Author Reading

For You, Madam Lenin

Livingston Press

The Receptionist: An Education at The New Yorker

Algonquin

In 1957, as a fresh-from-the-Midwest college graduate, Janet Groth was hired

as a receptionist for the New Yorker magazine, a position she held for the next 21 years.

During that time she ran interference for angry wives checking on adulterous husbands;

drank with famous writers at legendary watering holes throughout Greenwich Village;

and was seduced, two-timed, proposed to, and manipulated by a few of the eccentric

inhabitants of the New Yorker’s 18th floor offices. In a tale that’s a little bit Mad Men

and a little bit The Best of Everything, Groth’s memoir offers a fresh and intimate

perspective. Emeritus professor at SUNY, she ahs also taught at Columbia University,

Vassar, and Yale. Help us welcome her at a reception with cocktails and appetizers.

Summer of the Gypsy Moths

Harper Collins

We are delighted to be hosting acclaimed children’s author Sara Pennypacker.

The first stand-alone novel from Pennypacker since the blockbuster Clementine series,

Summer of the Gypsy Moths is a poignant middle-grade novel about two foster children

who, after a tragedy, must find a way to work together in order to survive. The New York

Times Book Review compares Pennypacker to Beverly Cleary, and we are confident her

new novel will appeal to fans of Sharon Creech, Katherine Paterson, and Kate DiCamillo

and to any middle-school fans of heartfelt and funny stories of smart and resilient girls.

Sappho’s Salon: A Provocative Night of Lesbian Diversions

Featuring Kelli Dunham and Sheree Greer, Special Guest DJ SpinNikki

$7-$10 sliding scale includes food and wine

October’s installment of our popular salon night for lesbians and their friends

features New York–based comedian Kelli Dunham and writer Sheree Greer. Kelli

Dunham is everyone’s favorite ex-nun genderqueer nerd comic. Named by Velvet Park

magazine as one of 2011’s most significant queer women, Dunham has performed her

work nationwide, and her comedy CDs are on regular rotation on Sirius Satellite radio’s

comedy station. Sheree Greer, a Milwaukee native and alumni of Columbia College

Chicago is an Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice Writers Fund finalist and author of

the short story collection Once and Future Lovers. Sappho’s house DJ SpinNikki will

keep you warm between sets with her eclectic mix of indie, electronic, pop, soul, and

world music.

Proceeds benefit the artists and the Women’s Voices Fund.

Comfort & Joy: Stories of Hope, Meditations for Happiness

Dog Ear Publishing

In her new book, award-winning Chicago journalist Sylvia Ewing looks inside the

faith practices of a diverse group of people, from comedian Aaron Freeman to astrologer

Mary Whitney, to explore ideas of self-awareness and the search for enlightenment.

Using anecdotal stories as a springboard, Comfort and Joy provides meditation

techniques, advice, and inspiration that can help anyone live a more reflective, balanced,

and happy life.

Relative Strangers

Carolina Wren Press

Margaret Hermes’ debut short story collection was the recipient of the 2011 Doris

Bakin Award. Of Relative Strangers, award judge Jill McCorkle raved, “Every single

story is vivid and memorable, and yet the collective thematic effect is powerful . . . . It’s

all here – change, loss, alienation. But so is humor and compassion and a fresh spin on

the way people deal with the most vulnerable aspects of life.” Hermes, a Chicago native,

currently lives in St. Louis.

Julia’s Cats: Julia Child’s Life in the Company of Cats

Abrams

In honor of the chef’s 100th birthday, please join us for a Julie Jubilee, featuring

Terry Burson and Patricia Barey, authors of Julia’s Cats: Julia Child’s Life in the

Company of Cats, which is filled with rare personal photos and is based on anecdotes

found in Julia’s letters. A variety of books by and about Child will be on hand and

refreshments (including wine, of course) will be served. We encourage you to bring your

favorite Julia Child dish to share!

Jane’s Stories IV: Bridges and Borders

Jane’s Stories Press

Join us tonight for the release of Jane’s Stories Press Foundation’s newest

Vagina: A New Biography

Harper Collins

In 1991, feminist social theorist
Naomi Wolf broke ground with her international bestseller, The
Beauty Myth. Eleven years and seven books later, Wolf returns to
her essential message of female empowerment in her new release,
Vagina. In it, she reveals a connection between a woman’s
experience of her vagina and her sense of self. Drawing on work
ranging from evolutionary biologists, to tradition-based tantric
masters, to some of the most recent neurobiological research, Wolf
sheds light on the profound connection the vagina has to the female
brain and in the process radically reframes women’s history and
female identity.  

The Six Granddaughters of Cecil
Slaughter

Fifth Star Press

Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus

Beacon Press

Since June 2011, beloved novelist Elinor Lipman (The Inn at Lake Devine, Then She Found Me) has faithfully recorded the ups and downs of the election season every morning in the form of one 140-character rhyming poem. The resulting tweets became widely popular with her followers and even received the attention of some of her subjects. (Barney Frank was delighted.) Praised as “John Stewart in 140 characters,” Lipman’s wry and clever Tweets have now been collected in a single volume for all to enjoy, including this tweet from 6/6/11:

Bye-bye Paycheck Fairness Act,

Women once again get smacked.

The GOP all voted nay.

Good luck, you guys, election day.  

Poetry Reading

CM Burroughs

The Vital System

Tupelo Press

Kristina Maria Darling

The Moon and Other Inventions: Poems
After Joseph Cornell

BlazeVOX Books

In her debut collection, CM Burroughs
compresses phrasing and subverts syntax to craft a slowly emerging
narrative. In the process she exposes particular tensions that are
gendered and racial as well as essentially human. Kristina Marie
Darling is the author of eight books of poetry. Her work has been
honored with fellowships from Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the
Creative Arts, and the Vermont Studio Center.  

Locally Grown: Portraits of
Artisanal Farmers From America’s Heartland

Agate Midway

From farmer’s markets to community
supported agriculture, artisanal and sustainable farming has exploded
over the past decade. In her new book, Anne Blessing explores the
sustainable farming movement through 20 in-depth profiles of
Midwestern farms. Along the way, she demonstrates how these farmers
have forged relationships with many of Chicago’s most high-profile
chefs, including Rick Bayless, Stephanie Izard, Sarah Stegner, and
Paul Kahan, propelling the sustainable agriculture movement into a
central feature of Chicago’s culinary culture. For tonight’s
event, Blessing will by joined by farmer Abra Berens from Michigan’s
Bare Knuckle Farm.  

Sappho’s Salon

Featuring Sarah Terez Rosenbaum and
Diva Kai with DJ SpinNikki

$7-$10 includes food and wine

Tonight’s installment of our popular
salon night for lesbians and their friends features Sarah Terez
Rosenblum, author of the critically acclaimed novel, Herself When
She’s Missing (Soft Skull Press), and local indie folk
rocker Diva Kai. Sappho’s house DJ SpinNikki will round out
tonight’s lineup. Proceeds benefit the artists and the Women’s
Voices Fund. 

Arrested Justice: Black Women,
Violence, and America’s Prison Nation

New York University Press

Despite the fact that Black women in
marginalized communities are uniquely at risk of battering, rape,
sexual harassment, stalking, and incest, race and culture have never
been widely considered in the analysis of the causes and consequences
of gender violence. In her new book, University of Illinois professor
and director of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy
Beth Richie explores how the extent of violence in the lives of Black
women is minimalized--at best--and frequently ignored. Arrested
Justice brings issues of sexuality, class, age, and
criminalization into focus alongside questions of public policy and
gender violence, resulting in a compelling critique, a passionate
reframing of stories, and a call to action for change.