Rebecca Makkai

Gorton’s Masterclass Series: Rebecca Makkai - A Local Writing Life
2021-04-15, 2021-04-19
This event is virtual
“A Local Writing Life”: Local author Rebecca Makkai has achieved national prominence, most recently with her novel The Great Believers — a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and the winner of the ALA Carnegie Medal. Makkai was born and raised in Lake Bluff, and has lived her adult life in Lake Forest. She will talk with Barry Benson, Interim Executive Director of the Ragdale Foundation, about living as a professional writer in Lake Forest, coming of age in the community, sustaining a life in the arts, and the connections of her four books to both the North Shore and Chicago.

Rebecca Makkai’s latest novel, The Great Believers, was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award; it was the winner of the ALA Carnegie Medal, the Stonewall Book Award, the LA Times Book Prize, the Clark Fiction Prize, the Midwest Independent Booksellers Award, and the Chicago Review of Books Award; and it was one of the New York Times’ Ten Best Books of 2018. Her other books are the novels The Borrower and The Hundred-Year House, and the collection Music for Wartime — four stories from which appeared in The Best American Short Stories. Rebecca is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University. She is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.
Barry Benson is the Interim Executive Director of the Ragdale Foundation, a nonprofit artists’ community located on the former country estate of architect Howard Van Doren Shaw. Nearly 200 residencies and fellowships are now offered annually to creative professionals of all types, making Ragdale one of the largest interdisciplinary artists’ communities in the country. Ragdale residents represent a cross-section of ages, cultures, experience, and mediums, for a diverse and vibrant community.
By purchasing a ticket, you will receive a link to the masterclass which will be released February 25th and sales will run through April 9th. The link is yours to watch at your convenience.
($25 tickets/$10 for students)

Speakeasy Workshop: This Will Be Character-Building
2021-04-19 19:00 - 20:30, 2021-04-26 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
Join Rebecca Makkai for an intimate workshop designed to help you write an original short story or the first chapter of a novel or memoir — or to continue work on one in progress. In each session, Rebecca will teach a different aspect of writing craft: backstory, motivation, dialogue, and character evolution. This event has four sessions.

E. M. Forster wrote that “incident springs out of character, and having occurred it alters that character.” How do we create characters who will both cause interesting things to happen and be changed by their world? How do we get a whole lifetime across without an awkward backstory dump? What differences should we consider when crafting characters for novels versus short stories? How can a memoirist get real-life characters onto the page?
This workshop is designed to help participants write an original short story or the first chapter of a novel or memoir — or to continue work on one in progress. Participants will work on their projects outside of the workshop sessions.
In each session, Rebecca will teach a different aspect of writing craft. (In our four sessions, we’ll focus on backstory, motivation, dialogue, and character evolution.) There will be discussion of what we’re writing and what we’re reading, but sessions will primarily focus on Rebecca’s craft lessons. Because you won’t be workshopping each other, this class will be a friendly and challenging learning environment for writers at all levels of education and experience.
?After the fourth session, participants will submit their projects (no more than 12 pages) to Rebecca, and she will provide feedback to each person in the form of a marked-up manuscript and a brief feedback letter.
Details
Mondays: April 5 – April 26, 2021

5pm PT / 8pm ET – 90 min

Limited to 15 participants

$500.00 for all four sessions

Code of Conduct
We look forward to building an inclusive, supportive community of writers during our workshop and will not tolerate racist, sexist, or homophobic views. By signing up for this workshop, you’re agreeing to uphold these norms. Though we don’t expect this to happen, if someone violates these norms, they will be removed from the workshop without a refund.
Written feedback from Rebecca is contingent on the writing sample you submit being coherent. You don’t need to be an experienced (or published!) writer by any means, nor do you need to have perfect command of all aspects of English grammar, but your writing should be comprehensible.

StoryStudio Chicago Storyball - Stories Matter Foundation Fundraiser
2021-04-29 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | StoryStudio Chicago, 4043 N. Ravenswood, #222, Chicago, IL, United States
Mark your calendars! Stories Matter Foundation’s first ever fundraising event will be online over Zoom on Thursday, April 29 at 7pm Central.
We’ll have more details soon, including silent auction items, special guests, and award recipients. For now, pencil us in!

Miami Book Fair Presents: Get Your Story Off the Ground with Rebecca Makkai
2021-05-03 20:00 - 21:30 (America/New_York)
Mondays, May 3 – 24 (4 weeks)
8 – 9:30 p.m. EST | Online via Google Meet | Register to receive link

There are decisions we make (about entry point, tone, point of view, conflict, stakes, and more) in our opening pages that set us up for stories that practically write themselves, or for ones that are bound to run quickly out of steam.
In this four-week class, we will examine and edit student work (on a volunteer basis) in class, helping bring the potential in each piece to the fore as early as possible. We will also study some masterful published first pages to see what works, and we’ll geek out about arc, momentum, and language, winding up with concrete takeaways, writing exercises, and strategies for revision.
This class is appropriate for anyone writing creative prose (fiction or nonfiction), and for students of all levels and backgrounds.
Rebecca Makkai’s latest novel, The Great Believers, was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award; it was the winner of the ALA Carnegie Medal, the Stonewall Book Award, the LA Times Book Prize, the Clark Fiction Prize, the Midwest Independent Booksellers Award, and the Chicago Review of Books Award; and it was one of the New York Times’ Ten Best Books of 2018. Her other books are the novels The Borrower and The Hundred-Year House, and the collection Music for Wartime — four stories from which appeared in The Best American Short Stories. Rebecca is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University. She is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago. Visit her at RebeccaMakkai.com or on twitter@rebeccamakkai.

