Chicago Literary Hall of Fame

06/18/2026

🏆 Fuller Award: Ed Roberson
TONIGHT June 18, 2026 | 6 p.m.

The Poetry Foundation 61 W. Superior Street
Chicago, IL 60654

Artwork by

Poet will receive the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s Fuller Award for his lifetime achievements as a writer. He will be the 19th Chicago author given the CLHOF’s highest honor, at a ceremony at and in partnership with the Poetry Foundation. Speakers, including , Peter O’Leary, Saretta Morgan, julie patton, Lena Roberson, and Chicago Poet Laureate Avery R. Young, will give context to Roberson’s significant contributions here and around the country.

The ceremony takes place on Thursday, June 18, beginning at 6 p.m. In addition to the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame and Poetry Foundation, partners for the ceremony include the American Writers Museum, Chicago Poetry Center, Columbia College Chicago, Guild Literary Complex, Northwestern University, and University of Chicago.

Join us 🎟️
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/events/1767359/chicago-literary-hall-of-fame-induction-ceremony-ed-roberson

06/16/2026

06/16/2026

“There is no reaching the edge of his world.”

Before Thursday’s Fuller Award celebration, explore Barbara Egel’s fascinating introduction to the poetry of Ed Roberson, a writer whose work continues to challenge, surprise, and inspire readers.

📝Read the blog: https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/blog/entry/i-use-this-sighting-all-the-time-preparing-to-read-ed-roberson

🎟️Registration for Thursday’s event is still open:
https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/events_entry/fuller-award-ed-roberson

06/05/2026

🏆 Fuller Award: Ed Roberson
Thursday, June 18, 2026 | 6 p.m.

The Poetry Foundation 61 W. Superior Street
Chicago, IL 60654

Artwork by

Poet Ed Roberson will receive the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s Fuller Award for his lifetime achievements as a writer. He will be the 19th Chicago author given the CLHOF’s highest honor, at a ceremony at and in partnership with the Poetry Foundation. Speakers, including CM Burroughs, Peter O’Leary, Saretta Morgan, julie patton, Lena Roberson, and Chicago Poet Laureate avery r. young, will give context to Roberson’s significant contributions here and around the country. The ceremony takes place on Thursday, June 18, beginning at 6 p.m. In addition to the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame and Poetry Foundation, partners for the ceremony include the American Writers Museum, Chicago Poetry Center, Columbia College Chicago, Guild Literary Complex, Northwestern University, and University of Chicago.

Join us 🎟️
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/events/1767359/chicago-literary-hall-of-fame-induction-ceremony-ed-roberson

06/02/2026

S U N D A Y
The Spiritual Essence of Storytelling

⏰Sunday, June 7, 2026 | 11 a.m.
📍Harold Washington Library Center 400 S. State Street Chicago, IL 60605

As part of the third American Writers Festival, which takes place all day on Saturday, June 7, CLHOF has put together an outstanding group of thinkers to reflect on the idea of spirituality in their life and work.

What is the difference between spiritual and religious? And how does that manifest itself in certain works of literature? In either case, a higher power, or a higher something, is implied, as too is the idea that becoming a better self is a perpetual aspiration. Spiritual threads run through the work of Catherine-Esther Cowie, Runako Jahi, Aviya Kushner, and Tom Montgomery Fate. These three authors will explore their sense of spirituality’s meaning and their thoughts on its importance in literature, specifically their own. ✨

More info 🔗 https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/events_entry/the-spiritual-essence-of-storytelling

06/01/2026

A Look Ahead at Chicago Lit: June
by Kayleigh McNamara

“We have made it once again to another illustrious Chicago summer. In the words of Maud Hart Lovelace, “It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold…” I’m of the opinion that Chicago is at its peak in June—outdoor concert series, time on the lakefront, the city offers boundless opportunity. The literary calendar is no exception. Read on for a sneak peak of the exciting month ahead.”

A quick look 👀
• June 2 – Gwendolyn Brooks Celebration
• June 2 – Chicago Writers Showcase
• June 6 – Chapters of Chicago Kickoff
• June 6-7 – American Writers Festival
• June 9 – Cynthia Pelayo & Christina Henry
• June 12 – Life Is a Cabaret (Pride Event)
• June 13 – Bookends & Beginnings 12th Birthday
• June 15 – Terry Tempest Williams Author Event
• June 18 – Fuller Award for Ed Roberson
• June 18 – Q***r Letters to America
• June 20 – Chicago Writers Association Cocktail Party
• June 23 – Unabridged Q***r Book Club
• June 26 – Radical Book Buzz

Read the full piece: https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/blog/entry/a-look-ahead-at-chicago-lit-june2026

06/01/2026

The Archives:
Sunday Reading Series: Chicago Literary Hall of Fame Edition 5.17.26

The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s was invited to help curate the May edition of Sunday Reading Series: Poetry, Prose, & Cocktails.

🎤Host Kenyatta Rogers was there to lead the program. The program was at the Hungry Brain on Sunday, May 17. Noa Micaela Fields, Tsehaye Geralyn Hébert, and Riva Lehrer read—all three authors have used their disabilities as artistic explorations and also advocated for awareness and accessibility.

Photos by & .hazen

Learn more and see all photos: https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/events_entry/sunday-salon-chicago-literary-hall-of-fame-edition

05/29/2026

Jane Addams (1860–1935)

Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, the Illinois native used many methods to enact social change, including the written word. She wrote, in biographies, essays, published speeches and memoirs, on subjects ranging from politics to social ethics to war. Her autobiography Twenty Years at Hull-House is an ambitious documentation of her work founding America’s best known settlement house, and contains the ideas embodied in her struggle to achieve social justice.

Jane was inducted in to the Chicago Literary Hall Of Fame in 2012.

Read more about Jane here:
https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/inductees/profile/jane-addams

Authors

05/27/2026

Newbery Film Festival: Chicago Style 🎥
Sunday, June 7, 2026 | 4 p.m.

As part of the third American Writers Festival, which takes place all day on Saturday, June 7, CLHOF will team up with James Kennedy to highlight young filmmakers’s short adaptations of Newbery award-winning books.

The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival is an annual video contest in which young readers create short movies that tell the entire stories of their chosen book. Creative takes have included Charlotte’s Web as a horror movie and The Tale of Desperaux as a musical. For 15 years, the 90-Second Newbery has screened the best of these kid-made movies in New York, Chicago, Boston, San Antonio, and many other cities. James, who founded the festival, will host this special installment, which will focus on the best, funniest, and most impressive movies with strong Chicago connections.

Learn more: https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/events_entry/newbery-film-festival-chicago-style

05/26/2026

The Archives: Harry Mark Petrakis receives lifetime achievement award (1923-2021)

The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame presented the 2014 Fuller Award for Lifetime Achievement to author Harry Mark Petrakis in a ceremony on Oct. 4 2014 at the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago. Photos courtesy of 8Eyes Photography.