New Class Announced

Without further ado, the 5th class of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame:

Margaret Anderson
David Hernandez
Edgar Lee Masters
Willard Motley
Shel Silverstein
Margaret Walker

We made the announcement last Thursday night at Roosevelt University's Angell Room, a lovely

Evans, Metz, Durica and Howe (from left to right) discuss the
new class. (Photo by Erin Kibby). 

Sullivan-designed library space that overlooks Buckingham Fountain and Lake Michigan. Paul Durica, Lawrence Howe and Robin Metz joined me in discussing the newly-selected authors and providing insight into the rationale for their inclusion.

The nomination process started before the last induction ceremony ended. An 11-person committee created ballots that included up to six candidates, along with rationale for inclusion. A five-person selection committee assembled last month to debate the candidates and come to a consensus.

I learned a lot listening to Robin, Paul and Larry elaborate on the authors.

Robin pointed out that Masters, whose reputation relies almost entirely on Spoon River Anthology, was actually a prolific author. Masters wrote volumes and volumes of poetry (nearly 30), ambitious biographies (Lincoln, Twain, Whitman and Lindsay, among them), novels, memoirs and essays.

Paul talked about Anderson's legacy of having built important literary communities in Chicago. As a central figure in the Chicago Literary Renaissance, Anderson formed close relationships with virtually all the important literary figures; she not only published significant writers in her The Little Review, but served as an ambassador to a whole range of writers. In essence, Anderson helped establish Chicago as a setting for a literary life.

Lawrence Howe at Thursday night's discussion.
(Photo by Erin Kibby). 

Larry pointed out that Silverstein was a Roosevelt undergraduate in English for three years, and in fact started his career as a cartoonist and writer for the school newspaper, The Torch.  Silverstein became famous for his children's books, but he was a highly respected song writer, playwright and essayist, among many interesting facets to his career.

We all pitched in to illuminate Motley and Walker, both gigantic talents in their eras. Walker wrote a poetry collection and novel that were both highly anticipated and then lauded, and she was a well-ensconsed part of Chicago's literary fraternity, including membership in the South Side Writers Group. Motley was considered one of the finest writers of his era; Nelson Algren once described himself, in an inscription, as "the poor man's Willard Motley." Motley penned some famous lines that live on, and gave us Nick Romano, a protagonist equal to Chicago's greatest literary heroes, like Frankie Machine, Studs Lonigan and Bigger Thomas.

Now is the fun part. The 5th Annual Induction Ceremony will take place Dec. 6, from 7-9 p.m., at Roosevelt University's Ganz Hall. In the next month, we'll start to identify all the best presenters and performers to help us out that evening, and track down living descendants of the inductees to accept the honors we'll bestow. I always like the process of shaping the ceremony and this year's eclectic mix of inductees should give rise to a number of interesting possibilities.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donald G. Evans is the founder and executive director of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. He is the author of the novel Good Money After Bad and short story collection An Off-White Christmas, as well as the editor of the anthology Cubbie Blues: 100 Years of Waiting Till Next Year. He is the Chicago editor of the Great Lakes Cultural Review. He serves on the American Writers Museum's Chicago Literary Council and the committee that selects the Harold Washington Literary Award.

donaldgevans@hotmail.com

Chicago Literary Hall of Fame Announces 5th Class

This, to me, was the most exciting selection process of the five.

When we started in 2010, there were any number of no-doubt-about-it candidates. Candidates like Saul Bellow, who has a street named after him; candidates like Gwendolyn Brooks, who has a bunch of schools named after her; candidates like Nelson Algren, who has literary awards named after him; candidates like Sherwood Anderson, who has foundations and literary centers named after him; candidates like Ben Hecht, who has book publishers and blogs dedicated to his work; writers like Carl Sandburg, who has an entire apartment complex named after him.

I was discussing the future of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame with Stuart Dybek a year or two ago, and he wondered, "What happens when we're out of writers who have their own stamps?"

Stuart suggested that sometime soon we might consider decreasing the number of annual inductees. Each of the first four years, we inducted six writers: all dead, all with strong Chicago connections. I think Stuart's right: we will soon probably induct smaller classes. Just not now. Not yet.

Tomorrow night, Thursday, June 19, we will announce our newest class of six writers at Roosevelt

Chicago literary and historical scholar Paul Durica will share
his thoughts  on this year's selection process at Thursday night's
announcement, 7 p.m. Roosevelt University's Angel Reading Rm. 

University's Angel Reading Room. The program, which includes a discussion with selector Paul Durica, nominator Robin Metz and Roosevelt University's English director Lawrence Howe, starts at 7 p.m. and will run approximately one hour. The Angel Reading Room is located in the 10th Floor Library at 430 S. Michigan Ave.

The Class of 2014 is, in my opinion, an outstanding group of writers and literary contributors. What made the process so exciting this year was the very dearth of literary heroes featured on stamps and street signs. The writers ultimately selected are highly deserving of induction. Their work, across the board, was important and lasting, their contributions to literature gigantic. But their legacy, in some cases, has faded over time, excluded by literature's gatekeepers from the cannon. In other cases, their reputation never spread enough beyond Chicago to gain the kind of attention they deserved. And in still other cases, they've just been gone so long that not enough people remember, certainly not the youngest generations.

