Sponsored by the Departments of English, Fiction, and Journalism at Columbia College Chicago. Additional sponsors include the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) and Critical Encounters: “Rights, Radicals + Revolutions.

October 17-20

ALL EVENTS LOCATED IN STAGE TWO, 618 S. MICHIGAN AVE., SECOND FLOOR and are free and open to the public.

Jump to the schedule for:
M 17 October || T 18 October || W 19 October || R 20 October

Daily Schedule

Monday, October 17

1:30:    B. A. & MFA NONFICTION STUDENT READING

3:30:     MEMOIR PANEL:

• SAMUEL AUTMAN is a writer who teaches creative writing, freshman composition and journalism at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.  

• TOM MONTGOMERY FATE  is the author of five books of nonfiction, including Beyond the White Noise, a collection of essays, Steady and Trembling, a  spiritual memoir, and Cabin Fever, a new nature memoir (Beacon Press, 2011).

• ANNE-MARIE OOMEN is author of An American Map, Pulling Down the Barn, and House of Fields (both Michigan Notable Books from Wayne State University Press).

6:30:     CLAUDIA RANKINE  

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, and educated at Williams College and Columbia University, CLAUDIA RANKINE is the author of four collections of poetry, including the award-winning Nothing in Nature is Private. Her latest book, Don't Let Me Be Lonely, is a multi-genre project that blends poetry,essays, and image. She lives and teaches in California.

Tuesday, October 18

3:30:     A PANEL: DIGITIZING & VIDEO-IZING THE ESSAY:

• JOHN BRESLAND works in video, radio, and print. His audio essays have aired on public radio’s Weekend America, and his video essays can be seen at Ninth Letter, Blackbird, and The Fourth Genre, an anthology of contemporary creative nonfiction.

• THE GOGGLES are Paul Shoebridge and Michael Simons (see headliners).

• ANNE WYSOCKI is Associate Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in written, visual, and digital rhetorics. She is lead author of Writing New Media: Theory and applications for expanding the teaching of composition.

6:30:     THE GOGGLES

Paul Shoebridge and Michael Simons are award-winning creators of THE GOGGLES and have produced magazines—most notably, Adbusters—books, television spots, and major international advocacy campaigns. Their work has won numerous international design awards, has been on CNN and MTV, in documentaries for BBC, PBS and Dutch National Television, and featured in more than 100 international publications. 

Wednesday, October 19

1:30  FRANK MAIN & MARK KONKOL  

• FRANK MAIN is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who has covered criminal justice for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1999.

• MARK KONKOL writes about Chicago and its people as a general assignment and feature reporter and blogger for the Chicago Sun-Times.

3:30     FACULTY READING:

• JACKIE SPINNER, Journalism

• AMES HAWKINS, English

• BOBBY BIEDRZYCKI, Fiction

6:30     LAURA KIPNIS

A cultural theorist/critic and former video artist, LAURA KIPNIS’S present work focuses on the intersections of American politics, psyche, and the body. In addition to five books, her essays and reviews have appeared in Slate, The Nation, Critical Inquiry, Social Text, Wide Angle, the Village Voice, Harper's, the New York Times Magazine, and numerous edited collections.

Thursday, October 20

3:30     SOUTH LOOP REVIEW: CREATIVE NONFICTION + ART PUBLICATION RELEASE

South Loop Review: Creative Nonfiction + Art is published annually by the Creative Nonfiction Program in Columbia Department of English.

6:30     LAURENCE GONZALES

Winner of two National Magazine Awards and the Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, LAURENCE GONZALES is the author of numerous books, including the bestseller Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why (W.W. Norton).  His most recent book is the novel, Lucy.