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Blue Hour is in-person for this season! Each event takes place at Haymarket House (800 W. Buena) on the third Wednesday of the month and includes a brief lottery-style open mic and two featured readers from Chicago and beyond, preceded by a generative writing workshop. All readings are also livestreamed! This month, we are thrilled […]
Join us for an exhibition opening conversation between the curator of the entre horizontes, Carla Acevedo-Yates, and Puerto Rican writer and activist José E. López for a wide-ranging conversation on the past and present of Puerto Rican activism. Accessibility: ASL interpretation, English captioning, Spanish Captioning, wheelchair accessible https://visit.mcachicago.org/events/talk-jose-e-lopez-carla-acevedo-yates/
SYNOPSIS Thirty-five-year-old window cleaner and single father John has dedicated his life to raising his son. Given only a few months to live, he traverses Belfast, visiting homes of the working class and wealthy alike. He has a singular goal: to find the perfect family to raise his toddler Michael. How can he carry out […]
DIRECTED BY Uberto Pasolini SYNOPSIS Thirty-five-year-old window cleaner and single father John has dedicated his life to raising his son. Given only a few months to live, he traverses Belfast, visiting homes of the working class and wealthy alike. He has a singular goal: to find the perfect family to raise his toddler Michael. How […]
Join us for the kickoff to our Fall 2023 season with a celebration of Chicago’s Poet Laureate, avery r. young, at Harold Washington Library. He will perform alongside other poet laureates E’mon Lauren Black (Chicago Youth Poet Laureate), Nandi Comer (Michigan), Angela Jackson (Illinois), Amanda Johnston (Texas), and Airea D. Matthews (Philadelphia). This is a […]
Join us for a virtual reading featuring 2023 Forms & Features Visiting Teaching Artists Samira Asma-Sadeque, Giulia Ottavia Frattini, grace (ge) gilbert, Lisa Low, L. Renée, and Hua Xi. Forms & Features is the Poetry Foundation’s series of free online creative writing workshops for adults. Samira Asma-Sadeque is a New York-based Bangladeshi journalist, poet, and […]
Jonas Becker’s New Normal explores how we, as individuals in society, adjust to large-scale cultural trauma, environmental deterioration, the loss of civil liberties, and increased financial precarity. As conditions erode over time, expectations shift silently for some, for others violently. The performance follows an improvisational score in which six trans-masculine performers respond to the slow […]
The Peer Mental Health Support Group is an opportunity for Disabled-identifying people and those exploring their relationship to disability identity to share and hold space for one another in an accessible and virtual setting. Facilitated by disabled art therapist Bri Beck, LCPC, ATR, this group is meant to offer an opportunity for participants to share […]
In conjunction with the exhibition opening for Harriet Monroe & the Open Door, we will host a conversation with Poetry’s four women guest editors from 2021-22: Esther G. Belin, Su Cho, Suzi F. Garcia, and Ashley M. Jones. Moderated by Carmen Giménez, this conversation shifts the frame of the Open Door series to spotlight the […]
Emmy-nominated actress Millie Bobby Brown can now add author to her list of accolades with her debut novel, Nineteen Steps. Set against the backdrop of World War II London in 1942, Brown’s main character, Nellie Morris, grapples with a world constantly threatened by conflict. Her chance meeting with American airman Ray broadens her horizons, yet […]
According to renowned social critic and author Naomi Klein, our world today is like a hall of mirrors, made up of conspiracy theories, AI-generated content blurring the lines between truth and fiction, and elusive digital doppelgangers. In this conversation about her newest work, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, Klein offers a map to […]
Literary powerhouse Zadie Smith is back with a new, highly-anticipated historical novel, The Fraud, which centers around the unforgettable Eliza Touchet and a real-life, explosive trial that divided Victorian England and asks who deserves to tell their story and who gets to be believed. Join Chicago Humanities and experience Smith’s iconic voice in person as […]
Join us for an evening of enchantment as the Poetry Foundation transforms into Herman’s Lounge, a one night only jazz cabaret named in honor of the magician Black Herman. Dee Alexander (with John McLean), Ben LaMar Gay, keiyaA, and Gabrielle Octavia Rucker will interweave Chicago’s unique relationship to improv, poetry, and jazz. Co-curated by Jared […]
Blown fuses, real and metaphorical, punctuate the action with flashes of pent up energy in this acclaimed play. The diminutive heroine frequently plunges the dilapidated house she shares with her alcoholic mother into darkness by playing her dead father’s records at a volume matched only by the soulful power of her vocal impressions. Little Voice […]
On Sunday, September 24 from 8-10am, Lincoln Park Zoo is offering Sensory-Friendly Morning hours for guests with disabilities, chronic illness, or Deaf to experience the zoo grounds and animal buildings in a comfortable and inclusive environment. Modifications include limited capacity and muted attractions. This is a free event, but it does require advanced registration. Sensory-Friendly […]
