"Part of what was so interesting about my characters and the Hills was that they did come to believe what they’d experienced despite there being no physical evidence." @jenstjude.bsky.social's interview with @ilanaslightly.bsky.social is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/26/a...

“A propellent, engaging, complex work of literature that inhabits, rather than uses, its time period... AMANDA, like history itself, is truly original.” D. W. White in the @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social: chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/25/a...

"A lively biography of a bold woman." Thank you Kirkus for a nice review of A DANGER. 🥹 www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

"A propellent, engaging, complex work of literature that inhabits, rather than uses, its time period." D.W. White's review of “Amanda” by H. S. Cross (@europaeditions.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/25/a...

Friends, our in-person Open House happens one week from today, Sept. 30! Come hang out with staff, find out what's coming up at the studio, and take a sampler class. This is a free event, but registration is required: buff.ly/4NmDEwi #chicagowriters

Our next FREE Write-Out at Begyle Brewing happens next Monday, Sept. 29 at 5:30 pm CT. Come write with us for a couple hours, and then hang out and have a drink. All the details and registration is here: buff.ly/Qd1ZlqC

Over at @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social: A great review of one of the BIG (both in terms of publishing event and size) books of the fall, Kiran Desai's THE LONELINESS OF SONIA AND SUNNY (just announced as a Booker Prize Finalist, too): chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/24/t... #books #booksky

"'Sonia and Sunny' hearkens back to an earlier time, engaging in somewhat dated prose excess, to fascinating results." @yfbpodcast.bsky.social's review of “The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny” by Kiran Desai (Hogarth) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/24/t...

"[The poems] came out of a place of wonder, post-Covid, about which of my favorite pre-pandemic places might remain." Reynaldo Hinojosa's interview with John Cal Freeman on his new book “The Weather of Our Names” (Cornerstone Press) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/24/t...

<3

"I knew that I wanted to write this as a contemporary fantasy, and I knew that it would be based on Polish folklore." Mia Rhee's interview with @veronicarothbooks.com on her new book “To Clutch a Razor” (@torbooks.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/23/t...

"At some point, I had to give up on the idea of writing a smooth, neatly linear book—or even smooth, neatly linear chapters within a book." Angela Hui's interview with E. Y. Zhao on her new book “Underspin” (Astra House) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/23/t...

Last night ruled! At the @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social Chicago launch of @jasondiamond.bsky.social’s debut novel KAPLAN’S PLOT (with @jamiattenberg.bsky.social), we learned about Al Capone’s laundry, intergenerational trauma, and how to wake up everyday and just try to figure it out.

With meticulous research and expansive compassion, @madameclair08.bsky.social’s TELL HER STORY tells not only of Eleanor Bumpurs’ life, but her legacy, advanced in no small part by Bumpurs’ daughter Mary. #BlackWomenLead @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social

Read Jessica Limardo's review of "Defiant Acts" (@acrebooks.bsky.social) James Stewart III’s debut novel, written as a series of slice-of-life vignettes. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/19/i...

This is TONIGHT!!

"We have more records of the past than we have ever had at any other point, and are constantly drawing on that legacy, whether we know it or not." Ryan Asmussen's interview with Camille Ralphs on her new book “After You Were, I Am” (@mcsweeneys.net) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/18/t...

"A ghost story that blends the horrors of the supernatural, the unexplainable, and the unknown." Hannah Korbel's review of "The Whistler" by Nick Medina (@berkleypub.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/18/t...

I got to write about how @bethrooney.bsky.social & I wrote LEAF TOWN FOREVER, out next month from @uminnpress.bsky.social, in a sneak peek for @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social! chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/17/a...

Yes, I am crashing into your timeline again. (If this publication-week stuff is too much, mute me! I understand completely!) Jacqui Devaney asked thoughtful questions and gave me room (heh) to elaborate.

Check out a sneak peek of @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social and @bethrooney.bsky.social's picture book "Leaf Town Forever" (and illustrated by Betsy Bowen) from @uminnpress.bsky.social this October! chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/17/a...

"I didn’t want to write about myself. But of course I am in those books." Jacqui Devaney's interview with @karenpalmer.bsky.social on her new book “She’s Under Here” (@algonquinbooks.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/17/h...

Huge congratulations to Memoir In A Year alum @yvonneliuwriter.bsky.social on being named one of the initial recipients of James Patterson's initial "Go Finish Your Book" grants!!! Here's more on the grant program: www.jamespatterson.com/landing-page...

So thrilled for @thefrontlist.org and his new endeavor!! 🥳

"I wanted to talk about intergenerational trauma, the things we inherit." @rubyprosenthal.bsky.social's interview with @jasondiamond.bsky.social on his new book “Kaplan's Plot” (@flatironbooks.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/16/o...