Scholarships Available for MDC Students
Miami Book Fair is offering two (2) full-tuition scholarship for MDC students interested in attending the above-listed creative writing workshop. Applicants must be currently-enrolled, (full time or part time) degree-seeking Miami Dade College students with a demonstrated financial need.
To Apply for a Scholarship:
Scholarship application due 3 business days before workshop starts (Due Tuesday, April 27, 11:59 p.m. EST)
Please send an email to Marci Cancio-Bello, Miami Book Fair programs coordinator at mcanciob@mdc.edu before the start of the workshop you would like to attend. The message must include your contact information, the title of the workshop you’d like to take, a short statement of financial need, your MDC class schedule, and a writing sample. First-time writers who lack a writing sample should submit a statement explaining their interest in the workshop.

Lighthouse Lit Fest Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: The Arc Of Story, The Architecture Of Plot With Rebecca Makkai
2021-06-07 09:00 - 11:00 (America/Phoenix) | Lighthouse Writers Workshop, 3844 York St, Denver, CO, 80205, United States
No one’s ever going to force you to write a traditional plot arc, but the tools of narrative momentum—cause and effect, development, change, stakes, suspense—should be in every writer’s tool kit, if only so we know what to rebel against. We’ll workshop student fiction in this light—focusing on arc, on shape, on plot or the intentional lack thereof—asking, in every case, what moves the story along, and how it earns and keeps its audience.
Accepted participants will submit up to 20 pages of fiction by May 10, either a complete short story or a section of a novel, and will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with Rebecca during the week of class.
Priority applications for Lit Fest Advanced Workshops close at midnight MT on March 13. Accepted applicants will be notified and able to register for this workshop in early April. Apply here and learn more about Lit Fest here.

START DATE: Mon, Jun 07, 2021 | 9:00am – 11:30am MDT
END DATE: Fri, Jun 11, 2021 | 9:00am – 11:30am MDT
VENUE: Zoom: Remote Participation
LEVEL: Advanced

Lighthouse Lit Fest: Interiority Complex
2021-06-10 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Phoenix) | Lighthouse Writers Workshop, 3844 York St, Denver, CO, 80205, United States
The great advantage of prose (over theater, film, and life) is that we’re privy to characters’ interior states. But how can a writer get thoughts and emotions across, other than by stating them flat-out or by updating us constantly on breathing and heart rate? We’ll explore ways to use tangent, gesture, backstory, action, association, and more to give characters a rich internal life without resorting to the old cardiopulmonary check-in.
This class accommodates 25+ writers.

Society For The Study Of Midwestern Literature Celebrates Mark Twain Award Winners Marilynne Robinson and Rebecca Makkai
2021-06-14 08:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Marilynne Robinson and Rebecca Makkai, winners of the 2020 and 2021 Mark Twain Award for Distinguished Contributions to Midwestern Literature, in conversation with Phil Christman, author of Midwest Futures. (Free for current SSML members; open to non-members for a $5 registration fee.)
SSML Members Register HERE
Non-Members Register HERE

Hugo House Workshop: "Blind Date"
2021-06-24 10:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue , Seattle, WA, 98122
This brainstorming workshop will explore the alchemy of combining seemingly disparate concepts into one narrative. We’ll each take our own unused, unloved ideas and, after we discuss the fine art of narrative matchmaking, set them up together for a lifetime of happiness—or at least a few paragraphs of fun. In addition to something to write with, bring whatever notebook or computer file contains your miscellaneous ideas. You’ll leave with the makings of several new pieces.

Due to COVID-19, all classes will take place online-either through Zoom or through Wet Ink, Hugo House’s asynchronous learning platform.

Member Price: $135
Non-Member Price: $150
Minimum Class Size: 10 / Maximum Class Size: 20

