Filet mignon and meatballs and more April 6 at the 7th Annual Taste of the Gold Coast (Chicago,IL)

JOIN US FOR THE 7th ANNUAL TASTE OF THE GOLD COAST WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6TH 2016 6-9PM Germania Place 108 W Germania Pl. Chicago, IL 60610 Enjoy the opportunity to taste the cuisines from the Gold Coast's top restaurants. Gourmet menu items will be presented by each restaurant's head chef. PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS IN THE 7th ANNUAL TASTE INCLUDE: AUNTIE VEE’S CARMINE’S CONNIE’S PIZZA DEL FRISCO’S DEVON SEAFOOD GRILL EDUARDO’S ENOTECA FRANCESCA’S ON CHESTNUT FREESTYLE FOOD + DRINK AT THE DANA HOTEL AND SPA GINO’S EAST GODDESS AND GROCER KENMARE CATERING MORTON’S ROY’S RESTAURANT AND MORE! CLICK HERE   to purchase tickets today! Cocktail Attire required A portion of the event proceeds will be donated to The North Dearborn Association 2 Drink Vouchers Per Guest for the select hosted bar EVENT PARTNERS: Cece & Melinda with Raymi Productions IB Driven Gromeza Floral Design Studio Talent City Artists Mac & Cheese Fest Kesh Designs Paul's Fashion CHARITY BENEFICIARY: The North Dearborn Association

 

 

Beauty Brands stores is having their Annual Hairspray Sale!

Awesome promotion!  Beauty Brands stores and www.beautybrands.com is having their Annual Hairspray Sale, which features select hairspray and dry shampoo for just $8.99! Consumers can save up to 70% on their favorite hair care from 75+ salon-professional products!  This promotion lasts until April 9th!  Here’s a link to more information about the sale: http://www.beautybrands.com/category/hair/shop+by+hold.do

Here’s more info about Beauty Brands, the one-stop shopping, spa and salon destination for the modern American beauty: This is where she can find it all: big store choice and boutique intimacy, her favorite marquee brands alongside noteworthy indie labels, quick fix facials and long, luxurious head-to-toe pampering, a lipstick to suit her mood or a new hair cut and style that take off years, not just inches.  It is all delivered with passion by expert professional staff devoted to bringing out every individual customer’s natural beauty.

Millennium Park announces 4th annual Summer Film Series (Chicago,IL)

MILLENNIUM PARK ANNOUNCES 4^th ANNUAL SUMMER FILM SERIES

2016 Line-Up Celebrates “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” 30th Anniversary—and Launches New ‘Full Moon Double Feature’ and ‘Audience Choice’ Night

Chicagoans and visitors alike are invited to enjoy outdoor movies downtown as the popular Summer Film Series returns to Millennium Park, Tuesdays, June 21 – August 30, at 6:30pm. Guests may take a seat at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion or lounge on the Great Lawn as crowd-pleasing movies are presented on a state-of-the-art, 40-foot LED screen.

This year’s line-up kicks off with the Chicago classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in celebration of the film’s 30^th anniversary and then continues with other exciting titles including Thelma & Louise, Finding Nemo and Purple Rain. Additionally, this year’s series includes the first-ever “Full Moon Double Feature” showing of Moonstruck and Silence of the Lambs, as well as an “Audience Choice” night where fans will be able to vote on a favorite Chicago film to be screened in the park. The full Summer Film Series features:               

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off • June 21
(1986, PG-13, 103 mins)
Celebrating the 30^th anniversary of this iconic ‘80s classic of a Chicago-area high school wise guy who is determined to have a day off from school

Soul Food • June 28
(1997, R*, 115 mins)
Follows the trials of a close-knit Chicago family that gets together to have Sunday dinner every week

A League of Their Own • July 5
(1992, PG, 125 mins)
Two sisters join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it success amidst their own growing rivalry. A special presentation to celebrate the 75^th Anniversary of the USO will take place before the film.

