March 24, 2017

Since the release of his mixtape Tale of Two’s City Vol.2 in 2008, Add-2 has been captivating listeners & taste makers ears and imagination with his unique blend of Hip Hop, Soul and Jazz. From his acrobatic word play, his detailed story-telling and his no holds barred social commentary; Add-2 has emerged as a respected voice of clarity in the midst of the noise in a chaotic world (more...)

March 24, 2017

 SAMIRA AHMED was born in Bombay, India, and grew up in Batavia, Illinois, in a house that smelled like fried onions, spices, and potpourri. She currently resides in the Midwest. She’s lived in Vermont, New York City, and Kauai, where she spent a year searching for the perfect mango (more....)

March 23, 2017

 Gary Anderson is an educator, author, blogger, and book reviewer.  Along with co-author Tony Romano, he wrote the widely-used writing textbook Expository Composition:  Discovering Your Voice.   His “What’s Not Wrong?” blog is followed by hundreds of readers interested in education and literacy.  He is one of the founding fathers of the Writers Week concept.  

March 21, 2017

J.W. Basilo is a guy who never learned how to shut up. As a writer, performer, director, and musician, his work lives at the intersection of the poignant and perverse, the hilarious and heartbreaking. Basilo is a National and Individual World Poetry Slam finalist, Pushcart Prize nominee, Artistic Director and founder of Chicago Slam Works Ensemble Theatre, and a company member with Red Theater Chicago. (more...)

March 21, 2017

When someone asks what I do, I respond, “I’m a Creative” – a professional artist, illustrator, teacher, and author. After earning a BA in Art from George Washington University and studying at The Corcoran School of Art, in Washington D.C., I took courses in commercial art and began selling my work. Following a move to Chicago I continued my artistic training at regional Art Centers, The Chicago Mosaic School and the School of the Art Institute. My interest in mosaics has led me to workshops within the United States and Mexico. (more...)

March 21, 2017

Michael Beller covers Major League Baseball and college basketball for Sports Illustrated, and also serves as the organization's lead fantasy sports writer. He's also an analyst with 120 Sports in Chicago. Previously, he was a Capitol Hill reporter covering federal tax policy and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Michael grew up in Skokie and graduated from Niles North in 2003.

March 21, 2017

FORK THE MAN PRODUCTIONS is an independent film and video company founded on strong storytelling and collaborative ideals. Producers of several Chicago-based short films, FORK THE MAN brings a creative, cooperative approach to both film and commercial production. FORK THE MAN develops projects by empowering the voices of the artists they work with, and helping businesses realize their potential by connecting their stories with their customers. (more...)

March 23, 2017

Emily Thornton Calvo is a poet, visual artist, author and creative director. As a poet, she has been active in Chicago’s poetry community since 1994. In 2014, she released her long overdue collection of poems and art, Lending Color to the Otherwise Absurd, with support from a grant provided by Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Her poems have been published in Roosevelt University’s Oyez Review, Coleré, After Hours and other publications—both online and in print.  (more...)

March 21, 2017

Kevin Coval is a poet and community builder. As the artistic director of Young Chicago Authors, founder of Louder Than A Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival, and professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago—where he teaches hip-hop aesthetics—he’s mentored thousands of young writers, artists, and musicians. (more...)

March 20, 2017

Julian Crews joined the WGN News team in 1996. He is a general assignment reporter for WGN Midday News and WGN Evening News. From breaking news to feature reporting, Julian has reported all over Illinois, from Carbondale’s Shawnee National Forest to Chicago City Hall. The roaming street reporter travels to every corner of the Chicagoland and Illinois region, bringing news of the day to WGN and CLTV viewers. (more...)

March 22, 2017

An author of young adult and middle grade fiction, Lindsay is represented by Kathleen Rushall, of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Her middle grade novels are published with Simon & Schuster/Aladdin. Her young adult novels are published with Flux/Llewellyn and Merit Press. 

March 21, 2017

Born in Chicago and raised on the mean streets of Skokie, Seth is a writer, standup comedian, actor, storyteller, and producer. His comedy honestly explores his quirky life through the lens of mental illness and situational storytelling. A graduate of The Second City and i.O. Theater, he’s been described as pee-in-your-pants funny by people with bladder control problems. (more...)

March 21, 2017

Steve Dawson, best known for his work with Dolly Varden, has joined forces with some of Chicago’s most inventive and acclaimed jazz musicians to create the improbable Funeral Bonsai Wedding. The group features three of the most revered musicians in the improvisational jazz world: Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, Frank Rosaly on drums, and Jason Roebke on bass, along with Dawson on guitar and vocals, and Robbie Fulks and Dolly Varden’s Diane Christiansen singing harmonies. (more...)