Paul, Robin and Larry will share some insight into the process that resulted in the selection of these six writers. They will also talk a bit about the merits of the inductees and the thought process that led to their inclusion over other worthy candidates. Please come out to the event; we're especially eager to hear your thoughts on future nominees, as well as suggestions regarding the ceremony itself, which will take place Dec. 7 at Roosevelt University's Ganz Hall, 7-9 p.m.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donald G. Evans is the founder and executive director of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. He is the author of the novel Good Money After Bad and short story collection An Off-White Christmas, as well as the editor of the anthology Cubbie Blues: 100 Years of Waiting Till Next Year. He is the Chicago editor of the Great Lakes Cultural Review. He serves on the American Writers Museum's Chicago Literary Council and the committee that selects the Harold Washington Literary Award.

donaldgevans@hotmail.com

Printer's Row Lit Fest at 30

I've been going to the Printer's Row Lit Fest a long time now, off and on, first as a book lover and

View from New City's Lit 50 party. 

would-be writer, later as an author and book collector, and for the last five years as a representative of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. I go for the programming, I go for the books, I go to promote various whatnot, and I go because everybody else goes.

Each year, I leave the festival with more regret for all I missed than satisfaction for all I managed. That's

partly because the programming is dense and overlapping. While it seems possible to get to the beginning this and the end of that, the walk between Jones College Prep's fifth-floor classroom and the Guild Complex tent, short as it is, ruins the plan.

This year, I tried to enjoy more and stress less, and I did this partly through the magic of interns. DePaul students Julia Jakubow, Danielle Hale and Erin Kibby spent parts of their pre-finals weekend working the CLHOF table, running around taking notes and pictures for a future database project, collecting signatures on books, and generally freeing up my time.

Nora Brooks Blakley reading from The Tiger Who Wore
White Gloves at the 2nd annual Brooksday. 

I sat in on parts of the Brooksday and Sunday Salon readings; listened to Rosellen Brown share her wisdom about navigating a writing life; heard Walter Mosley weigh in on the science fiction genre; talked a bit with Dan Epstein; peeked at the sports panel with Ira Berkow; stopped at Brian and Jan Hieggelke's New City Lit 50 party; and so forth.

Mostly, I ran into people. Or they ran into me.

The Poetry Foundation, for the third year running, offered the CLHOF a table under their tent--for our tiny, poor organization this is a critical and productive gift. Another Chicago Magazine was there, as was Chicago Quarterly Review, and Poetry Center of Chicago.

Some of these people I knew a lot, some a little, some not at all, but by the end of the weekend we were all old pals.

That, for me, is the joy of the lit fest, more so even than the programming: a sense of community.

The Guild Literary Complex tent was just a few tents away on Polk, and the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park was camped out just around the corner on Dearborn. When I walked down the south side of Dearborn, I could catch up with Jacob Saenz over at Rhino, or Randy Richardson at Chicago Writers Association, or Michael O'Mary at Dream of Things, or Ian Morris at Fifth Star Press, or Victor David Giron at Curbside Splendor. If I walked down the north side, I could talk to Christian TeBordo at Roosevelt University or Sharon Woodhouse at Lake Claremont Press or Emily Victorson at Allium Press or Robert Loerzel at Society of Midland Authors. Dodging in and around the tents, I could catch up with Luisa Bueller, Krista August, Bob Goldsborough, Diane Madsen. I might (did) run into Rick Kogan breaking from his emcee duties, or I might (did) see Audrey Niffenegger at the party, or I might (did) turn around to discover Mare Swallow of Chicago Writers Conference.

Each organization, each writer, has their own agenda--there's no way around that. But Chicago cultural organizations and writers are overwhelmingly generous, and at the Lit Fest it's all on display. Steve Young and Reg Gibbons, at the Poetry Foundation tent, shared stories and ideas, helpful not just for their own causes (of which they have many), but mine: hey, here's something that might benefit the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. Allison Sansone, the director of the EHFOP, enjoying the perfect weather at her table, made an offer that she knew would be useful to us. John Rich gave me a shirt. (Not off his back, exactly, but I like it anyway). Ellen Placey Wadey offered a tutorial on the little thingy that lets you take credit card payments on your phone. I strolled the fair at times with Dmitry Samarov and Richard Reeder and Natalia Nebel, and so many others, all who, in ways big and small, have contributed to the growth of the CLHOF. I chatted with fair goers stopping by our table: Carolyn Saper, doing extraordinary work for the American Writers Museum, and Useni Eugene Perkins, the legendary writer and thinker who served on our most recent selection committee.

I try to remember this generosity. It's easy to fall into the habit of asking, of taking, and not of offering, giving. But Chicago's literature as a whole, and each of us individually, is much the better when we have the sense that we're in it together. For the most part, we all want the same things, though often in drastically different ways. All of these organizations I've mentioned are doing valuable work--work that  goes largely unnoticed and in a great many cases unpaid.

When I guided Julia, Erin and Danielle through the network of writers and venders and organizations, I felt civic pride in our literature and the people behind it: look, be amazed, this is US!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donald G. Evans is the founder and executive director of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. He is the author of the novel Good Money After Bad and short story collection An Off-White Christmas, as well as the editor of the anthology Cubbie Blues: 100 Years of Waiting Till Next Year. He is the Chicago editor of the Great Lakes Cultural Review. He serves on the American Writers Museum's Chicago Literary Council and the committee that selects the Harold Washington Literary Award.

donaldgevans@hotmail.com