Thelma & Louise • July 12

(1991, R**, 120 mins)

The Academy Award-winning film of two friends who embark on a road trip with disastrous consequences

FULL MOON DOUBLE FEATURE: Moonstruck & Silence of the Lambs • July 19

(Moonstruck: 1988, PG, 102 mins / Silence of the Lambs: 1991, R‡, 118 mins)
A special double feature event beginning with the classic romantic comedy “Moonstruck,” followed by a late-night showing of the iconic thriller “Silence of the Lambs”

Kartemquin Films 50^th Anniversary Celebration • July 26
Celebrating 50 years of democracy through documentary, this special screening will celebrate the legacy of the acclaimed Chicago filmmaking organization

West Side Story • August 2
(1961, Unrated, 152 mins)
The award-winning adaptation of the Shakespeare’s classic romantic tragedy, “Romeo and Juliet”—screened as part of Shakespeare 400

Grease • August 9
(1978, PG-13, 110 mins)
Come sing along with this romantic musical comedy set in the 1950s

Finding Nemo • August 16
(2003, G, 100 mins)
After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home

Purple Rain • August 23
(1984, PG, 111 mins)
Starring Prince, this is the story of a musician escaping a tumultuous home life through music

AUDIENCE CHOICE: Favorite Chicago Film • August 30
Audience members will vote on their favorite Chicago film to be shown; details of voting to be announced at a later date

*Rated R for strong sexuality and language
**Rated R for strong language, and some violence and sensuality
‡Rated R for Sex and Nudity, Violence and Gore, Profanity, Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking, and Frightening/Intense Scenes

All films are FREE and made possible by the Millennium Park Foundation. The Summer Film Series is co-curated with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE).
Sponsorship opportunities are available for these outdoor films and more. To learn more, contact chicagopartnerships@cityofchicago.org or visit chicagopartnerships.org.
Millennium Park is located on Michigan Avenue, bordered by Randolph St. to the north, Columbus Dr. to the east and Monroe St. to the south. The Park is open 6am–11pm. daily. Convenient parking is located in the Millennium Park Garage (entrance on Columbus at Monroe or Randolph) and Grant Park North. For the latest news and events, visit millenniumpark.org,
call 312.742.1168, or connect on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is dedicated to enriching Chicago’s artistic vitality and cultural vibrancy. This includes fostering the development of Chicago’s non-profit arts sector, independent working artists and for-profit arts businesses; providing a framework to guide the City’s future cultural and economic growth, via the 2012 Chicago Cultural Plan; marketing the City’s cultural assets to a worldwide audience; and presenting high-quality, free and affordable cultural programs for residents and visitors.
                                                                                               

Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, 78 E. Washington Street, Chicago, IL 60602 United States

Amdur Productions Opens Call For Youth Artists (Chicago,IL)

 

Amdur Productions Opens Call For Youth Artists Applications for Youth Artists are now open! "We are very excited to present Youth Artists ages 6-18 with a wonderful opportunity to exhibit and sell their artwork to the public!", says CEO and President Amy Amdur. Laura Stoecker Photography, LTD   This year, there will be Youth Artist Divisions at 5 of Amdur Productions art festivals! Applications are accepted on a first-come, first served basis and spaces are limited! Submit your application today! Young artists who have participated in the Youth Art Division in the past have found it to be a wonderful and uniquely enriching experience.  The festival will provide young artists with a venue to showcase and sell their original artwork to a large public audience. The Youth Artist Division will also give young artists the opportunity to experience exhibiting, talking about, and selling their Art! Below are the festivals that will be showcasing the Youth Art Division this year: Spring Art Festival at Oakbrook Center, May 21-22- Oak Brook, IL Buffalo Grove Art Festival, June 4-5 Buffalo Grove, IL The Art Center's Festival of Fine Arts, June 25-26 Highland Park, IL Fine Art Festival at Oakbrook Center, August 20-21 Oak Brook, IL Port Clinton Art Festival, August 27-28 Highland Park, IL Laura Stoecker Photography, LTD ABOUT AMDUR PRODUCTIONS For more than thirty years, Amdur Productions has crafted and curated a selection of the country's most prestigious juried art festivals, including the Chicago Botanic Garden Art Festival, Gold Coast Art Fair, and Port Clinton Art Festival. Founded by Amy Amdur in 1983, Amdur Productions attracts thousands of guests to explore and enjoy a showcase of artists' work in a free and fun environment. Several of Amdur Productions' festivals have been selected as Sunshine Artist magazine's top 100 best fine art and design shows.  In addition to festivals, Amdur Productions produces city-wide food and music events. For more information, please visit amdurproductions.com, call 847-926-4300, or email us at info@amdurproductions.com. Looking for additional information about a specific festival? Find us online at amdurproductions.com or visit our social channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest. amdurproductions.com Amdur Productions P.O. Box 550 Highland Park, IL 60035 847-926-4300 See what's happening on our social sites