Kate Reed Petty in conversation with Rebecca Makkai Virtual Event | True Story
2021-08-04 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Ticketing
This free event will be streamed live on the Novel Neighbor’s Facebook and YouTube pages. Registration is optional, but recommended.
Signed bookplates are available with purchases made through the Novel Neighbor. You may buy a copy as an add-on with your free event registration.
Please note that we are not able to process international orders through Eventbrite. If you would like to order from outside the United States, please email hello@thenovelneighbor.com.
About TRUE STORY
“A gripping, ripped-from-headlines tale.” —People
“Spellbinding.” —Megan Abbott, The New York Times Book Review
Tracing the fifteen-year fallout of a toxic high school rumor, a riveting, astonishingly original debut novel about the power of stories—and who gets to tell them
2015. A gifted and reclusive ghostwriter, Alice Lovett makes a living helping other people tell their stories. But she is haunted by the one story she can’t tell: the story of, as she puts it, “the things that happened while I was asleep.”
1999. Nick Brothers and his lacrosse teammates return for their senior year at their wealthy Maryland high school as the reigning state champions. They’re on top of the world—until two of his friends drive a passed-out girl home from of the team’s “legendary” parties, and a rumor about what happened in the backseat spreads through the town like wildfire.
The boys deny the allegations, and, eventually, the town moves on. But not everyone can. Nick descends into alcoholism, and Alice builds a life in fits and starts, underestimating herself and placing her trust in the wrong people. When she finally gets the opportunity to confront the past she can’t remember—but which has nevertheless shaped her life—will she take it?
An inventive and breathtaking exploration of a woman finding her voice in the wake of trauma, True Story is part psychological thriller, part fever dream, and part timely comment on sexual assault, power, and the very nature of truth. Ingeniously constructed and full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the final pages, it marks the debut of a singular and daring new voice in fiction.
About the Author
Kate Reed Petty has been recognized with a Narrative magazine 30 Below Award, as well as grants and scholarships from the Robert Deutsch Foundation, The Mount, Bloedel Reserve, and the Sewanee Writers Conference. Her short fiction has been published in Electric Literature, American Short Fiction, Blackbird, Ambit, Nat. Brut, and Los Angeles Review of Books, and she has a master of letters from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She lives in Baltimore.

Ragdale Ring 2021
2021-08-18 18:00 - 22:00 (America/Chicago) | Ragdale Foundation, 1230 North Green Bay Road, Lake Forest, IL, 60045, United States
Ragdale welcomes guests to our campus for the third event of our 9th annual Ragdale Ring season. This event features accomplished and acclaimed performers and authors.

Masks are recommended when outside, and required when inside.
Maintain social distance throughout your visit.
Be respectful of others who may feel more apprehensive during this phase.
Do not attend the event if you are sick.

We recommend that you bring:

Blankets and chairs
Bug spray
Masks

Ragdale will provide:

Unopened beverages (see ticket add-ons)
Free parking for Ragdale Ring performances is available in Lake Forest’s Oakwood lot, on the corner of Oakwood and Deerpath. A shuttle van will run every 15 minutes from 5:30-9 PM. Metra riders may meet the shuttle in the Oakwood lot. Masks required on shuttle.
Contactless check-in.
Dedicated hand-sanitizing stations.

During this event you will enjoy a dance performance from movement artists Kinnari Vora and Tuli Bera, a Ragdale Talks conversation between authors Riva Lehrer and Rebecca Makkai, and a music performance by the Darwin Noguera Latin Quartet.

Kinnari Vora is a dancer, choreographer with a background rooted in Indian classical dance of Bharatanatyam, Indian folk dances, kalaripayattu martial arts. She has performed at the Uttarardh Dance Festival – India, Embassy of India – Mexico City, Detroit Dance City Festival, Ragamala – World Music Festival, Chicago Flamenco Festival, Art Institute Chicago and toured to Vietnam, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Italy and Israel.
Tuli Bera is a Bengali-American performance artist based in Chicago. She received her BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has worked with Ishti Collective, A Canary Torsi, Timothy Buckley, Ayako Kato, Aerial Dance Chicago, Ashwaty Chennat, and Laksha Dantran. She has co-produced the J E L L O performance series at Links hall and Elastic Arts.
The duo serves as Artistic Co-Chairs for Ishti Collective. They have created and performed at the Pivot Arts festival, Millennium park, Zhou B Art gallery, Defibrillator Gallery, Asian Festival Iowa, the Delve Showcase, Banks Performance Series and various Chicago Parks.

Riva Lehrer is an artist, writer and curator who focuses on the socially challenged body. She is best known for representations of people whose physical embodiment, sexuality, or gender identity have long been stigmatized.
Ms. Lehrer’s work has been seen in venues including the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian, Yale University, the United Nations, the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, the Arnot Museum, the DeCordova Museum, the Frye Museum, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the State of Illinois Museum.
Her memoir, Golem Girl, will be published by the One World imprint of Penguin/Random House in October 2020.

Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for Wartime. The Great Believers was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.

