Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Saturday 9/12 - 12pm Caroline Bicks is the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine. Her new book, Monsters in the Archives (praised by King as “the best book about my process that I have ever read”), chronicles what she discovered ... Read more
North Stage (On S. Dearborn St., just south of Ida B. Wells Dr.) Sunday 9/13 - 10am Carrie Muehle is a graduate of Northwestern University’s MFA program and a former Managing Editor of TriQuarterly, Northwestern’s literary magazine. She recently served as the president of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s associate board, where she led ... 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 Carrie Olivia Adams lives in Chicago, where she is the executive editor for the nonprofit press Black Ocean and the promotions and marketing communications director for the University of Chicago Press. Her ... Read more
Center Stage (On S. Dearborn St. in Printers Row Park between Polk and Harrison Streets, West Side of Dearborn.) Saturday 9/12 - 11am The Hiplet Ballerinas are the professional company of the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center in the USA. Hiplet™ was created by Artistic Director Homer Hans Bryant and evolved from the Rap Ballet of ... Read more
Grace Place, 1st Floor (637 S. Dearborn St.) Saturday 9/12 - 11am Chris Bower is a playwright/performer/teacher and an ensemble of the Curious Theatre Branch. His next short work, tentatively titled Drowned Dicks, a play about a basement flood that destroys a man’s collection of very rare and very unread Moby Dicks, will premiere at ... Read more
North Stage (On S. Dearborn St., just south of Ida B. Wells Dr.) Sunday 9/13 - 2pm Christine’s award-winning novel, Swarm Theory, was called a “a gripping work of Midwest gothic.” Her latest novel, a fictional reimagining of the Flint water crisis, is forthcoming. Her short stories, essays, and interviews have appeared in Allium, Make ... Read more
Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation Stage (On W. Polk St., just east of Clark St.) Saturday 9/12 - 2:30pm Flint, Michigan's Christopher Curtis spent thirteen years on the assembly line at Fisher Body Plant #1 putting driver's doors on big Buicks. This left Christopher with an aversion to getting into and out of big Buicks. ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Sunday 9/13 - 2pm Cianna is an award-winning producer, reporter and host. Cianna came to WBEZ in 2021, having worked at National Public Radio affiliates WYPR and WEAA at Morgan State University. She brings more than fifteen years of experience in producing talk shows, news ... Read more
Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation Stage (On W. Polk St., just east of Clark St.) Sunday 9/13 - 12pm Courtney Maum is the author of five previous books, including the romantic comedy Touch (New York Times Editors’ Choice) about a tech worker’s efforts to reclaim her humanity and the memoir The Year of the Horses ... Read more
Grace Place, 2nd Floor (637 S. Dearborn St.) Saturday 9/12 - 12pm Craig Duff is a national Emmy award-winning filmmaker, video journalist and theater artist. Sanctuary Stories — which he created with journalist Stephen Franklin — had a sold out run in early 2026 at the Windy City Playhouse. Craig’s Chicago stage credits include roles ... Read more
Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation Stage (On W. Polk St., just east of Clark St.) Saturday 9/12 - 4:30pm Originally from Bali, Indonesia, Cynthia Dewi Oka (Dewi) is the author of four poetry collections, most recently A Tinderbox in Three Acts (BOA Editions, 2022) and Fire Is Not a Country (Northwestern University Press, 2021). An ... Read more
North Stage (On S. Dearborn St., just south of Ida B. Wells Dr.) Saturday 9/12 - 4pm Cynthia Pelayo is a Bram Stoker Award and International Latino Book Award-winning author and poet. Her works have been nominated for the Chicago Review of Books, CHIRBy, Locus, and Elgin Awards. She is the editor of Something Followed ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Sunday 9/13 - 11am Daisy Hernández is the author of Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth, which Booklist calls “an essential book for these contentious times.” She is also the author of The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a ... Read more
Center Stage (On S. Dearborn St. in Printers Row Park between Polk and Harrison Streets, West Side of Dearborn.) Sunday 9/13 - 11am Daniel Hatcher has spent his career championing children’s health, well-being, and belonging. Through his work with schools, families, and communities across the country, he helps build bridges that support healthier, happier childhoods. ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Saturday 9/12 - 5pm Danielle Bainbridge is an assistant professor of theatre at Northwestern University. Her memoir, Dandelion, was released by Jaded Ibis Press in 2025 and her academic book Currencies of Cruelty: Slavery, Freak Shows, and the Performance Archive was published by NYU Press ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Sunday 9/13 - 4pm Danny Postel is Politics Editor of New Lines Magazine. He is the author of the book Reading Legitimation Crisis in Tehran and co-editor of several books on the Middle East. Previously he was Assistant Director of the Center for Global Studies ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Saturday 9/12 - 1pm David Cerda is a playwright, actor, and co-founder of Hell in a Handbag Productions, Chicago’s premier camp and parody theater company—now celebrating 25 years. He created and stars as Dorothy in the long-running hit The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes and ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Saturday 9/12 - 4pm David Masciotra is the author of six books, including Exurbia Now: The Battleground of American Democracy and I Am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters. He is a contributing writer with the Washington Monthly, and has written about many national publications about ... Read more
Grace Place, 1st Floor (637 S. Dearborn St.) Sunday 9/13 - 3pm David Murray is the author of several books, including Soccer Dad and An Effort to Understand: Hearing One Another (and Ourselves) in a Nation Cracked in Half. Murray is an award-winning journalist whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, ... 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 David is a Chicago native and improviser. If you want to know more... there's a thing called the internet.
Center Stage (On S. Dearborn St. in Printers Row Park between Polk and Harrison Streets, West Side of Dearborn.) Saturday 9/12 - 2pm David Saul Bergman is the pen name of Daniel Born, a Chicago-based writer and editor. Born taught English for forty years at institutions including Marietta College in Ohio, Dominican University, and Northwestern ... Read more
Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation Stage (On W. Polk St., just east of Clark St.) Sunday 9/13 - 4pm Dawn Turner is the author of the novel Majestic Hills. Her memoir, Three Girls from Bronzeville, won the inaugural Chicago Book Award and was named a Notable book by The New York Times, The Washington Post, ... Read more
North Stage (On S. Dearborn St., just south of Ida B. Wells Dr.) Saturday 9/12 - 12PM dr. dez brown (they/he), publishing as dezireé a. brown, is a Black queer nonbinary and transmasculine Pushcart Prize–nominated poet and interdisciplinary scholar, born and raised in Flint, MI. Their debut collection of poetry, they/she/he: ritual to forget your ... Read more
Center Stage (On S. Dearborn St. in Printers Row Park between Polk and Harrison Streets, West Side of Dearborn.) Saturday 9/12 - 1PM Dhe-Di Beats is a Chicago-based DJ known for delivering high-energy sets and creating unforgettable vibes. With a passion for connecting with audiences through music, she brings versatility, professionalism, and an infectious energy ... Read more
Digital Realty Stage (On W. Polk St., at Plymouth Ct.) Saturday 9/12 - 5PM Diane Williams, a retired arts administrator, professional storyteller, fiber artist, and author, specializes in writing nonfiction. Her extensive body of work includes numerous books, as well as contributions to literary journals and anthologies.