Star of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Arrives & More at Women & Children First! (Chicago,IL)

Women & Children First April 2016   April Book Groups  Classics of Women's Literature Book Group Tuesday, April 12th at 7:15 p.m. The Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald Family of Women Book Group Sunday, April 3rd at 2 p.m. Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros Kids First Book Group Sunday, April 10th at 5 p.m. The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney Feminist Book Group Sunday, April 10th  at 6:30 p.m. Selection Meeting & Potluck--bring a dish to share! Women's Book Group Tuesday, April 19th  at 7:30 p.m. Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah by Patricia Smith   Queer Readers Book Group Sunday, April 17th at 2 p.m. My Education  by Susan Choi Save the Date! Friday, May 6  at 7:30 p.m. Desiree Cooper Know the Mother Reading and Signing ANNOUNCING! Thursday, May 12  at 7 p.m. Jane Hamilton The Excellent Lombards Reading and Signing Friday, May 13  at 7:30 p.m. Anne Elizabeth Moore Threadbare: Clothes, Sex, and Trafficking Book Launch Party Sunday, May 15 from 3 to 6 p.m.  Andersonville Wine Walk We're excited to be part of this year's neighborhood wine tour. Go to Andersonville.org to sign up! Wednesday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m. Dinitia Smith The Honeymoon Reading and Signing Friday, May 20  at 7:30 p.m. Zoe Zolbrod The Telling Book Launch Party Saturday, May 21  at 3 p.m. Fun & Games with L'il Buds Theater Company Kids Activity Wednesday, May 25 at 7:30 p.m. Erika Janik Pistols and Petticoats: 175 Years of Lady Detectives in Fact and Fiction Reading and Signing Stay tuned for more exciting save-the-dates from your local feminist bookstore! Dear Friends of Women & Children First,    We're kicking off this huge month of author events by hosting Peggy Orenstein on Monday, April 4 at the Swedish American Museum in honor of her new book Girls & Sex, which was just featured in the New York Times. Have you heard the "Queen of the Geeks" is coming to Chicago? Tickets are going fast for our event with Felicia Day on Sunday, April 24 at 4 p.m.! Tickets & details HERE. April 30th is Independent Bookstore Day! We, along with indie bookstores around Chicago, will be celebrating all day! Come join us! Also, this big announcement: please save May 12th at 7 p.m. for Jane Hamilton, who will be at the bookstore to read from and discuss her new novel, The Excellent Lombards. Stay connected to W&CF on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to make sure that you're one of the first to know about some other BIG author announcements. Many thanks,  W & CF  Peggy Orenstein Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape Monday, April 4 at 7 p.m. Reading and Signing  **Please note: this event will be held at the Swedish American Museum, 5211 N. Clark St.** Peggy Orenstein, who dissected the insidious "girlie girl" culture among young girls (and pre-teens) in her New York Times bestseller Cinderella Ate My Daughter, now directs her attention as journalist and mother to teenage sexuality. In Girls & Sex, Orenstein, whom People calls "such a breezy, funny writer, it's easy to forget she's an important thinker too," examines how contemporary culture, saturated in sexting, casual hook-ups, and Internet porn, affects high school and college girls and the choices they make. For this book, Orenstein interviewed nearly one hundred girls between the ages of fifteen and twenty and consulted with dozens of psychologists, professors, and other experts. What she discovered was often surprising, frequently upsetting, and always illuminating. "Even in consensual encounters, much of what girls described was painful to hear," she reports. "When so much has changed for girls in the public realm, why hasn't more--much more--changed in the private one?" Peggy Orenstein is a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine, and she has been published in USA Today, Parenting, Salon, and the New Yorker and has contributed commentaries to NPR's All Things Considered. She lives in Northern California with her husband and their daughter, Daisy. Lisa Beazley Keep Me Posted: A Novel  Wednesday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m. Chicago Launch Party  Beautiful and big-hearted Sid lives an expat's life of leisure in far-off Singapore, while her sister, harried, iPhone-clutching Cassie, is a wife and a mom to twin toddlers in Manhattan. Cassie and Sid have not done a bang-up job of keeping in touch. It doesn't help that Sid spurns all social media while Cassie is addicted to Facebook. So Sid issues a challenge to reconnect the old-fashioned way: through real, handwritten letters. The experiment exceeds both sisters' expectations, and the letters become a kind of mutual confessional that have real and soul-satisfying effects. But then one of Cassie's infamous lapses in judgment causes all the letters to wind up the one place you'd never, ever want to see them: on the Internet. Lisa Beazley has worked in journalism and public relations for more than fifteen years. Keep Me Posted is her first novel. Toni Nealie with Special Guest Peggy Shinner Miles Between Me: Essays Thursday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m.   