Our first Chicago Writers Showcase reader is @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social reading from his new novel MAN OVERBOARD! (Gallery Books). Kathleen is a founding editor of Rose Metal Press, as well as a founding member of Poems While You Wait 🧵 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

We're proud to celebrate 10 years uplifting writers and editors, large and independent presses, and connecting readers with their incredible work.

The first showcase went so well we’re doing it twice a year! Join us on June 2 for your sneak peek on what’s coming from the Chicago lit community in the second half of 2026!

I left this conversation with so much hope (a rare feeling these days!)

To see my book next to Jesmyn Ward’s?!? Pinch me. Huge thanks to @mbwwelch.bsky.social for including HWSTG and for the kind words!

This month’s list features an incredible and eclectic list of new releases that range in tone and perspective, our EIC @mbwwelch.bsky.social writes, but they all carry a similar theme: tons and tons of style. Check out our picks for the must-read books of May! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/05/01/1...

How would you like to host your own private 2-hour party at the bookstore? Bid now on this auction to support our friends at @storystudiochicago.bsky.social. new.biddingowl.com/item/private...

Finally, some good news: workers at Hachette are unionizing, and you can sign an open letter of support. This is the way! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Oh no, where have all the book reviews gone! Maybe it would help if we stopped doing the New York & corporate media naval gazing for like one second www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/b...

We’re so back

Happy early independent bookstore day! 📚

Thanks to Newcity for this great recent interview/review of our Great Lakes anthology, On an Inland Sea! Editor @mbwwelch.bsky.social reminds us all of the vital environmental element that runs through most of the collection! Check it out here: lit.newcity.com/2026/04/02/w...

Thank you so much @elizabethniarchosneukirch.com for talking with me about "On an Inland Sea" ❤️

I wrote about "On an Inland Sea," a collection of Great Lakes writing by @beltpublishing.bsky.social, edited by @mbwwelch.bsky.social. It's really a wonderful anthology, and deserves a place in the growing body of writing about the Lakes. greatlakesreview.org/shaped-by-th...

This month features some of my favorite debuts of the year, our EIC @mbwwelch.bsky.social writes, including a deeply moving anthology about estrangement, and a book that turns history on its head. Check out the list below! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/04/01/1...

We’re thrilled to co-host the Chicago release of THE MEMORY MUSEUM (@graywolfpress.bsky.social) by M Lin with Women and Children first in Andersonville! It’s on May 3 at 6:30pm! www.eventbrite.com/e/memory-mus...

Super grateful to @rachellayown.bsky.social and @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social for this lovely interview! Get a glimpse of the publisher's life...if you dare! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/03/20/i...

Absolutely not. If you are using AI to write you should 100% be ashamed. Shame is one of the last bulwarks against a total slop apocalypse. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/b...

I absolutely loved curating this series ❤️ This month’s entry from Nathan Hill is on the site now!

I wrote about the first national book banning bill, which effectively seeks to erase trans people. At the end I include a link to let your reps know that you oppose this bill and all it stands for. lithub.com/why-we-must-...

We're so, so excited to be part of Jeff Boyd's release event for his book HARD TIMES (@flatironbooks.bsky.social) and you can join us too! We'll be at the Book Cellar on 3/31 at 6:30 and Jeff'll be in conversation with Chicago's own Rowan Beaird 🤩 Hope to see you there!

I haven't panned a book in 7 years but I think novelists who've earned a $3 million advance are fair game. www.thefrontlist.org/p/yann-marte...

Was really happy to interview @mbwwelch.bsky.social for @michiganquarterly.bsky.social about ON AN INLAND SEA (@beltpublishing.bsky.social), the amazing Great Lakes anthology he edited which everyone should check out!! sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/2026/03/...

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Thanks to everyone who braved a literal hail storm to join us for this celebration! 🌊

"There’s something about being in nature and being alongside something that feels so much bigger than you that makes you turn inward." Out now: @celldeathvic.bsky.social's interview with @mbwwelch.bsky.social on "On an Inland Sea” (@beltpublishing.bsky.social). chireviewofbooks.com/2026/03/10/g...

