Grace Place, 2nd Floor (637 S. Dearborn St.) Saturday 9/12, 12pm Jean Marie Koon (she/her) is excited to bring Sanctuary Stories to Lit Fest. Some Chicago theatre credits include: Tongue of a Bird (Rosebud Theatricals), Uncle Vanya (New Theatre Project), Richard III (Eclectic Full Contact Theatre); The Good Fight (Babes With Blades); three annual Bechdel ... Read more
Grace Place, 1st Floor (637 S. Dearborn St.) Saturday 9/12, 3pm Chicago, Illinois— A former sportswriter for the Chicago Sun-Times and elsewhere, Jeanie Chung does various kinds of writing in Chicago and Champaign, Illinois.
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Saturday 9/12, 2pm Jeffrey Winters is a professor and past chair of political science at Northwestern University, and the Director of the Equality Development and Globalization Studies Program at Northwestern’s Buffett Institute. Renowned for his groundbreaking work on oligarchs and elites, Winters wrote the influential ... Read more
Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation Stage (On W. Polk St., just east of Clark St.) Sunday 9/13, 2pm Jennifer Acker is a writer, editor, and translator. She is founder and editor in chief of the global, award-winning literary magazine The Common. Her debut novel, The Limits of the World, was a finalist for the Massachusetts ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Saturday 9/12, 12pm Jeremy T. Wilson is the author of the novel The Quail Who Wears the Shirt and the short story collection Adult Teeth, both published by Tortoise Books. He is a former winner of the Chicago Tribune’s Nelson Algren Award for short fiction, ... Read more
North Stage (On S. Dearborn St., just south of Ida B. Wells Dr.) Saturday 9/12, 11am Jerry Nunn has written for Windy City Times for over 22 years and has worked for 15 years as the entertainment editor for GoPride.com. He is a member of the Critics Choice Association, where he is the founder of ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Saturday 9/12, 2pm Joan Esposito is the afternoon host at political talk radio at Heartlandsignal.com, AM820
North Stage (On S. Dearborn St., just south of Ida B. Wells Dr.) Sunday 9/13, 3pm Joe Meno is a writer from Chicago. A winner of the Nelson Algren Literary Award, a Pushcart Prize, and a finalist for the Story Prize, he is the bestselling author of nine novels and two short story collections including ... Read more
North Stage (On S. Dearborn St., just south of Ida B. Wells Dr.) Saturday 9/12, 3pm A pioneer in the field of LGBTQ history and the history of sexuality, John D'Emilio has written or edited a dozen books, including Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin; Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Sunday 9/13, 10am John West is a writer and technologist. He reports the news with code at the Wall Street Journal, where his work has received multiple awards including two Pulitzer prizes. The Boston Globe called his first book, Lessons and Carols, “lyrical and crystalline.” ... Read more
Center Stage (On S. Dearborn St. in Printers Row Park between Polk and Harrison Streets, West Side of Dearborn.) Saturday 9/12, 4pm As Executive Editor of The Onion, Jordan LaFlure spends much of his time claiming credit for the work of the world's finest editorial staff. He began his career in newspapers as a page ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Saturday 9/12, 12pm Juan Martinez is the author of the novel Extended Stay (2023) and the story collection Best Worst American (2017). He lives near Chicago and is an associate professor at Northwestern University and a fiction editor for Jackleg Press. His work has appeared ... Read more
Center Stage (On S. Dearborn St. in Printers Row Park between Polk and Harrison Streets, West Side of Dearborn.) Sunday 9/13, 10am Juan Sedonio is an Illinois-based theatre artist and life enrichment professional. Juan was recently seen in Nova Entertainment's new debut play production of Hail Mary/Maria at Theater Wit in Chicago, IL. Juan was ... Read more
North Stage (On S. Dearborn St., just south of Ida B. Wells Dr.) Sunday 9/13, 4pm Julian Randall is a Living Queer Black poet from Chicago. A recipient of multiple fellowships, including a Pushcart Prize. He holds an MFA from University of Mississippi. His writing appears in The New York Times Magazine, POETRY, People and ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Saturday 9/12, 10am Kasey Evans has worked as a professor of English literature at Northwestern University for more than two decades.
Center Stage (On S. Dearborn St. in Printers Row Park between Polk and Harrison Streets, West Side of Dearborn.) Saturday 9/12, 10am Kate is a resident of Aurora and is a Speech-Language Pathologist for Valley View School District 365U in Romeoville, IL. She has been a member of the Broadway Dropouts Improv Troupe for a ... Read more
Grace Place, 2nd Floor (637 S. Dearborn St.) Saturday 9/12, 11am Kathleen Rooney is a founding member of Poems While You Wait and a founding editor of Rose Metal Press. Her fifth novel, Man Overboard!, was released in July and her newest poetry collection, O Western Wind, will be published in January 2027. She lives ... Read more
Center Stage (On S. Dearborn St. in Printers Row Park between Polk and Harrison Streets, West Side of Dearborn.) Saturday 9/12, 5pm Kazim Ali's newest book of poetry is The Man in 119. He is a professor at the University of California, San Diego, and founding editor of Nightboat Books.
North Stage (On S. Dearborn St., just south of Ida B. Wells Dr.) Sunday 9/13, 12pm Keith S. Wilson is a poet, game designer, and multimedia artist. He is an Affrilachian Poet and a Cave Canem fellow and a recipient of an NEA Fellowship, a Kenyon Review Fellowship, and a Stegner Fellowship. Additionally, he has ... Read more
Center Stage (On S. Dearborn St. in Printers Row Park between Polk and Harrison Streets, West Side of Dearborn.) Saturday 9/12, 4pm Kelsie is a comedian and arts educator dedicated to expanding access to comedy through performance, education, and community engagement. As the Director of Marketing and Training Center Program Development at The Lincoln Lodge, ... Read more
Center Stage (On S. Dearborn St. in Printers Row Park between Polk and Harrison Streets, West Side of Dearborn.) Sunday 9/13, 10am Kerry is thrilled to be returning to Printers Row Lit Fest with her improv troupe Broadway Dropouts. The setting is great and the kids were so fun to entertain.
Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation Stage (On W. Polk St., just east of Clark St.) Sunday 9/13, 3pm Kim Fu is the author of the novels For Today I Am a Boy (2014), The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore (2018), and most recently, The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts (2026), a Belletrist Book Club pick, New ... Read more
Grace Place, 1st Floor (637 S. Dearborn St.) Saturday 9/12, 1pm Kimberly Gomes is a writer, songslinger, and creativity coach. She’s the author of A Road of Her Own, (Red Light Lit Press, 2026) and a poetry collection, Love Notes to the Body (Dancing Girl Press, 2019). Her novel was named a semi-finalist for the ... Read more
Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation Stage (On W. Polk St., just east of Clark St.) Saturday 9/12, 11:30am LaShawn Harris is an award-winning Professor of History at Michigan State University. Her first monograph Sex Workers, Psychics, and Number Runners: Black Women in New York City’s Underground Economy was published by the University of Illinois Press ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Saturday 9/12, 11am Laura Rodríguez Presa is a senior journalist at the Chicago Tribune. She covers immigration, community, and culture, focusing on how immigration policy intersects with the human experience. Her reporting highlights the impact of laws and political decisions on immigrant communities, particularly Latino ... Read more