Book Launch Party A READ LOCAL Event    In her debut essay collection, New Zealand native Toni Nealie examines journeys, homelands, family, and motherhood. She details humiliating confrontations with airport security, muses on the color brown, and intimately investigates her grandfather's complicated and criminal past, all while hearkening home--wherever and whatever that is. Toni Nealie is a writer, journalist, and teacher. Her work has appeared in Guernica, The Offing, The Rumpus, and The Prague Review. She worked in magazines, politics, and public relations in the United Kingdom and her native New Zealand before moving to the United States--two weeks before 9/11. Peggy Shinner is the author of You Feel So Mortal: Essays on the Body. Her work has appeared in the Southern Review, TriQuarterly, and Another Chicago Magazine, among other journals and anthologies. She has been awarded two Illinois Arts Council Fellowships and residencies at the Ucross and Ragdale foundations. She teaches in the MFA program at Northwestern University. A life-long Chicagoan, she lives there with her partner, designer and book artist Ann Tyler.   "It's All about the Bears" Storytime with Miss Linda!   Saturday, April 9 at 3 p.m. Kids' Storytime for ages 3 to 8 It's spring! Wake up your inner bear at this interactive storytime for 3- to 8-year-olds, featuring classic bear stories and the newest sure-to-be classic, The Bear and the Piano, a beautiful debut picture book by David Litchfield. Bring your hiking shoes because we're sure to be going on a bear hunt!    Sappho's Salon Relaunch: First Birthday Party! Co-curated by Eileen Tull and Liz Baudler  Tuesday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m.  A monthly performance salon, featuring expressions of queerness, gender, and feminism One year ago, Sappho's Salon   was relaunched! Come and celebrate a year's worth of fierce and fabulous female-identifying and non-binary performers who have graced the bookstore's stage. Jimmy Nails is a burlesque and sideshow performer, as well as a poet. He has performed with The Devil's Playground, the crew at Second Saturdays at the 'Stache. He also produces his own shows with Dramageddon and Rouge Electroswing Night. His performances ask the question why does everyone want to be the hero when being the villain is so much fun? Niki Gee is a tumultuous ball of spiritual energy with an urban flair. You never know what she will say next. She is currently the president of Quare Square, a 501c3 collective for queer artists of color in the Midwest. She performed her poetry with The LIVINGRoom, Salonathon, and Beast Women. Kathie Bergquist is the founder of Sappho's Salon, as well as a writer and performer throughout Chicago. Kathie is strong presence in the Chicago literary community, serving as an educator and editor all over the city. She will be debuting an excerpt from her new autobiographical solo show. A party not to be missed, there will be the typical Mediterranean spread of dishes, plus promises of cake! Admission is $7-10, with all proceeds going to our talented performers.    Domnica Radulescu  Country of Red Azaleas  Wednesday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. Reading and Signing     A riveting novel about two friends who are closer than sisters, but one is Serbian, and the other Bosnian. When war pits their homelands against each other, Lara and Marija are forced to separate for the first time: romantic Lara heads to America with her handsome husband, and fierce Marija returns to her native Sarajevo to work as a journalist behind Bosnian lines. But when Lara stops receiving news from Marija, Lara goes in search of her friend. As Lara travels through war-torn Serbia and Bosnia, following clues that may yet lead to Marija, but also wrestling with truths about her own identity. Domnica Radulescu is a distinguished professor of French and Italian literature at Washington and Lee University, a Fulbright scholar, and an award-winning