Friday 7/25: The Newberry Library celebrates its 30th annual Book Fair today through Sunday. Highlights of the sale items include a swath of 17th and 18th century French literature, in French; Civil-War-era Harper’s magazines; and many selections of Chinese and Japanese poetry (translated). Tons of other titles available, most under 2 bucks. 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Corinne Mucha stops by Quimby’s to promote her new graphic autobiographical novel, Get Over It! Mucha has won several awards for her work and has appeared in Chicago Magazine and The Philadephia Inquirer. 7 p.m.
Saturday 7/26: The Museum of Contemporary Art hosts Word Weekend, a showcase of readings, live lit, and storytelling. Chicago’s authors, hip-hop artists, spoken word poets, songwriters, and visual artists focus solely on the power of text for the weekend’s activities. Events all day Saturday and Sunday.
The Paper Machete is a live magazine on American culture that performs at The Green Mill every Saturday. This week’s lineup features Chelsea Devantez, Candy Lawrence, Pete Lee, Sean Patton, Adam Peacock, and Marlena Rodriguez. It’s recorded live, and the podcasts of past shows are on the website. 3 p.m.
Brian Benson is at City Lit Books in support of his first book, Going Somewhere, a story about a cross-country journey by bike. Cheryl Strayed calls the book “tender” and “sexy.” 5 p.m.
Sunday 7/27: Just about every poetry slam and live lit event you’ve ever been to has its roots at The Green Mill and Marc Smith’s Uptown Poetry Slam. It runs another packed show as a part of its 27th year. 7 p.m.
Tuesday 7/29: StorySLAM Chicago returns to Martyrs’ for another month of live lit performances. The theme this month is “Altered.” This is one of the bigger live lit events in the city, so get there when the doors open at 6 p.m.
Leesa Cross-Smith releases her first story collection, Every Kiss a War, at City Lit. The book was a finalist for two top awards, The Flannery O’Connor Short Fiction Award and the Iowa Short Fiction Award. 6:30 p.m.
The Stoop returns to Rosa’s Lounge for storytelling, open mic, and blues. This month’s theme is The Shit, featuring Bill Drew, Darren Bodeker, Paul Whitehouse, and Daniel Ramirez. The show streams live every month at Gigity. 7 p.m.
Wednesday 7/30: Miss Spoken is one of the hottest new live lit events, featuring female-identified authors reading essays. Adult themes and language encouraged. This month’s theme is “Periods,” featuring Wendy McClure, Charlotte Hamilton, Katie Prout, and Allison Kelley. Gallery Cabaret, 7 p.m.
Thursday 7/31: Eula Biss is at City Lit to talk to Matthew Gavin Frank, a squid enthusiast, about his book, Preparing the Ghost. Frank combines tireless research, memoir, and fiction to produce a compelling, genre-bending text. 6:30 p.m.
Edan Lepucki has written one of the hottest new books in the country, and she stops at The Book Cellar to promote it. California has drawn comparisons to Cormac McCarthy and Margaret Atwood, and Stephen Colbert loves it so much that he’s using it as the centerpiece of his battle against Amazon. 7 p.m.
