Friday 5/23: James Fearnley is in Lincoln Square to promote his music memoir Here Comes Everybody: The Story of the Pogues. He’ll also talk about his new literary and music projects. The Book Cellar, 7 p.m.
You’re Being Ridiculous is a live lit performance in the bar above Hamburger Mary’s in Andersonville. Six readers take the stage to tell true and funny stories. Each is about 10 minutes long. Mary’s Attic, 7:30 p.m.
Right across the street from Mary’s is Women and Children First Books, and tonight Claire Zulkey is talking to Johanna Stein about her humorous take on parenthood, How Not to Calm a Child on a Plane. She’ll also talk about the writing and producing she’s done for just about every cable outlet. 7:30 p.m.
Saturday 5/24: JaQuavis Coleman is at the West Englewood branch of the Chicago Public Library to promote his new book, The White House, a compelling true story about a drug kingpin’s murder in Detroit. 2 p.m.
Tuesday 5/27: The Moth StorySLAM returns to Martyrs’ to present a lively evening on the theme “Celebration.” Doors open at 6 p.m. and stories start at 8 p.m. It fills up fast, so plan ahead.
Wednesday 5/28: Miss Spoken is a hot new live lit event featuring only female storytellers. This month’s theme is Boobs. The storytellers include some of Chicago’s best: Samantha Irby, Natasha Samreny, Melanie LaForce, Jasmine Davila, and Alicia Swiz. The evening is hosted by Carly Oishi and Rosamund Lannin. The Gallery Cabaret. 7 p.m.
Thursday 5/29: Dark House Press is an imprint of the Chicago publisher, Curbside Splendor, and it’ll be at City Lit Books to celebrate its first release, The New Black: a Neo-Noir Anthology. Lindsay Hunter and Joe Meno will read. 6:30 p.m.
StoryStudio is one of the better writing centers in the city, offering writing workshops and seminars of all kinds. Tonight some of its star pupils take the stage in Lincoln Square to read from works created from the workshops. The Book Cellar, 7 p.m.
Dasha Kelly stops into Women and Children First to read from her innovative collection, Call it Forth, which features a mixture of fiction, poetry, social media and blog posts. She’s joined by the poet and children’s playwright Elsie Mae Jones. 7:30 p.m.