playwright. She escaped the Communist dictatorship in her native Romania in 1983 and settled in the United States as a political refugee. Radulescu is the author of two previous novels, Black Sea Twilight and Train to Trieste, which won the Library of Virginia Fiction Award. Kim Brooks The Houseguest Thursday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. Book Launch Party A READ LOCAL Event Set on the eve of America's involvement in World War II, The Houseguest delves into the conflicting responses by American Jews to the ever more insistent evidence of racial conflagration in Europe--and the United States' reluctance to intervene. In Manhattan, firebrand Shmuel Spiro wants to raise a Jewish army to fight the Nazis; in upstate Utica, otherworldly rabbi Max Hoffman understands the hypocrisy behind America's refugee visa quotas and how high the bureaucratic bar is set; and Utica junkyard owner Abe Auer remains haunted by his role in his Russian family's history. While opposing factions argue and disagree at conferences about how to rescue Hitler's victims, many middle-class Jews like Abe's wife and daughter find their comfortable lifestyles largely undisrupted. Then a refugee arrives--a glamorous Yiddish actress--who regales the Auer family with tales of her lost stardom and charms and mystifies Abe. Kim Brooks is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her fiction has appeared in Glimmer Train and the Missouri Review, and her essays have appeared in Salon, Buzzfeed and New York Magazine. Her memoir Small Animals will be published in 2017. She is the personal essays editor at Salon and lives in Chicago with her family.  Elizabeth Crane in conversation with Megan Stielstra The History of Great Things Wednesday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m. Panel Discussion The History of Great Things tells the entwined stories of Lois, an ambitious opera singer, and her daughter, Elizabeth, an aspiring writer who came of age in the shadow of her often-absent, always larger-than-life mother. In a tour de force of storytelling and human empathy, mother and daughter pull back the curtain on lifelong secrets, and, ultimately, come to understand each other in a way that feels both extraordinary and universal. Elizabeth Crane is the author of the novel We Only Know So Much, and three collections of short stories: When the Messenger Is Hot, All this Heavenly Glory, and You Must Be This Happy to Enter. Her stories have been featured on NPR's Selected Shorts. She is a recipient of the Chicago Public Library 21st Century Award, and her work has been adapted for the stage by Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater Company. A feature film adaptation of We Only Know So Much will be released in 2016. Megan Stielstra is the author of Once I Was Cool--featured in the Best of 2014 lists of Chicago magazine, the Chicago Tribune, and Salon. Her next collection, Come Here Fear, is forthcoming. She  recently joined the New York Times as a contributing opinion writer. She teaches creative nonfiction at Northwestern University. Christine Sneed Paris, He Said & Grace Tiffany  Gunpowder Percy  Thursday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m. Paperback Launch for Paris, He Said& Author Conversation  For the celebration of the paperback edition of Paris, He Said, local author Christine Sneed will be joined by Grace Tiffany. Tiffany and Sneed will both read from their recently published novels, both of which include actual events and/or people. Tiffany's novel, Gunpowder Percy, focuses on a historical event, the Gunpowder Plot, and explores Shakespeare's unwitting involvement in a barely thwarted terrorist act. Sneed's novel, Paris, He Said, includes Susan Kraut, a painter and longtime painting professor at SAIC, as an important supporting character. Both novels examine the ways art can inspire and enrich human lives. Christine Sneed is the author of Little Known Facts and the award-winning story collection Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry. Grace Tiffany has taught Shakespeare at the University of Notre Dame, Fordham University, the University of New Orleans, and Western Michigan University, where she is now a professor. Her articles have appeared in Shakespeare Quarterly, Comparative Drama, and many other literary journals. Her novel Ariel, based on The  Tempest, was listed as a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association. "There's a You I Miss" featuring Annalise Raziq, Kate Ingold, Cameron Gearen, and Rita Pyrillis Friday, April 22nd at 7:30 p.m.  