Nicaraguan born jazz pianist and composer, Darwin Noguera is an emerging voice in the jazz and Latin idioms. With 3 albums as a leader, commissioned works, recordings as a sideman, performances and masterclasses across the United States and the world, Darwin is considered a rising star in the new generation of pianists. Darwin started formal classical training with Panamanian pianist Reinaldo Whyte in Miami, where he grew up. Later Darwin studied at Horta Music Institute of Miami, where he got the opportunity to make his debut with the Miami Symphony Orchestra at the age of 15. He transitioned to study jazz in his early 20’s and now moves swiftly through musical styles, employing equal prowess in composition and jazz improvisation.
Darwin Noguera – Piano
Papo Santiago – Vocals & flute
Jonathan Wenzel – Drums
Bass – TBA

About this year’s Ragdale Ring:
Winner of the 2021 Ragdale Ring competition: Almost Studio’s “That’s a Wrap”
Almost Studio, a design practice co-founded by Anthony Gagliardi (Syracuse University) and Dorian Booth (Yale School of Architecture) , along with junior designer Isabella Calidonio Stechmann (Syracuse University), has won the 2021 Ragdale Ring Competition for their design, “That’s a Wrap.” Their proposal is a contemporary interpretation of the original Ragdale Ring garden theatre designed by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in 1912.
“The annual competition is now in its ninth year and continues to celebrate and further the field of architecture. “That’s a Wrap” is a timely and poignant solution to the questions posed for this year’s Ragdale Ring competition. With the pandemic still looming, and the notion of artists presenting performative works at a venue that needed to be flexible in both physical structure and concept, Almost Studio truly embraced the challenge with their interpretation of mobility. The range of projects this year is a testament to the relevance of the work of designers, and we are honored to support the vision of this standout proposal.” – The 2021 Ragdale Ring Jury

Almost Studio: (L to R) Dorian Booth, Isabella Calidonio Stechmann, Anthony Gagliardi Photo: Jonathan Hokklö

The 2021 Ragdale Ring is sponsored by Syracuse University School of Architecture.

Exile in Bookville Presents: Authors on Tap: Nick Flynn and Rebecca Makkai
2021-08-26 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Exile in Bookville, 410 S. Michigan Avenue (2nd Floor), Chicago, IL, 60605, United States
Authors on Tap: Nick Flynn and Rebecca Makkai
Thursday August 26, 2021 | 7:00PM – 8:00PM CT

Join us on August 26th at 7:00pm to help celebrate the paperback release of Nick Flynn‘s memoir, This Is the Night Our House Will Catch Fire. Nick will be in conversation with Exile VIP Rebecca Makkai!
Nick Flynn is a writer, playwright, and poet. His most recent books are This Is the Night Our House Will Catch Fire (2020), a hybrid memoir, and Stay: threads, collaborations, and conversations (2020), which documents twenty-five years of his collaborations with artists, filmmakers, and composers. He is also the author of five collections of poetry, including I Will Destroy You (2019). He has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Library of Congress, and is on the creative writing faculty at the University of Houston. His acclaimed memoir, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, was made into a film starring Robert DeNiro, and has been translated into fifteen languages.
Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for Wartime. The Great Believerswas a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College
and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.
You can purchase their books through the respective links and each book comes with a signed bookplate!
This is administered as a free event through Eventrbrite. Should you wish to donate to Exile in Bookville’s cause there is an option on the registration page.
Click here to register for this free event!

OnWord 2021 | Annual Event to Support The American Writers Museum
2021-08-31 18:00 - 22:00 (America/Chicago) | Radisson Blu – Atlantic Ballroom, 221 N. Columbus Drive, Chicago, IL, 60601, United States
The American Writers Museum Presents: OnWord 2021 Annual Benefit

The American Writers Museum celebrates the breadth of American writing through interactive exhibits, programming, and educational activities that honor the past, promote the present, and inspire the future. Proceeds from OnWord2021 help support the American Writers Museum’s operations, including its youth education program that inspires the next generation of writers through specially-designed on-site and online field trips, games, writing exercises, and live programs with authors.
The program serves students in Chicago and nationwide – primarily from low-income communities – giving them the opportunity to learn about American writers and the writing process in exciting new ways.

Host and Master of Ceremonies
Rebecca Makkai
Event Co-Chairs
John W. Estey and Jane Irwin
Cultural and Civic Leader Honoree
AWM Founder Malcolm O’Hagan
Presenter of the Inspiration Award
Jenny Xie
Special appearances by writers Scott Turow, Alice McDermott, Billy Collins, Dana Gioia, Tayari Jones, Peter Sagal, and more.
Sponsorships are available
September 2, 2021
Online Live Celebration
An online event for supporters and members of the museum who cannot join us in person. This event will include highlights of the in-person event and special programming just for those who register to attend.
More information to come!

