Are you missing that annual autumnal excuse to buy books and notebooks? You're in luck: Grab your glasses and your tote bag, because here's one event that is giving serious back-to-school vibes in the best way possible. The 40th Annual Printers Row Lit Fest takes over South Dearborn (between Polk Street and Ida B. Wells Drive) on Saturday, September 6, and Sunday, September 7, from 10am to 6pm, bringing together bibliophiles and culture vultures for a block party that's also an intellectual stimulant. Best of all? It's completely free and open to the public.
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Headlining this milestone year is Chicago lit royalty Sandra Cisneros (The House on Mango Street), who takes the stage Saturday at 10am. Later that afternoon at 3pm, the festival welcomes Bill Kurtis, the beloved Chicago news anchor and investigative journalist and judge/scorekeeper on NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, in conversation with Tribune icon Rick Kogan about his memoir Whirlwind: My Life Reporting the News.
Also taking over one of the fest's six stages will be chef Curtis Duffy, joined by food writer Laurie Woolever and veteran reporter Monica Eng, for a conversation about culinary storytelling, and author Don Zminda and reporter Evan F. Moore for a literary mashup of sports and social justice. There will also be panels about pressing social issues, including “Solidarity Is a Verb” and “Democracy at Stake: Lies, Disinformation, and the Fight for Truth.”
Kids get their own events, too, with story time kicking off 10am, featuring bilingual readings and draw-along sessions, and a Storybook Children’s Parade with free books for everyone in the parade crowd. And don't sleep on the bookstores dotting South Dearborn, stacked with shelves of new discoveries beside food vendors ready to fuel your body the way books fuel your spirit.
In a city where culture is fast-moving and festivals come and go, Printers Row Lit Fest has been thriving for four decades. So whether you’re lounging on a curb with a freshly purchased novel, cheering on puppet-turned-novelist antics in the kids rally or just chasing that new book smell, the two-day event is a reminder that Chicago still writes, reads and breathes words.
More information and a full lineup of events can be found here.