"In nature nothing exists alone." -Rachel Carson • American writing has long been influenced by the inspiring natural beauty that surrounds us. May we preserve and enrich this beauty so it continues to inspire writers for generations to come. Today is Earth Day, so go outside and plant a tree, water a flower, or simply take time to appreciate the natural world out-of-doors and off-of-screens. • • #EarthDay #EarthDay2018 #RachelCarson #naturewriting #nature

Today is special It's National Haiku Day Here is one for you The haiku in this photo was written by an AWM visitor on one of our many typewriters. Come say hello and write your own story! Doesn't need to be a haiku, though haikus are strongly encouraged. • • #nationalhaikuday #nationalhaikupoetryday #nationalpoetrymonth #typewriters

Someone wrote a love letter to our typewriter and it's beautiful so we wanted to share it. Thank you, Anonymous Writer, you rock too. Check out the full letter and other selections from our Story of the Day exhibit through the link in our bio. • • #awmstoryoftheday #awmstoryoftheweek #typewriters

"And on the subject of burning books: I want to congratulate librarians...who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from there shelves... So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries." -Kurt Vonnegut Take time during National Library Week to visit your local library and thank a librarian, they're doing truly important work. Visit us to see, hear and feel more inspiring quotes in our Word Waterfall exhibit. • • #NationalLibraryWeek #Vonnegut #VonnegutQuotes #WednesdayWisdom

We had a blast today with all these little squirrels visiting on a field trip from Walt Disney Magnet School! Here they are in front of the mural in our Children's Literature Gallery. Reading and learning is so much fun, thanks for coming!

From our Story of the Day exhibit, written by a museum guest. This Chicago "spring" weather giving us these #FridayFeels. Where is the sunshine!?!? • • #awmstoryoftheday #awmstoryoftheweek #nationalpoetrymonth #whereisspring #sunshinepleasecomeback

"Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art." Happy birthday Maya Angelou! Born on this day in 1928, Dr. Angelou would be 90 years old today. Truly a phenomenal woman whose writing, activism and smiles continue to inspire us today. • • #MayaAngelou #happybirthdayMayaAngelou #NationalPoetryMonth #MayaAngelouQuotes

Baseball is back! Which means there will be less time to sit and write in the middle of Wrigley Field like Jim Brosnan, who had Major League talent in both pitching and writing. This is another classic photo from @artshayarchive, currently on display in our exhibit Capturing Stories: Photographs of Writers by Art Shay. We're open all weekend so come stop by and see more iconic photos of your favorite writers! • • #fridayvibes #fridayfeeling #writerslife #photographerslife #baseball⚾️

Happy birthday to Chicago's own Nelson Algren! This photo of Algren and photographer Art Shay hangs in our current exhibit that celebrates the work of @artshayarchive. Algren and Shay were good friends and here they are in a Chicago pool hall. Here's to playing a round of pool and sharing a drink with an old friend today in honor of Nelson Algren. • • #NelsonAlgren #ArtShay #happybirthday #Chicago #AmericanWritersMuseum

Happy First Day of Spring! • • #spring #firstdayofspring #robinwilliams #americanwritersmuseum