Unabridged Books Presents: "The Talented Miss Farwell" Virtual Event with Emily Gray Tedrowe & Rebecca Makkai
2021-09-01 19:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Unabridged Bookstore, 3251 N. Broadway, Chicago, IL
Celebrate the paperback release of The Talented Miss Farwell with author Emily Gray Tedrowe on Wednesday, September 1st at 7:30 pm CDT! The author will be joined for a conversation by Rebecca Makkai!
About the book:
Catch Me If You Can meets Patricia Highsmith in this “stylish” (New York Times Book Review) page-turner of greed and obsession, survival and self-invention that is a piercing character study of one unforgettable female con artist.
At the end of the 1990s, with the art market finally recovered from its disastrous collapse, Miss Rebecca Farwell has made a killing at Christie’s in New York City, selling a portion of her extraordinary art collection for a rumored 900 percent profit. Dressed in couture YSL, drinking the finest champagne at trendy Balthazar, Reba, as she’s known, is the picture of a wealthy art collector. To some, the elusive Miss Farwell is a shark with outstanding business acumen. To others, she’s a heartless capitalist whose only interest in art is how much she can make.
But a thousand miles from the Big Apple, in the small town of Pierson, Illinois, Miss Farwell is someone else entirely–a quiet single woman known as Becky who still lives in her family’s farmhouse, wears sensible shoes, and works tirelessly as the town’s treasurer and controller.
No one understands the ins and outs of Pierson’s accounts better than Becky; she’s the last one in the office every night, crunching the numbers. Somehow, her neighbors marvel, she always finds a way to get the struggling town just a little more money. What Pierson doesn’t see–and can never discover–is that much of that money is shifted into a separate account that she controls, “borrowed” funds used to finance her art habit. Though she quietly repays Pierson when she can, the business of art is cutthroat and unpredictable.
But as Reba Farwell’s deals get bigger and bigger, Becky Farwell’s debt to Pierson spirals out of control. How long can the talented Miss Farwell continue to pull off her double life?
About the author:
Emily Gray Tedrowe is the Chicago-based author of three novels including The Talented Miss Farwell.
Photo Credt: Marion Ettlinger

Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for Wartime.The Great Believers was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.

Speakeasy Workshop: Reading Like A Writer
2021-09-08 20:00 - 21:30, 2021-09-15 20:00 - 21:30, 2021-09-22 20:00 - 21:30, 2021-09-29 20:00 - 21:30 (America/New_York)
Wednesdays September 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th join me to learn to read like a writer. In this discussion- and lecture-based class, we’ll use short assigned texts to become stronger and more engaging writers. This workshop has four sessions.

We tend to read as readers and then write as writers, missing out on many of the craft lessons we could be learning from the stories, novels, and memoirs we love. You might pause to admire a great line, but when was the last time you took apart an author’s structure, or charted out their use of tension, or examined their scenes as units?
In this four-week class, we’ll use short assigned texts as jumping-off points for craft talks about scene structure, summary and exposition, character interiority and exteriority, and stakes. Most importantly, we’ll learn how to read (and even watch movies) for craft so that we’ll never run out of free writing education.
Class meetings will be discussion-and-lecture based; this is not a workshop class. Students will have access to an exclusive community to continue the discussion outside of class time, sharing reading notes and recommendations.

Course Info: Wednesdays | Sep 8 – Sep 29 | 5pm PT / 8pm ET| 90 min | Limited to 20 participants

Price: $400.00 for all four sessions: September 8, September 15, September 22, September 29, 2021

Joshua Ferris in conversation with Rebecca Makkai: A Calling for Charlie Barnes
2021-09-30 18:00 (America/Chicago) | Online
The Midtown Scholar Bookstore is pleased to welcome New York Times bestselling author Joshua Ferris as he discusses his new novel, A CALLING FOR CHARLIE BARNES. Ferris will be in conversation with bestselling author Rebecca Makkai.
This event is free and open to the public, with registration. Signed, first edition copies are available for purchase through the Midtown Scholar Bookstore.

REGISTER FOR FREE BUY THE BOOK

About the Book:

Someone is telling the story of the life of Charlie Barnes, and it doesn’t appear to be going well. Too often divorced, discontent with life’s compromises and in a house he hates, this lifelong schemer and eternal romantic would like out of his present circumstances and into the American dream. But when the twin calamities of the Great Recession and a cancer scare come along to compound his troubles, his dreams dwindle further, and an infinite past full of forking paths quickly tapers to a black dot.
Then, against all odds, something goes right for a change: Charlie is granted a second act. With help from his storyteller son, he surveys the facts of his life and finds his true calling where he least expects it—in a sacrifice that redounds with selflessness and love—at last becoming the man his son always knew he could be.
A Calling for Charlie Barnes is a profound and tender portrait of a man whose desperate need to be loved is his downfall, and a brutally funny account of how that love is ultimately earned.

About the Authors:

Joshua Ferris is the author of three previous novels, Then We Came to the End, The Unnamed and To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, and a collection of stories, The Dinner Party. He was a finalist for the National Book Award, winner of the Barnes and Noble Discover Award and the PEN/Hemingway Award, and was named one of The New Yorker’s “20 Under 40” writers in 2010. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour won the Dylan Thomas Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, and Best American Short Stories. He lives in New York.

Rebecca Makkai latest novel, The Great Believers, was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award; it was the winner of the ALA Carnegie Medal, the Stonewall Book Award, the LA Times Book Prize, the Clark Fiction Prize, the Midwest Independent Booksellers Award, and the Chicago Review of Books Award; and it was one of the New York Times' Ten Best Books of 2018. Her other books are the novels The Borrower and The Hundred-Year House, and the collection Music for Wartime — four stories from which appeared in The Best American Short Stories. Rebecca is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University. She is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago. Visit her at RebeccaMakkai.com or on twitter @rebeccamakkai.