"[Schweblin] evokes dread, grief, death, fear, illuminates them, and leaves the reader to mediate within them." Leah von Essen's review of "Good and Evil and Other Stories" by Samanta Schweblin (@aaknopf.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/16/t...

In a time before viral videos and hashtags, activists and cultural critics invoked Eleanor Bumpurs when talking about police brutality. @madameclair08.bsky.social has written the first ever biography about her, TELL HER STORY. @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social

Still time to get tix to support @jasondiamond.bsky.social this Friday!! We can't wait to see you there, Chicago.

"Once [books] are published and out in the world, I am constantly surprised by the extent of their reach and the wonderful ways they touch readers." @rachellayown.bsky.social's interview with @milkweededitions.bsky.social editor Daniel Slager is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/15/i...

“Her journey is not a sinking into unconsciousness, but some alignment of human and animal nature, including the desire for procreation.” In @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social‬‬, Philip Janowski reviews Daniela Tarazona’s translated novella, “The Animal on the Rock” - chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/10/t...

I had the joy of speaking with Valencia Robin on her newest poetry collection, LOST CITIES, for @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social Check out the brilliant insight below. Thanks to Gabriel Fried for putting us in contact.

"What’s important to me isn’t to capture an experience so much as the emotional truth of an experience." @rsdeeren.bsky.social's interview with Valencia Robin on her new book “Lost Cities: Poems” (Persea Books) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/12/t...

"The paradox of dullness during wartime lingers over every scene of The Surge to the point where following Chandler around all day becomes an exercise in both patience and anxiety." - @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social #FridayReads #BookSky bookshop.org/p/books/the-... tortoisebooks.com/store/thesurge

We're thrilled to be co-hosting the Chicago release of Kaplan's Plot by @jasondiamond.bsky.social with @volumesbooks.bsky.social!! Join Jason in conversation with @jamiattenberg.bsky.social and we can't wait to see you next Friday night! 🥳🥳🥳 www.eventbrite.com/e/jason-diam...

🥹

"Omissions of history tell at least as much as the findings" in "Zone Rouge" (@unnamedpress.bsky.social) by Michael Jerome Plunkett. Read on in Joe Stanek's review. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/11/u...

"Resentment, infatuation, dependence, alienation and fear of loneliness work well when they’re being revealed with words and images together." @rachellayown.bsky.social's interview with Lee Lai on her new book “Cannon” @dandq.bsky.social is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/10/t...

"The story’s symbolic transformation can be linked to the sense of the reptile as ancient, and reduction to the 'lizard brain'..." Philip Janowski's review of "The Animal on the Rock" by Daniela Tarazona (@deepvellum.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/10/t...

"I wanted to create a world...where the performers would stay in character, and behind the scenes, they could come out of character." Out now: Elisa Shoenberger's interview w/ @laraehrlich.bsky.social on “Bind Me Tighter Still” (@redhenpress.bsky.social). chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/09/a...

Happiest of pub days to Makenna Goodman and the brilliant HELEN OF NOWHERE!!! Below is an interview with the equally brilliant Idra Novey for @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social This slim novel contains MULTITUDES. Get it now! 📚 chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/09/c...

"I wanted to play with the idea that we are all existing in some constantly evolving truth, where we contribute to its remaking every minute of every day." Idra Novey's interview with Makenna Goodman is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/09/c...

In history’s most challenging times, Black women have always been the model. @madameclair08.bsky.social’s biography of Eleanor Bumpurs, TELL HER STORY, is 1 of 3 new books here celebrating their work. 🙌🏽 @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social

"Through the warmth and intensity of the mother-son bond, Barrodale illustrates why it takes most of us thousands of lifetimes to let go." John Larson's review of "Trip" by Amie Barrodale (@fsgbooks.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/08/b...

It is such a special thing to see this write-up on GREAT DISASTERS in @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social's Must-Read Books of September list. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/02/1... GD is out from @tinhouse.bsky.social on September 30th! More on the book at tinhouse.com/book/great-d... 🌺

Chicago let’s gooooooooo!

“Kaplan’s Plot” is such a special love letter to Chicago and I can’t wait to celebrate it. Come join us!

We're excited to co-sponsor the Chicago Release of @jasondiamond.bsky.social's "Kaplan's Plot"! Join us on September 19 at Volumes Bookcafe for a can't-miss conversation between Jason & @jamiattenberg.bsky.social! www.eventbrite.com/e/jason-diam...

"A smart thriller with satisfying literary references, intriguing academic lore, and, most importantly, a dark and doomed friendship at its center." Ceillie Clark-Keane's review of "Doll Parts" by Penny Zang (@readlandmark.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/05/d...

"In history’s most challenging times, Black women have always been the model." Take a look at three new books celebrating their work, compiled by Sullivan Summer. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/04/r...

"I want to know what I am capable of, or what language is capable of." Jackson Holbert's interview with @keithwilsonpoet.bsky.social on his new book “Games for Children” (@milkweededitions.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/09/04/i...