An Evening of Poetry and Prose    Join us for a cross-genre reading examining how we both connect and disconnect in the modern world. Annalise Raziq is a Chicago-based performer, writer, peace activist, and grateful mother. She has led theatre workshops with incarcerated women and directed an original performance piece with young adults who have grown up in the foster care system. Annalise is an experienced storyteller and recently had a story featured on public radio's the Moth Radio Hour. Kate Ingold is a visual artist and poet working in a variety of media, from stitched and etched drawings on digital photographs to new and recycled textiles, sculptural and video installation, and image/text collage. Her chapbook, Dream of Water, was published by the Poetry Society of America in 2008. Cameron Gearen's collection of poetry is Some Perfect Year. She won the Grolier Prize, the W. B. Yeats Society Prize, and the Lynda Hull Prize from Crazyhorse and was a recipient of the Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. She publishes essays in Dame magazine and blogs daily at camazon.tumblr.com. She lives  in Oak Park. Rita Pyrillis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Crain's Chicago Business, and the Chicago Tribune, among other publications. She is working on a collection of essays about adoption, identity, and discovering her Lakota heritage. She has been awarded residencies at the Ragdale and Ucross foundations and was awarded an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in creative nonfiction. She lives in Evanston.   Felicia Day in conversation with the co-hosts of the Nerdette podcast, Greta Johnsen and Tricia Bobeda You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) Sunday, April 24 at 4 p.m.; doors open at 3:15 p.m. Reading and Signing **Please note: this ticketed event will be held at the Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster.** We're thrilled to host Felicia Day for the paperback release of her hilarious memoir You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost). For this event, Felicia will be in conversation with Greta Johnsen and Tricia Bobeda, the co-hosts of the WBEZ podcast, Nerdette. In her new memoir, online entertainment pioneer, actress, and "queen of the geeks" Felicia Day recounts her childhood growing up in the Deep South, where she was "home-schooled for hippie reasons" and turned to the World Wide Web to find her tribe. Her relative isolation meant that she could pursue passions like gaming, calculus, and 1930's detective novels without shame. Ever candid, Day opens up about the rough patches that she encountered on her way to celebrity, including how she reinvented herself when overachieving became overwhelming. Felicia Day has appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, and Joss Whedon's Emmy Award-winning Internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Felicia is the co-founder of the YouTube channel Geek & Sundry. In order to attend this event, you must pre-order or purchase a copy of You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) from Women & Children First. This purchase includes one ticket to this event and the option to bring one guest by purchasing a companion ticket for $10. Limit one  companion ticket per person. This reading and Q&A will last one hour and be followed by a signing.   Drawing Resistance: Using Comics for Social Change, featuring Nicole Marie Burton and Leila Abdelrazaq Drawing the Line Tuesday, April 26 at 26 at 6 p.m. Presentation, Conversation, and Signing   For this event, Nicole Marie Burton of Ad Astra Comix will be joined by Chicago locals Leila Abdelrazzaq and members of Apna Ghar ("Our Home") for a discussion on the benefits of using comic books to address social justice. From marginalized histories to modern-day experiences of sexism, from political satire to the do's and dont's of being an ally, comics offer a unique capacity to engage, inform, and entertain. Ad Astra Comix, a Canadian publisher, is currently on tour to foster a community of political comics artists, writers, and readers. Leila Abdelrazaq, a Chicago-based Palestinian artist and organizer, is the author of the graphic memoir, Baddawi. She is a recent graduate of DePaul University, where she double majored in Theatre Arts and Arabic  Studies and served in her chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), helping to pass the DePaul Divest referendum. In 1989, Apna Ghar became one of the first agencies in the United States to address the cultural and linguistic  barriers that prevent immigrant victims of gender violence from reaching out for help. Today, Apna Ghar provides a full range of services