TimeLine presents the Chicago premiere production of the 2022 Tony Award winner for Best Play! Told in three parts over one evening, The Lehman Trilogy is the quintessential story of western capitalism, rendered through the lens of a single immigrant family. On a cold September morning in 1844, a young Jewish man from Bavaria stands […]
Blown fuses, real and metaphorical, punctuate the action with flashes of pent up energy in this acclaimed play. The diminutive heroine frequently plunges the dilapidated house she shares with her alcoholic mother into darkness by playing her dead father’s records at a volume matched only by the soulful power of her vocal impressions. Little Voice […]
Join us for a special US appearance by acclaimed Nigerian-born British novelist and poet, Ben Okri. Ben Okri is a playwright, poet, novelist, essayist, short-story writer, anthologist, and aphorist who has also written film scripts. His works have won numerous national and international prizes, including the Booker Prize for Fiction. His books include the eco-fable […]
TimeLine presents the Chicago premiere production of the 2022 Tony Award winner for Best Play! Told in three parts over one evening, The Lehman Trilogy is the quintessential story of western capitalism, rendered through the lens of a single immigrant family. On a cold September morning in 1844, a young Jewish man from Bavaria stands […]
The Flying Dutchman is the story of a young woman’s obsession. Senta dreams of the Dutchman, who’s cursed to wander the earth. He comes ashore every seven years, searching for a woman who will be faithful to him until death. When she meets him, Senta’s fate is sealed. This new-to-Chicago production at Lyric Opera of […]
Blown fuses, real and metaphorical, punctuate the action with flashes of pent up energy in this acclaimed play. The diminutive heroine frequently plunges the dilapidated house she shares with her alcoholic mother into darkness by playing her dead father’s records at a volume matched only by the soulful power of her vocal impressions. Little Voice […]
Event Description: Are you curious about the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) conference? Did you want to attend but couldn’t? Join The Collab for a Zoom Lunch and Learn about this year’s LEAD experience. Four representatives from the Collab will share takeaways from their focus areas and lead a live discussion with our arts and culture […]
Based on their critically acclaimed podcast of the same name, Keegan-Michael Key and Elle Key are excited to share their new book with the Chicago Humanities audience: The History of […]
Eurydice is a play about newlywed and newly dead Eurydice arrives in the underworld without memories or language where she struggles to recover her humanity with the aid of the […]
Through fabulous storytelling and fast-paced comedy, Ben Franklin and his want-to-be-inventor niece, Sarah, travel to France where they use the Scientific Method to test a mystical man’s magical cure-all in […]
A botanical journey of beauty and botany, myth and mayhem: Bestselling author Jonathan Drori takes a gloriously illustrated trip across the globe, bringing to life the science of trees by […]
Through fabulous storytelling and fast-paced comedy, Ben Franklin and his want-to-be-inventor niece, Sarah, travel to France where they use the Scientific Method to test a mystical man’s magical cure-all in […]
TimeLine presents the Chicago premiere production of the 2022 Tony Award winner for Best Play! Told in three parts over one evening, The Lehman Trilogy is the quintessential story of […]
Newark, NJ. Post-9/11. Two teenagers, brought to America as children, now face an unlikely foe: unexpected, unreciprocated love. Their friendship is no longer enough (for one of them) and their […]
Newark, NJ. Post-9/11. Two teenagers, brought to America as children, now face an unlikely foe: unexpected, unreciprocated love. Their friendship is no longer enough (for one of them) and their […]
It’s 1964 Montgomery, Alabama, and the Nacirema Society prepares for its annual introduction of six elegant African-American debutantes to a world of prosperity, privilege and social responsibility. This centennial year, […]
From the author of Steve Jobs, Leonardo da Vinci, Einstein and more, Walter Isaacson returns to Chicago Humanities with the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator […]
Join us for a reading and celebration of the diverse voices, rich experiences, and powerful words of poets from around the US and the world. Poets working in the online […]
After a summer hiatus, Family Days are back! Designed and led by Chicago artists, Family Day is a monthly program that allows families and youth to connect and engage with […]
Oliver Jeffers is an acclaimed storyteller and visual artist. His latest picture book, How We Got Here and Where We Might Go - Our Human Story. So Far., is written […]
In her long career in literature and teaching, Sandra Cisneros has shared her passion for creative writing and expressing her experience as a Mexican woman. After a 28 year break […]
How can art engage people on climate change and environmental issues that are impacting our city and neighborhoods? Join Uzma Noormohamed, Program Director of the Illinois Science & Energy Innovation […]
As one of the most historical buildings in Chicago, the Governor’s Mansion has hosted many legendary people, including Abraham Lincoln, FDR, and the current First Family. First Lady MK Pritzker […]
During our era of COVID, many of us felt as if we were living through “unprecedented times,” but was our experience really that unique? Pandemics have been around as long […]