Authors on Tap: Lily King and Rebecca Makkai
2021-12-06 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Exile in Bookville, 410 S. Michigan Avenue (2nd Floor), Chicago, IL, 60605, United States
Looking for the perfect gift idea for that avid and discerning reader on your holiday shopping list? Well call off the dogs, because we have you covered. Exile in Bookville has the honor of hosting Lily King on Monday, December 6th at 7:00pm central to help celebrate her debut short story collection, Five Tuesdays in Winter. This very special event will be held IN PERSON and virtually simulcast just a few floors above Exile in beautiful Curtiss Hall, located on the 10th floor of the historic Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago. Come for the breathtaking view, stay for the event! And if that wasn’t enough, Lily will be in conversation with literary superstar and Exile VIP Rebecca Makkai!

Lily King is the award-winning author of five novels. Her most recent novel, Writers & Lovers, was published on March 3rd, 2020, and her first collection of short stories, Five Tuesdays in Winter, will be released on November 9, 2021. Her 2014 novel Euphoria won the Kirkus Award, The New England Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Award. Euphoria was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2014 by The New York Times Book Review. It was included in TIME’s Top 10 Fiction Books of 2014, as well as on Amazon, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, and Salon’s Best Books of 2014.
Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for Wartime. The Great Believers was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.
This is a ticketed event for both in person and virtual. Each ticket comes with a signed copy of Lily’s new collection, Five Tuesdays in Winter. Please note, in person tickets are limited to 100 guests.

Click here to register.
Please note the following COVID protocols for those attending IN PERSON:

Attendees must present a physical copy or a photo of their COVID-19 vaccine card along with a valid photo ID (state, government, or school ID); or
Provide a time-stamped printout, photo, or email of a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of the event or a negative Rapid Antigen Test taken within 36 hours of the event, along with a valid photo ID (state, government, or school ID).
All persons must wear a mask for the duration of their time in the Fine Arts Building, regardless of vaccination status in accordance with our current COVID policies.

Friends of the Bronxville Public Library Presents: Lan Samantha Changin conversation with Rebecca Makkai (Zoom)
2022-04-21 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Online
Lan Samantha Chang, author of The Family Chao,
in conversation with
Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers

The Friends of the Bronxville Public Library (FOBPL) is pleased to host award-winning author Lan Samantha Chang, who will discuss her new novel, The Family Chao. FOBPL is equally thrilled to host acclaimed author Rebecca Makkai to moderate this event.
For the recent MyHometownBronxville article, click here.

Thursday, April 21, 2022
7:00-8:00 p.m. via Zoom

This event is free, but registration is required.
To register, please click here.
Registration closes on April 21, 12:00 p.m.
(Zoom link will be provided through Eventbrite Registration on April 21.)

THE FAMILY CHAO is an electrifying and devastating portrait of a Chinese American family grappling with trauma, grief, race, love, and longing. Brimming with comedy, suspense, and heartbreak, Lan Samantha Chang’s masterpiece is one of the most ambitious novels about America in recent years.
Lan Samantha Chang is the award-winning author of a collection of short fiction, Hunger, and novels The Family Chao, Inheritance and All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost. A recent Berlin Prize Fellow, she also has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Chang is the first Asian American and the first female director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She lives in Iowa City. For more on Lan Samantha Chang and The Family Chao, click here.
Moderator Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for Wartime. The Great Believerswas a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago. For more on Rebecca Makkai, click here.
Signed copies of The Family Chao are available for sale now at Womrath Bookshop.
The FOBPL appreciates your donations. Thank you!

In-Person Event with Paul Holes / Unmasked
2022-04-27 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | Wentz Concert Hall, 171 E Chicago Ave, Naperville, IL, United States
Join Anderson’s bookshop for an in-person event with Paul Holes, the retired cold-case detective behind investigations into the Golden State Killer, Jaycee Dugard, and Laci Peterson cases, to discuss his new memoir Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases. Paul will be in conversation with New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Makkai.
After a discussion by the author and a conversation partner, fans will be welcome to join a live signing line to get their book autographed by the author. COVID safety protocols will be followed.
This event will be held at Wentz Concert Hall on the campus of North Central College, and pre-registration is required as space is limited.

Please read these COVID protection requirements carefully:
Masks are required of all customers, regardless of vaccination status, and must remain properly covering the face for the entirety of the event.
A ticket is required for all attendees, attendance may be capped, and seating may also be restricted in order to allow for social distancing.
Anderson’s Bookshop, the author, and the publisher reserve the right to change the format of this event to a virtual one at any time if it becomes necessary. A change in format will not entitle ticket holders to any refund.
Failure to follow these guidelines and to treat all participants with courtesy and respect may result in your expulsion from the event.

