In May 1865, Charleston, South Carolina had been largely abandoned by its white residents. Among the first Union troops to enter the city after its surrender were black infantry regiments. They marched in singing liberation songs. As historian David Blight put it: “Thousands of black Charlestonians, most former slaves, remained in the city and conducted a series of commemorations to declare their sense of the meaning of the war.” The Confederates had used a race [...]
This piece by NWA writer Edmee Cappas Velez, “This Is What I Miss,” is a litany of what’s unique to her homeland of Puerto Rico. She conveys those feelings beautifully: she appeals to each of the senses to craft a tapestry of what you might feel on a beach, and in the shade, and at home, over the course of a day and night. And then everything she remembers encountering there begins to coalesce into [...]
The Neighborhood Writing Alliance is closing out May in style with our benefit tomorrow. That also means June is right around the corner. And with it, a bunch more great literary events around Chicago. Let’s get out our calendars and take note of some of the highlights for the month of June. The annual Printer’s Row Lit Fest, brought to you by the Chicago Tribune and taking place June 8 and 9, is one of [...]
Our 2013 Every Person Is a Philosopher Annual Benefit is almost upon us! It takes place this Wednesday (May 22) at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Ballroom, 112 S. Michigan Ave. We’ve been teasing the event for a while now, and we hope you’ve all gotten a ticket if you can make it, or passed the word along to a friend or made a donation if you can’t. But in case you [...]
We’re excited for the Neighborhood Writing Alliance’s 2013 Every Person Is a Philosopher Annual Benefit, taking place next Wednesday, May 22! Our featured speaker is Nami Mun, author of the bestselling novel Miles from Nowhere, in conversation with Annie Tully of One Book, One Chicago. We’ve been hosting a virtual book club of Mun’s novel, which with this post will be drawing to a close. If you’re just joining us, check back in with our first, second, third, and fourth installments, as [...]
As many of you know, our Every Person Is a Philosopher Annual Benefit is next Wednesday, May 22! We’re really excited and proud about what we have in store for the evening. If you’ve been following our book club discussion of Miles from Nowhere, you’ve been hearing about the Benefit’s featured conversation between author Nami Mun and Annie Tully, the director of One Book, One Chicago. But as you might have heard, that is hardly [...]
Guest post by Maggie Bridger On Saturday April 27, middle and high-schoolers from all over Chicago gathered at Columbia College Chicago for this year’s Raw Voices: Teens in the Media Arts Festival. Over the course of the day, participants have the chance to engage with some of Chicago’s community-based media organizations both through a Media Fair and one of several workshops hosted all across campus. I, as a volunteer representative for the Neighborhood Writing Alliance, [...]
In this edition of Meet the Philosophers, we talk with NWA writer Lew Rosenbaum about his life of interweaving reading, writing, and activism, his Rogers Park neighborhood, and the crisis surrounding education in Chicago. What is your name? Lew Rosenbaum If you had to give yourself a title, what would it be? Writer, bookseller, revolutionary. How long have you lived in Chicago? Where in the city do you live? I’ve been in Chicago for 26 [...]
We’re excited for the Neighborhood Writing Alliance’s 2013 Every Person Is a Philosopher Annual Benefit, taking place May 22! Our featured speaker will be Nami Mun, author of the bestselling novel Miles from Nowhere, in conversation with Annie Tully of One Book, One Chicago. We’re hosting a virtual book club to read and discuss Mun’s work, so check this space almost every Thursday leading up to the benefit—and if you’re just joining us, check back in with our first, second, [...]
The song “Little Boxes,” written and originally recorded in 1962 by Malvina Reynolds, has been covered by a lot of musicians over the years—including by her friend Pete Seeger. The song, a highly catchy and cheerfully satirical tune about the social conformity of post-war suburban America, lends itself well to adaptation and reinterpretation, as NWA writer Mary Gray Kaye did very capably with her piece “The Same.” Kaye’s statement about the “little mindsets” and the enforcing [...]
For Memorial Day, the Different Stories We Remember
In May 1865, Charleston, South Carolina had been largely abandoned by its white residents. Among the first Union troops to enter the city after its surrender were black infantry regiments. They marched in singing liberation songs. As historian David Blight put it: “Thousands of black Charlestonians, most former slaves, remained in the city and conducted a series of commemorations to declare their sense of the meaning of the war.” The Confederates had used a race [...]
“The ocean singing along with the coqui”: On the Front Porch with “This Is What I Miss”
This piece by NWA writer Edmee Cappas Velez, “This Is What I Miss,” is a litany of what’s unique to her homeland of Puerto Rico. She conveys those feelings beautifully: she appeals to each of the senses to craft a tapestry of what you might feel on a beach, and in the shade, and at home, over the course of a day and night. And then everything she remembers encountering there begins to coalesce into [...]
A Taste of What Awaits You at Our Benefit This Wednesday!
Our 2013 Every Person Is a Philosopher Annual Benefit is almost upon us! It takes place this Wednesday (May 22) at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Ballroom, 112 S. Michigan Ave. We’ve been teasing the event for a while now, and we hope you’ve all gotten a ticket if you can make it, or passed the word along to a friend or made a donation if you can’t. But in case you [...]
Virtual Book Club: The Conclusion of Miles from Nowhere!
We’re excited for the Neighborhood Writing Alliance’s 2013 Every Person Is a Philosopher Annual Benefit, taking place next Wednesday, May 22! Our featured speaker is Nami Mun, author of the bestselling novel Miles from Nowhere, in conversation with Annie Tully of One Book, One Chicago. We’ve been hosting a virtual book club of Mun’s novel, which with this post will be drawing to a close. If you’re just joining us, check back in with our first, second, third, and fourth installments, as [...]
“I can touch the universe this way”: Looking Ahead to Next Week’s Benefit with “Boundless Freedom”
As many of you know, our Every Person Is a Philosopher Annual Benefit is next Wednesday, May 22! We’re really excited and proud about what we have in store for the evening. If you’ve been following our book club discussion of Miles from Nowhere, you’ve been hearing about the Benefit’s featured conversation between author Nami Mun and Annie Tully, the director of One Book, One Chicago. But as you might have heard, that is hardly [...]