menu

Tag Archive for: fundraiser

Texas Book Festival First Edition Literary Gala

The Texas Book Festival is excited to announce the 2023 First Edition Literary Gala headliners, award-winning authors Ann Patchett, Roger Reeves, and Abraham Verghese. The Texas Book Festival is a non-profit organization, with the mission to connect authors & readers through experiences that celebrate the culture of literacy, ideas, and imagination. Gala proceeds make it possible for TBF to bring books and authors to 14,000 students in Title I schools every year, award grants to Texas public libraries, and keep the annual Festival free for all.



on November 9 2023· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ragdale Novel Affair 2022

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.

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

on April 30 2022· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

OnWord 2021 | Annual Event to Support The American Writers Museum

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!

on August 31 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ragdale Ring 2021

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.


		August 2021 Ragdale Ring image

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.


		August 2021 Ragdale Ring image

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.


		August 2021 Ragdale Ring image

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.


		August 2021 Ragdale Ring image

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


		August 2021 Ragdale Ring image

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


		August 2021 Ragdale Ring image

		August 2021 Ragdale Ring image

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

on August 18 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

StoryStudio Chicago Storyball – Stories Matter Foundation Fundraiser

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!

on April 29 2021· Tagged: , , ,

Chicago Literary Alliance Presents: One For The Books

Throughout the first two weeks of April, enjoy a variety of virtual events presented by The Chicago Literary Alliance that celebrate the many ways we use the tools of literacy. Take part in an online silent auction featuring unique and rare books, as well as items for your home. One For The Books is a series of events fundraising to benefit The Chicago Literary Alliance

Join us on Thursday, April 1 at 6 PM for a conversation with Rebecca Makkai to discuss her work, her creative process, and her view of a literate Chicago. Zoom links will be sent to all ticket holders closer to the event.

on April 1 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , ,

StoryStudio Chicago Presents: The Geek-Out Book Club | Rebecca Makkai + Cristina Henriquez Discuss “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

The Geek-Out is writers geeking out about literature, plain and simple! One writer will make the other read something for the first time (in this case, Rebecca made Cristina read Shirley Jackson’s legendarily unnerving “The Lottery”) and then for about an hour they talk together about craft, impact, what they loved, what they didn’t. The audience is encouraged to read the piece too, and participate via the chat box.

The event is a fundraiser for StoryStudio’s Doro Boehme scholarship fund, benefiting writers working on book-length projects. If this first go is successful, we hope to make The Geek-Out a regular series, inviting your favorite writers to participate and discuss other legendary stories and books.

on December 14 2020· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

scroll to top