How does cancel culture impact our social, cultural, and political lives? With The Atlantic’s Caitlin Flanagan leading the discussion, join Johns Hopkins’ Yascha Mounk, out with his latest book The Identity Trap; […]
Comedian Sarah Cooper rocketed to fame during the pandemic with her lip-synched videos of Donald Trump’s speeches. Her face, his voice–it was social media magic. In her hilarious and honest […]
Since the NFT (Non-fungible tokens) exploded into the art world a few years ago, artists, collectors, arts professionals, art lovers, and museumgoers are still trying to understand what NFTs are […]
Why does the United States, one of the richest countries on earth, allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit citizens to live and […]
Naperville native and award-winning actor and comedian Bob Odenkirk has teamed up with his talented daughter, illustrator Erin Odenkirk, as they share original poems Bob wrote with his children when they were young, as well as dozens of new ones–beautifully brought to life by Erin’s whimsical drawings. Join Chicago Humanities for a hilarious and heartwarming […]
Fox News Channel’s Chief Political Correspondent and New York Times bestselling author, Bret Baier comes to Chicago Humanities to talk about his groundbreaking new biography of America’s first president. In To Rescue the Constitution: George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment, Baier explores Washington’s remarkable decision to come out of retirement to preside over the […]
It’s 1964 Montgomery, Alabama, and the Nacirema Society prepares for its annual introduction of six elegant African-American debutantes to a world of prosperity, privilege and social responsibility. This centennial year, […]
It’s 1964 Montgomery, Alabama, and the Nacirema Society prepares for its annual introduction of six elegant African-American debutantes to a world of prosperity, privilege and social responsibility. This centennial year, […]
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow returns to Chicago Humanities to expose the shocking truth behind subversive attempts to undermine democracy and the inspiring tales of those who rose to challenge the insurrectionists. Inspired by the research for her #1 Apple podcast, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra, Maddow’s latest book PREQUEL: An American Fight Against Fascism tells the […]
Academy Award-winning movie Don’t Look Up and the big-budget streamer Extrapolations tell us that humanity is incapable of addressing climate change, even in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence. But is that true? Are human beings incapable of changing our ways to help the planet? Join astronomer and physicist Marcelo Gleiser (The Dawn of a […]
What constitutes a meaningful life in a violent world? Join celebrated author and essayist Teju Cole (Open City) as he considers this question through his most recent work of fiction, Tremor. This poetic exploration continues Cole’s masterful examination of colonial atrocities, casual racism, and “history’s own brutality.” Don’t miss this Chicago Humanities experience with one […]
Throughout history, museums and other cultural institutions have too often acquired their artifacts through conquest, imperialism and colonization. Today, these institutions are re-evaluating this “colonial looting” and facing increasing calls to return these artifacts to their rightful owners, aiming to rectify historical injustices and foster cultural healing. Join Chicago Humanities for a presentation on these […]
Join us for the first public reading of the 2023 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellows together at the Poetry Foundation. The Poetry Foundation awards five Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships annually. Among the largest awards offered to young poets in the US, the $27,000 prize is intended to support exceptional […]
A Cicero native, Erika Sánchez grew up in a Mexican American household and is a self-described pariah, misfit, and a foul-mouthed, melancholic rabble-rouser. She returns to the literary world with her witty, raunchy, insightful, unapologetic honest memoir, Crying in the Bathroom. She covers everything from white feminism to debilitating depression, and finding a life rich […]
Newark, NJ. Post-9/11. Two teenagers, brought to America as children, now face an unlikely foe: unexpected, unreciprocated love. Their friendship is no longer enough (for one of them) and their […]
When the film debuted in July of 1980, Airplane! had a budget of only $3.5 million, and yet it went on to earn nearly $200 million, gathering a rabid fan-base, inspiring countless comedians, and providing perhaps the most quotable lines of any comedy in cinematic history. In their new book, Surely You Can't Be Serious: […]
Budmo!, meaning “cheers!” in Ukrainian, is the first cookbook presented by Ukrainian-born, California-based chef, blogger, and culinary instructor Anna Voloshyna. Celebrating classic Eastern European recipes with a modern, creative twist with bright flavors, Voloshyna presents vibrant ingredients that represent the rich culture and tradition of the people of Ukraine. Join Anna as she sits down […]
Prepare to be dazzled by the transformative power of design with the Emmy-nominated host of Queer Eye, Bobby Berk. Why does the color of a room change how you feel? How can you decide what to get rid of or repurpose? And how can your home boost your mood? Berk’s new book, Right at Home: […]