a presentation by the artists and copies of Speculative Relationships will be available for purchase and signing.

    Speculative Relationships: A Science Fiction Romance Comics Anthology

    In the mid-twentieth century, romance was the most popular genre in comics. Comic publishers produced dozens of titles throughout the 1950s and 60s, and many of the medium’s top artistic talents such as Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, and Frank Frazetta worked in romance comics. However, by the 1970s, the once-dominant genre of romance comics all but died out.

    The artists featured in the new Speculative Relationships anthology are ready to start the revival.  The anthology features up-and-coming artists creating brand-new science fiction romance comics:

    Isabella Rotman

    Michael Manomivibul

    Rinko Endo

    Daniel Warren Johnson

    Tyrell Cannon

    Scott Kroll

    The eight stories in the anthology include  a cyborg fighting alien hordes for love, a computer AI in love with a sleeping interstellar voyager, two robots that were literally made for each other, and so much more!

    Find out more:

    speculativerelationships.tumblr.com

    Twitter@scifiromancecom

  • Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz Reads From Dr. Mütter’s Marvels 10/4

    Dr._Mutters_Marvels smlr

    In Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’s new book DR. MÜTTER’S MARVELS (Gotham Books), she explores the previously untold told life story of the man with the famous name: a young, handsome and ambitiously brilliant surgeon whose talents in the operating room and lectures halls were unrivaled in his lifetime. The book delves deep into the life of a man who was truly ahead of his time – from Mütter’s early years as an orphan and time spent studying cutting-edge surgery in Paris, to his struggles to establish himself in Philadelphia amidst the outrageous rivalries among his fellow doctors—many of whom publicly mocked Mütter’s philosophies and innovations (including his devotion to pre- and post-operative care, employing anesthesia, and even the sterilization of his tools).

     

    Although he only lived for 47 years, Mütter’s impact within medicine is still felt, and his legacy lives on with his enormously popular namesake museum. And now, with DR. MÜTTER’S MARVELS, his strange,inspiring and untold story can finally be shared.

     

    “In her deftly crafted narrative, the author provides an absorbing

    account of the charismatic surgeon’s life and career as well as a vivid look at the medical practices and prejudices of his time. Aptowicz draws nicely on Mütter’s speeches and lectures to reveal the depth of his empathetic philosophies and humanist approach.” –Kirkus Reviews

     

    The work of Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz has been featured in such places as: Bust Magazine, About.com’s Poetry Channel, and the spoken word anthology Word Warriors. Most recently, she has been awarded a 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Poetry and the 2013 Amy Clampitt Residency.

     

    For more info: http://aptowicz.com

  • John Porcellino Launches The Hospital Suite 9/27

    porcellino092714Join Quimby’s and John Porcellino on Saturday, September 27th, at 7pm, for the launch of his latest, The Hospital Suite! There will be a presentation with a signing to follow. This event will also feature a screening of Root Hog or Die, a new documentary celebrating 25 years of King-Cat Comics.

    The Hospital Suite is a landmark work by the celebrated cartoonist and small-press legend John Porcellino—an autobiographical collection detailing his struggles with illness in the 1990s and early 2000s. One day, John Porcellino suddenly fell ill with extreme stomach pain. After a gruelling abdominal surgery, he quickly recovered–briefly–and then spent the next several years experiencing various surprise illnesses, both physical and mental. First a rash of environmental intolerances left Porcellino black-eyed, cadaverous, and dizzy. Then his mild obsessive-compulsive tendencies became full-blown. With three overlapping narratives, The Hospital Suite recounts one man’s battle for health–Porcellino loses jobs, marriages, and faith but never loses his desire to live and create.

    John Porcellino is the author of the iconic zine King-Cat and the graphic novel Perfect Example. His comics are lauded for their quiet, clear-eyed contemplation of every-day life. The Hospital Suite is a testimony to Porcellino’s subtle gift for transforming his struggles–this time with the medical system and its consequences for his mental health–into art that is universal and engaging.

    Learn more about the documentary here.

    PORCELLINO_selfillo_300

  • CHIPRC's Zine Zine Club Returns!

    ZZC Sep14ZineZineClubFlyer

    CHIPRC’s zine book club is back Wed, September 10th, 8pm. The club will be reading Kerri Radley’s Deafula #7 and Brianna Dearest’s Motor City Kitty #23 available at Quimby’s and through Stranger Danger Zine Distro. Also bring in a zine you’ve been reading too. There’s room to discuss them all! There is a suggested $3 donation. All ages.

    For more info visit:
    strangerdangerzines.com
    quimbys.com
    chiprc.org

    Please note: This is not at Quimby’s. It is at The Chicago Independent Publishing Resource Center at 858 N. Ashland.

    Wed, Sep 10th, 7pm

  • Lane Milburn Talks About Twelve Gems 8/30

    TwelveGemsQuimbyPosterThe sci-fi epic Twelve Gems by Lane Milburn takes place somewhere in the outer cosmos, beyond reckoning or observation. The mysterious Dr. Z has enlisted three space heroes to search the galaxy for the fabled Twelve Gems of Power: the hulking alien-brawn Furz; the beautiful and deadly sabre-wielding Venus; and the soft-spoken canine technician, Dogstar. They meet many strange and storied characters on their journey, but none so strange or sinister as their dear benefactor himself. With a heavy dose of humor and wall-to-wall action, this is one of the most action-packed and funny books of the year.

    “It’s ’80s-indie black-and-white space-opera action as you like it!” – Robot 6

    Lane Milburn was born and raised in Lexington, KY. He graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2008 with a degree in Painting. While living in Baltimore, Milburn self published several minicomics with the underground art collective, Closed Caption Comics. The Xeric Foundation awarded him a grant in 2009 for his book Death Trap which he self published in 2010. Milburn currently lives and works in Chicago, IL where he is an active member of the alternative comics community.

    12gemscover

  • Release Event For the 2nd Printing of Jeff Zwirek's Burning Building Comix 8/15

    bbcChicago artist, Jeff Zwirek self-published his debut Graphic Novel, Burning Building Comix, in late 2012. Less than a year later, Zwirek’s supply was nearly gone thanks in large part to the direct market distribution he received with Diamond Comics Distribution through alternative comic’s publisher Top Shelf. After a spate of universal acclaim, Zwirek has gone back to press with a 2nd printing.  In that time, Burning Building Comix, was named in a few, year-end top ten lists, including USA Today, and it gained Zwirek the role of Slate.com’s featured artist for their July book review section, which also called the book, “The most inventively made comic of the year.” Join Jeff at Quimby’s to celebrate the second printing.

    “A Bold Exploration of the Form”  – The Chicago Tribune

    Jeff Zwirek is the author of several self-published works, including Burning Building Comix, Jack Rabbit, BlackStar, Pinstriped Bloodbath, and many others. His work has been nominated for Ignatz and Space prize awards, and his work has been named a “notable comic” several times in the Best American Comics anthology. His freelance work has been seen on NFL.com, IFC, and ESPN. He is also one of the founders of, and continues to co-organize, CAKE (the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo).

    Join Jeff at Quimby’s to celebrate the occasion on Friday, August 15th at 7pm.

    Book Tour Poster - Quimbys Flat