Happy Pub Day to @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social editor-in-chief @mbwwelch.bsky.social. If you're in Chicago, the launch party for ON AN INLAND SEA is tonight at 6:30 pm at @roscoebooks.bsky.social.

Today’s the day! 🌊🌊🌊

Getting my name in the @chicagoreader.com is a pretty major Chicago bucket list item for me: review of On an Inland Sea: Writing the Great Lakes chicagoreader.com/books/book-r... @beltpublishing.bsky.social @mbwwelch.bsky.social

Let’s all hang out at the @beltpublishing.bsky.social AWP Happy Hour!

This month, we’re welcoming a wide range of exciting new releases that bend their genre conventions and chart a new path forward of possibility in literature, our EIC @mbwwelch.bsky.social writes. Check out the rest of his picks for March's best books below! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/03/02/1...

TONIGHT! Join us for our free panel with @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social celebrating the publication's 10 years. Panelists will discuss what makes a good review, the importance of book coverage these days, and how you can improve your chances to get your work reviewed. Register: buff.ly/aBC7HDS

Check out @mbwwelch.bsky.social on the @literaryhub.bsky.social podcast talking a few of our favorite things... Bookstores and libraries anybody? 🤩 lithub.com/celebrating-...

Our table at the ABA Winter Institute! If you stopped by yesterday, you probably saw a new face behind the table. That’s me (Andrew), a new employee for Belt, helping out with marketing. It was great to meet both new and longtime fans of Belt, and to chat a bit about the year’s upcoming projects!

"Rural spaces, especially agricultural ones, never let you forget that you exist in a body, that you won’t be around forever." @rsdeeren.bsky.social's interview with @saramaurerwrites.bsky.social on "A Good Animal” (@stmartinspress.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/02/25/w...

"This is my most Southern novel...The characters are all unique, and some of them are larger than life, and they talk a lot of trash. They’re funny." @aaisforaarti.bsky.social's interview with @tayari.bsky.social on "Kin” (@aaknopf.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/02/24/t...

I have a new article out in Newcity Lit today about the inimitable Camille Bordas! lit.newcity.com/2026/02/23/c...

We’re excited to offer an exclusive cover reveal of Chicago Review of Books Daily Editor @celldeathvic.bsky.social's forthcoming debut novel, The Book of the Jaguar (Fairwood Press, August 18, 2026)! Check it out below 😍 and join us in congratulating Victor! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/02/19/e...

@mbwwelch.bsky.social on the closing of Chicago’s Volumes Bookcafe and what we lose when we lose independent bookstores.

This is so so lovely. Needed this today. Thank you @mbwelch.bsky.social so much.

I wrote about the loss of @volumesbooks.bsky.social, the encroachment of corporate bookselling in Chicago, and what it means for our literary scene and community overall. A huge thank you to @literaryhub.bsky.social ❤️ lithub.com/what-we-lose...

"I measure a full-fledged bookstore by its discoveries, its hand-written recommendation note cards, and the checkouts that turn into runaway conversations about what we’re reading..." We're so proud to see @mbwwelch.bsky.social is in @literaryhub.bsky.social today!! 🤩 lithub.com/what-we-lose...

This is honestly one of my favorite pieces we’ve ever run on the site 👀

The preorders are arriving! 👀

You know you've found the right people when you're texting at 7:45 in the morning -- even before a first cup of coffee -- about a book you both loved. @mbwwelch.bsky.social

"On An Inland Sea" (@beltpublishing.bsky.social) comes out in a month, so we're hosting a release party @roscoebooks.bsky.social on March 10! Join us for a discussion & reading from contributors including @rsdeeren.bsky.social, Lina Tran, & Kristin Idaszak! RSVP here: forms.gle/34RkG1WWprCa...

Becca Rothfeld, a former critic at the Washington Post, on the death of the paper’s books section. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/zmzLbN

As a Hachette author, one who has written an entire novel about book bans, this is so deeply disappointing and maddening. A publisher makes choices as to what to publish. Choosing not to offer on a book is NOT a ban. It is NOT censorship to say, we'll pass. Publishing a book is a CHOICE.

Look at this beautiful list of incredible writers! 😍 "On An Inland Sea" comes out next month!

After 20 years, I've been laid off at The Washington Post. substack.com/home/post/p-...