Center Stage (On S. Dearborn St. in Printers Row Park between Polk and Harrison Streets, West Side of Dearborn.) Sunday 9/13, 12pm Rowan Beaird's first novel, The Divorcées, was named a best book by Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, People, The Independent, and the Chicago Review of Books. Her short fiction has appeared in The Kenyon Review, ... Read more

North Stage (On S. Dearborn St., just south of Ida B. Wells Dr.) Sunday 9/13, 12pm Rocío Franco is a Chicana poet from Chicago. The Frost Place, The Watering Hole, Periplus Collective, VONA, Tin House, StoryStudio, and the Ragdale Residency have supported her work. She was selected for the 2026 Guild Literary Complex's 35 Writers ... Read more

Grace Place, 2nd Floor (637 S. Dearborn St.) Saturday 9/12, 11am Robert P. Baird is a novelist, journalist, and critic. In 2025, he published his debut novel, The Nimbus, which The New Yorker called one of the “Best Books of the Year” in 2025 and The Washington Post put on its list of notable fiction. ... Read more