to survivors, conducts community education, and addresses systemic barriers that immigrant survivors face. Amy Newman, On This Day in Poetry History & David Lazar, Who's Afraid of Helen of Troy: An Essay on Love Friday, April 29 at 7:30 p.m Dual Book Launch Party Amy Newman is the author of five collections of award-winning poems, most recently On This Day in Poetry History. Her poems have appeared in literary journals and magazines including The Kenyon Review, The Missouri Review, and in anthologies including The Iowa Anthology of New American Poetries, The Rose Metal Press Field Guide To Prose Poetry: Contemporary Poets In Discussion and Practice, and An Introduction To The Prose Poem. Newman was named the new poetry critic at the Chicago Sun Times in October 2006, and in the same month, served as online Poet-in-Residence for the British newspaper, The Guardian. David Lazar's ninth book is written in a series of short prose poems that weave together autobiography with mythology and dreams, accented by references to songs and movies. Each poem draws upon the Illiad, the Odyssey, and other classical myths as part of its internal cosmos. David Lazar received the first PhD in nonfiction writing from the University of Houston. His books  include Occasional Desire, Truth in Nonfiction, and Essaying the Essay, among others. Six of his essays have been included in Best American Essays's Notable Essays of the Year list. He created the undergraduate and PhD programs in Nonfiction Writing at Ohio University and directed the creation of the undergraduate and MFA programs in Nonfiction Writing at Columbia College Chicago, where he is professor of creative writing. Independent Bookstore Day, featuring Ana Castillo (Black Dove) and Cyn Vargas  (On the Way: Stories)  Saturday, April 30, an all-day celebration with an author reading & conversation  at 4 p.m. A READ LOCAL Event     Indie Bookstore Day--a national celebration of independent bookstores--is back! We'll have refreshments from The Coffee Studio, exclusive Indie Bookstore Day merchandise, and great deals all day! Then, at 4 p.m., we'll be hosting a not-to-be missed author conversation between Ana Castillo and Cyn Vargas. Ana and Cyn will be discussing Ana's new essay collection, Black Dove: Mamá, Mi'jo, and Me. This collection looks at what it means to be a single, brown, feminist parent in a world of mass incarceration, racial profiling, and police brutality. Through startling humor and love, Castillo weaves intergenerational stories traveling from Mexico City to Chicago. And in doing so, she narrates some of America's most heated political debates and urgent social injustices through the oft-neglected lens of motherhood and family. Ana Castillo is the author of So Far From God and Sapogonia, both New York Times Notable Books of the Year, as well as many other books of fiction and poetry. She divides her time between Chicago and Albuquerque. Cyn Vargas, the author of the story collection On the Way, holds an MFA from Columbia College Chicago, and is the recipient of a Ragdale Fellowship and the 2013 Guild Literary Complex Prose Award in Fiction. Cyn was named one of Guild's Literary Complex's 25 Writers to Watch in 2014 and has received two top citations in Glimmer Train's Short Story Award for New Writers contests. She is a company member of the award-winning storytelling organization 2nd Story. She teaches creative writing workshops around Chicago and online and can be found online at cynvargas.com. Co-editors China Martens and Mai'a Williams, as well as contributors Karen Su and artist Chiara Galimberti Revolutionary Mothering Sunday, May 1 at 4 p.m. Reading and Signing Inspired by the legacy of radical and queer black feminists of the 1970s and '80s, Revolutionary Mothering places marginalized mothers of color at the center of a world of necessary transformation. The challenges we face as movements working for racial, economic, reproductive, gender, and food justice, as well as anti-violence, anti-imperialist, and queer liberation are the same challenges that many mothers face every day. Oppressed mothers create a generous space for life in the face of life-threatening limits, activate a powerful vision of the future while navigating tangible concerns in the present, and embrace collective solutions. Revolutionary Mothering is a  movement-shifting anthology committed to birthing new worlds, full of faith and hope for what we can raise up together. Women & Children First - wcfbooks@gmail.com www.womenandchildrenfirst.com

Women & Children First, Hours: M-T 11-7, W-TH-F 11-9, Sat 10-7, Sun 11-6, 5233 N. Clark St, Chicago, IL 60640