This week, author Samantha Hoffman shares her insights on grieving, writing, and inspiration. Life events often provide inspiration for our writing. The year after my father died is the jumping off point for my novel What More Could You Wish For. My father was my biggest fan and greatest supporter. He told me I could(…)
Speaker Spotlight: Robert K. Elder
We’re gearing up for this year’s Chicago Writers Conference by catching up with some of our past speakers. First up is Robert K. Elder, author of It Was Love When: Tales from the Beginning of Love, It Was Over When: Tales of Romantic Dead Ends, The Film That Changed My Life and Last Words of the Executed. Robert(…)
Conference dates announced, World Book Night
Chicago Writers Conference 2013 Dates Announced Mark your calendar, we have dates! The 2013 Chicago Writers Conference will take place September 27-29, 2013. The conference gets off to a roaring start with a kick-off party on Friday, September 27 at Open Books bookstore. Events on Saturday and Sunday will be held at Harold Washington Library,(…)
World Book Night 2013
April 23 is World Book Night, an annual celebration of reading. Every year, half a million books are given away by an enthusiastic group of volunteers. The event’s goal is to inspire and encourage reading in the adult population by the old-fashioned method of word-of-mouth. An independent panel of booksellers and librarians compile a(…)
Roger Ebert on Writing
Chicago is still mourning the loss of Pulitzer-prize winning film critic, Roger Ebert. The Urbana native and long-time Chicagoan, wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death though many will also remember him for his syndicated commercial television show, Siskel and Ebert and the Movies. When he lost his ability to speak, one of the(…)
A Sample of Our Favorite Comedy Books
In light of the Chicago Improv Festival that is already in full swing, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite laugh-out-loud books. Though they range from memoirs to socio-cultural critiques, all of the items in our top five have one thing in common: At one point or another, every single author has(…)
Novel Submission 101 Registration Open
It’s time again for Writers Night Out, our workshop series where you can learn some real-world skills to further your writing career. Our next workshop, Novel Submission 101, takes place April 22 and 29. This two-week workshop will walk you through the dos and don’ts of preparing and submitting your novel for publication. Author Holly(…)
Call for an Intern and Pictures from Soup and Bread
The Chicago Writers Conference is looking for a college intern for the spring/summer! We need a bright, energetic soul to help us with the work we do. Our intern will work with social media, help with programming, contribute to the blog, and pitch in for event planning (we promise it won’t be anything like this).(…)
Events This Week and Beyond
We’re keeping busy at CWC with more events this week and in the month to come. First off, remember to come out to The Hideout for Soup and Bread tonight. Our Executive Director, Mare Swallow, will be a guest chef! For more information, check out our blog from last week. If you can’t make it,(…)
Photos from Open Books; Soup and Bread Upcoming
Thanks to everyone who came out to our events last week. The reading at Open Books was a smashing success, with over 60 people in attendance. We’re very excited about our quarterly events with “the most beautiful bookstore in Chicago,” and can’t wait for the next one in the(…)