Please be advised that Anderson’s Bookshop assumes no responsibility or liability for any personal injury or other loss you may incur as a result of your decision to attend an event, including the transmission of Covid-19 or related illnesses. We expect that for the protection of everyone, all applicable Covid related protocols will be followed.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!
More about the book:
In this memoir, Paul Holes takes us through his memories of a storied career and provides an insider account of some of the most notorious cases in contemporary American history, including the hunt for the Golden State Killer, Laci Peterson’s murder, and Jaycee Dugard’s kidnapping. This is also a revelatory profile of a complex man and what makes him tick: the drive to find closure for victims and their loved ones, the inability to walk away from a challenge—even at the expense of his own happiness. Holes opens up the most intimate scenes of his life: his moments of self-doubt and the impact that detective work has had on his marriage. This is a story about the gritty truth of crime-solving when there are no flashbulbs and “case closed” headlines. It is the story of a man and his commitment to cases and people who might otherwise have been forgotten.
About the author:
In 2018, Paul Holes retired as a Cold Case Investigator after spending more than 27 years working in Contra Costa County in California’s Bay Area. Paul specialized in cold case and serial predator crimes, lending his expertise to notable cases, including the murder of Laci Peterson and the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard. Most prominently, Paul’s career culminated with his identification of the Golden State Killer, the most notorious and cunning serial predator in U.S. history.

Since the arrest of Joseph DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer, Holes has been very involved on the media side, continuing to assist law enforcement and victims’ families with their unsolved cases through the television shows The DNA of Murder with Paul Holes and America’s Most Wanted, and with the podcast Jensen & Holes: The Murder Squad.
Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for Wartime. The Great Believers was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.

The Porch: The Origins of the Original with Visiting Writer Rebecca Makkai
2022-04-30 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Online
When we sit down to write, the first words, scenes, characters, conflicts, and settings we come up with are often the least original ones of which we’re capable. Digging past the obvious, the stock (and even the products of the collective unconscious), we might finally arrive at stories that are strikingly new and memorable. In this class we’ll cover some key elements of originality — specificity, idiosyncrasy, complexity, repetition, and change — and talk about accessing them both in drafting and revision.

For writing to succeed, it must be both well-executed and original. While originality might seem intuitive, or even a product of the writer’s personality, it’s in fact a skill that can be sharpened. That’s what we’ll be doing.
Online Workshop Via Zoom
Saturday, April 30th, 2022 | 2:00pm – 4:00pm CT
$68 for members
$75 for non members

Ragdale Novel Affair 2022
2022-04-30 17:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Shoreacres, 1601 Shore Acres Road, Lake Bluff, IL, 60044, United States
April 30, 2022, 5:30 PM at Shoreacres
Ragdale’s 14th Annual Novel Affair brings together acclaimed authors and guests for an evening of creativity and conversation in support of Ragdale, the region’s most prominent artists residency community located in Lake Forest. The Saturday, April 30 event, held at Shoreacres, begins with a cocktail reception followed by short presentations given by our featured writers/artists. The evening concludes with opportunities for guests to have books signed by featured guests. Books available for purchase by Lake Forest Book Store.
If you can’t attend, but would like to support Ragdale, you can DONATE HERE.

Purchase Tickets

Participants
Jessamine Chan, author
Jonathan Eig, journalist and biographer
Alex Kotlowitz, journalist, author
Scott Lundius, executive director, The Morrison-Shearer Foundation
Sahar Mustafah, author
Melissa Ann Pinney, photographer
Erika L. Sánchez , poet
Natasha Trethewey, poet
Host
Rebecca Makkai, author

American Writers Festival
2022-05-15 | Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, Chicago, IL
American Writers Festival

My Monticello: Jocelyn Johnson in conversation with Rebecca Makkai
Event Time: 11:30 a.m.
Event Location: Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, Chicago IL

The inaugural American Writers Festival on May 15, 2022 in Chicago coincides with the American Writers Museum’s fifth anniversary. The free literary festival will be held at four stages inside the Chicago Cultural Center and one stage at the American Writers Museum, and feature more than 75 beloved contemporary authors, artists and playwrights. Participating writers will address their perspectives on many of today’s most timely and controversial topics including immigration, book censorship, racism and equality through themes within their literature.
As a special bonus, the AWM will waive museum admission fees on Sunday, May 15 and Monday, May 16 – AWM’s fifth anniversary – to encourage more people to experience the literary works of the greatest American writers.

Exile In Bookville Presents: Authors on Tap: Steve Almond and Rebecca Makkai
2022-05-27 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Exile in Bookville, 410 S. Michigan Avenue (2nd Floor), Chicago, IL, 60605, United States
Authors on Tap: Steve Almond and Rebecca Makkai
Friday May 27 2022 7:00pm – 8:00pm

Join us IN PERSON or virtually on Friday, May 27th at 7:00pm central to help celebrate Steve Almond‘s new novel, All the Secrets of the World. Steve will be in conversation with Exile MVP Rebecca Makkai!
Steve Almond is the author of a dozen books, including “Candyfreak” and “Against Football,” which were both on the New York Times’ Bestseller list for about four seconds. He’s the recipient of an NEA grant for 2022 and teaches at Harvard and Wesleyan. His work has been published in the Best American Short Stories, the Best American Mysteries, and the New York Times Magazine. Fancy fancy. After 30 years of writing terrible novels, he finally wrote one that doesn’t suck. All the Secrets of the World will be out in May.
Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for Wartime. The Great Believers was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.
You can purchase their books through the respective links and Steve and Rebecca are happy to sign or personalize copies! If you can’t make it to the event, signed copies will be available and we ship nationally!
Please note the following COVID protocols for those attending IN PERSON:

Attendees must present a physical copy or a photo of their COVID-19 vaccine card along with a valid photo ID (state, government, or school ID); or
Provide a time-stamped printout, photo, or email of a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of the event or a negative Rapid Antigen Test taken within 36 hours of the event, along with a valid photo ID (state, government, or school ID).
All persons must wear a mask for the duration of their time in the Fine Arts Building, regardless of vaccination status in accordance with our current COVID policies

Please email us at books@exileinbookville.com or phone us at (312)-753-3154 if you have any questions or concerns.
Click here to register for virtual event.
*There is no need to register if you are attending in person!

Northwestern Summer Writers' Conference: The Origins of The Original
2022-07-09 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago)
The Northwestern University Summer Writers’ Conference is back! This year, the conference is entirely online again so you can join us from anywhere in the world. Details are forthcoming. In the meantime, please save the dates!
The conference is hosted by the Northwestern University School of Professional Studies MA in Writing and MFA in Prose and Poetry programs.

July 9th, 2022 11:00am – noon CST
The Origins of the Original
Featuring Rebecca Makkai
For writing to succeed, it must be both well-executed and original. But when we sit down to write, the first words, scenes, characters, conflicts, and settings we come up with are often the least original ones of which we’re capable. Digging past the obvious, the stock (and even the products of the collective unconscious), we might finally arrive at stories that are strikingly new and memorable. In this class we’ll cover some key elements of originality — specificity, idiosyncrasy, complexity, repetition, and change — and talk about accessing them in both drafting and revision. While originality might seem intuitive, or even a product of the writer’s personality, it’s in fact a skill that can be sharpened. That’s what we’ll be doing.

StoryStudio Chicago: StoryBoard Presents: Rebecca Makkai in Conversation with Terese Marie Mailhot, Ingrid Rojas-Contreras, Megan Stielstra, Pablo Cartaya, and Dan Chaon
2022-08-12 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Zoom info in ticket link
StoryBoard Kick Off!
Mark you calendars for August 12 at 7 pm CT. StoryStudio Chicago Artistic Director Rebecca Makkai will be in conversation with five of the StoryBoard faculty members in webinar fashion on Zoom, a conversation that will be free and open to the public!

Exile in Bookville Presents: Authors on Tap: Anca L. Szilágyi and Rebecca Makkai
2022-09-29 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | Exile in Bookville, 410 S. Michigan Avenue (2nd Floor), Chicago, IL, 60605, United States
Join us IN PERSON on Thursday, September 29 at 7 pm central to help celebrate the launch of Anca L. Szilágyi‘s second novel, Dreams Under Glass. Anca will be in conversation with Exile MVP Rebecca Makkai!
About Dreams Under Glass:
An art school grad turned paralegal faces a shocking and surreal death at her law firm against a backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis in New York City.
“A darkly delicious exploration of modern entrapment, Dreams Under Glass is both a coming-of-age novel and a horror story about gluttony, greed, and art. Szilágyi binds the spell with confectionary precision and a collector’s sense of wonder and ceaseless want. This book rattles with its refraction of a world in which telling the truth might be the most difficult art.”
-—Nancy Jooyoun Kim, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Story of Mina Lee
“Szilágyi’s sharp, wry prose captures millennial ennui and ambition alike in this sometimes-dark, sometimes-electric, completely fascinating novel.”
-—Sonora Jha, author of Foreign and How to Raise a Feminist Son
About the authors:
Anca L. Szilágyi is the author of Daughters of the Air (Lanternfish Press, 2017), which Shelf Awareness called “a striking debut from a writer to watch,” and Dreams Under Glass (Lanternfish Press, 2022). Her writing appears in Orion Magazine, Lilith Magazine, and Los Angeles Review of Books, among others. She is the recipient of awards and fellowships from Vermont Studio Center, Artist Trust, 4Culture, Hugo House, and Jack Straw Cultural Center, among others. Originally from Brooklyn, she has lived in Montreal, Seattle, and now Chicago, where she teaches creative writing at StoryStudio Chicago and elsewhere.
Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for Wartime. The Great Believers was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.
About the event:
You can purchase their books through the respective links or in store and Anca and Rebecca are happy to sign or personalize copies! If you can’t make it to the event, signed copies will be available and we ship nationally!
Please note the following COVID protocols for those attending IN PERSON:

Attendees must present a physical copy or a photo of their COVID-19 vaccine card along with a valid photo ID (state, government, or school ID); or
Provide a time-stamped printout, photo, or email of a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of the event or a negative Rapid Antigen Test taken within 36 hours of the event, along with a valid photo ID (state, government, or school ID).
All persons must wear a mask for the duration of their time in the Fine Arts Building, regardless of vaccination status in accordance with our current COVID policies

Please email us at books@exileinbookville.com or phone us at (312)-753-3154 if you have any questions or concerns.
Click here to register for free!