March 23, 2017

erica dreisbach is an artist, writer, and computer programmer in Chicago. She doesn't make meaningful distinctions between art, writing, and computer programming. She's been a featured performer at The Green Mill's world famous Uptown Poetry Slam, The Paper Machete, Write Club, and The Moth Grand Slam. (more...)

March 20, 2017

 Adam Gottlieb is a poet/emcee, teaching-artist, singer-songwriter and community organizer from Chicago. He performs and teaches widely throughout Chicago and the U.S., and even internationally. He is the Curriculum Director for the non-profit Teen Writers and Artists Project. (more...)

March 20, 2017

 Nancy Grossman started her professional life as a social worker, having completed her BSW and MSW degrees at the University of Illinois.  After a lackluster experience in this field she took a fiction writing class at Columbia College, which changed the course of her career. She went on to complete an MA in The Teaching of Writing, and now works as Associate Director of the DePaul University Honors Program, and teaches courses in Creative Writing, Young Adult Fiction, and Community Service Studies. (more...)

March 22, 2017

Chicago performance poet Andy Karol proves that passion pulsing from heart to voice wins audiences over every time. Her work largely focuses on the topics of gender, sexuality, parenting, mental illness, inspiration, and love. Rich in imagery and rawness, Andy’s voice connects to the senses that remind you of where you’ve been and who you are. Andy is the 2017 Grand Slam Champion of the Chicago Slam Works’ competition and competed as a team member at the 2017 National Poetry Slam in Denver, Colorado. In June of 2017, Andy competed as an indie poet at the Rustbelt Poetry Festival. (more...)

March 22, 2017

Skokie native Josh Liss has been the sports director and morning sports anchor at WBBM since August of 1998. He studied broadcast journalism at Columbia College in Chicago, earning his degree in 1995. While in college, Josh began his career producing and reporting for Sports Radio Nightly, an all-night sports network that aired on WVVX 103.1FM. In 1994 Josh began an internship at WMAQ 670-AM and worked his way up to full time afternoon drive sports anchor in 1995. (more...)

March 24, 2017

Malcolm London is a performer, educator, activist and poet. Born and raised in the Austin neighborhood, he attended Lincoln Park High School, and saw the great disparity between his high school life and his neighborhood. He found his voice through spoken word poetry at the "Louder Than a Bomb" event in 2011, which he won. Since then he has become a voice for his generation, and has stood up against violence, even getting arrested at a Laquan McDonald protest. (more...)

March 21, 2017

Mark Maxwell is an author and creative writing teacher. His book Nixoncarver: A Novel. From the fantasy of the chance meeting of celebrated poet Raymond Carver, dying of cancer, and Richard Nixon, disgraced ex-president, Maxwell weaves a scarifying account of obsession, failure, and near-friendship that is at once sad, funny, jolting, and terrible. Maxwell succeeds stunningly in parts of this marvelous book, notably in young Dick's monologs; they sizzle with rage, lust, and apprehension. 

March 23, 2017

George David Miller is a philosopher, teacher, yogi, meditation facilitator, hip-hop and ballroom dancer, and photographer. Click on video link.

March 21, 2017

Tony Romano is the author of the novel When the World Was Young and a story collection, If You Eat, You Never Die, which was selected as a finalist in the Associated Writing Program’s annual fiction competition. Both books were named among the “Top Books of the Year” in 2007 & 2008, respectively, by the Chicago Tribune. Romano was named 2010 Illinois Author of the Year by the Illinois Association for Teachers of English (IATE) and was recently awarded a Norman Mailer award for fiction. He is also co-author of the bestselling psychology textbook, Psychology and You, along with Expository Writing: Discovering Your Voice. (more....)

March 24, 2017

Corilyn Shropshire is a business reporter for the Chicago Tribune. She has covered retail, philanthropy and the workplace. She also wrote several profiles of Chicago business leaders, including comScore Chairman Emeritus Gian Fulgoni and Urban League of Chicago CEO Andrea Zopp. Before joining the Tribune in 2011, she wrote about pop culture and social media at the Houston Chronicle and covered Pittsburgh’s burgeoning tech economy for the Post-Gazette. She lives in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood with her husband, daughter and dog.

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March 22, 2017

Marc Silverman grew up in Skokie and attended Niles North High School. He graduated from Southern Illinois University, where he majored in Radio/Television, was named Top 25 Most Distinguished Seniors (out of nearly 24,000 students), and spent two years as Sports Director of University radio station. (more...)