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-...

@storystudiochicago.bsky.social's Pub Crawl is in full swing, and we wanted to invite you to our FREE panel on 2/27 w/ CHIRB editors @reemasabrina.bsky.social, @rachellayown.bsky.social, and @gregzimmerman.bsky.social, moderated by @mbwwelch.bsky.social—sign up below! us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

The guy who owns Amazon shutting down the books section of the Washington Post is beyond parody

"The gift to spend more unstructured time moving between the US and Latin America deeply informed how I was thinking about the instability of narrative truths." @michaelzapata.bsky.social's interview with Sarah Bruni is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/02/03/c...

From thrilling noirs and captivating literary mysteries to new releases from some of our most exciting authors working today, February is shaping up to be a match made in heaven for readers, @mbwwelch.bsky.social writes. Check out our most anticipated books! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/02/02/1...

We're officially 10 years old today! It's been quite a decade. Nearly 3,000 published reviews, interviews, essays, book lists, cover reveals, and more. Millions and millions of views. Ten years of CHIRBy awards, readings, and events bringing our literary community together...

I was so happy to write about the brilliant Toya Wolfe for @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social series on Chicago books of the past 10 years! We are absolutely living in the New Chicago Renaissance, and there's a lot that sucks about the world right now but the Chicago lit scene is not one of those things.

For our 10th anniversary, we've started the New Chicago Renaissance series to revisit exemplary works of literature about Chicago from the last 10 years, and explore their continued relevance. Stay tuned for one every month!

Our second installment in the Chicago Renaissance series is about Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe (@wmmorrowbooks.bsky.social, 2023), chosen by novelist @rebeccamakkai.bsky.social. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/28/t...

Why continue to make art? Making art is an act of rebellion. Loving yourself is an act of rebellion. Loving other people is an act of rebellion. Caring about people, community, nature, is an act of rebellion. Don’t let the apathy sink in. Don’t let the cynicism sink in. Don’t be like them.

So much love for @moonpalacebooks.bsky.social

It's time to abolish Trump’s ICE.

ANNOUNCING: Applications are now open for our 2026 StoryBoard Conference! Now in its 7th year, StoryBoard is our annual week-long writing workshop. Just look at this incredible line-up of instructors! 🤩 More info and how to apply is here: buff.ly/xGOkq8Z #writingcommunity

Let’s have a drink at AWP and talk about really really big lakes!

INTO this. regional literature and regional scenes are my jam