About the Exhibit

Fire up your curiosity and hit the open road of American storytelling! American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture serves as a ride through the stories, songs, and spirits that have shaped our culture. Across time and tradition, prophets have been those who see what others can’t, voices with uncommon insight who guide us toward deeper understanding.

The writers in this exhibit share that same visionary spark. They’re not prophets in the religious sense, but their words reveal extraordinary awareness of the world around them, insight born of belief, experience, and imagination. These modern-day prophets—poets, rebels, and truth-tellers—invite us to see our culture, and ourselves, through new eyes.

Opening Friday, November 21, 2025, American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture takes you on a transformative expedition through five interactive installations:

  • Travel & Testimony
  • Spirituality & Song
  • Humor & Holiness
  • Ritual & Rhyme
  • Inspiration & Imagination
Visitors exploring immersive exhibit space

Every stop along the way offers a different lens on the spiritual search that has shaped writers and readers alike.
Explore extraordinary artifacts and hundreds of awe-inspiring works by writers spanning centuries, cultures, and communities, revealing the diverse beliefs that shape our nation. Discover how religion has guided creative expression and how writers, influenced by the faiths and traditions around them, have transformed the way we see spirituality. Rooted in belief or driven by doubt, their stories open windows into different belief systems, offering readers and viewers new ways to understand one another.

Featured artifacts:

  • Harold Ramis’ pocket-sized primer The Five-Minute Buddhist
  • Flannery O’Connor’s rosary
  • Ursula K. Le Guin’s annotated copy of the Tao Te Ching
  • Samira Ahmed’s amulet with a Muslim prayer
  • Louie Pérez’s statue of the Santo Niño de Atocha
  • Pauli Murray’s vestments
  • Rachel Pollack’s statue of a Greek goddess
  • Brad Wagnon’s Cherokee turtle shell rattle
  • Sanjay Patel’s prayer bell
  • Sholem Asch’s antique inkwells and spice boxes

And more!

Artifacts and archival materials on display
  • Abraham Lincoln
  • Allen Ginsberg
  • Allen Ginsberg
  • Edgar Allan Poe
  • Emily Dickinson
  • Ernest Hemingway
  • Gertrude Stein
  • Henry David Thoreau
  • Ray Bradbury
  • Ray Bradbury
  • Ray Bradbury
  • Shel Silverstein

Great American Storytellers

The Gang\'s All Here

American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture brings these connections to life, showing how writers of every background illuminate the shared human journey for meaning.

Louie Pérez • Brad Wagnon • Sanjay Patel • Robert M. Pirsig • Chance the Rapper • Harold Ramis • Allen Ginsberg • George Lucas • Judy Blume • Johnny Cash • Nathan Silver and C. Mason Wells • Sylvia Plath • Frank Herbert • William Apess • Madonna • Ethan Coen and Joel Coen • James Weldon Johnson • Phillip K. Dick • And hundreds more!

American Prophets is supported by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative.

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • Ida B. Wells
  • James Baldwin
  • Johnny Cash
  • Kurt Vonnegut
  • Kurt Vonnegut
  • Langston Hughes
  • Langston Hughes
  • Mark Twain
  • Mark Twain
  • Maya Angelou

Museum Information

Visitors viewing an exhibition

Location

American Writers Museum
180 N. Michigan Avenue, 2nd Floor,
Chicago, IL 60601
Located in downtown Chicago, just steps from Millennium Park, Route 66, and other top attractions, hotels and restaurants.

Stacks of archival materials

Hours of Operation

Monday: 10am–5pm
Tuesday & Wednesday: Closed
(Open for private events and rentals)
Thursday: 10am–5pm
Friday: 10am–5pm
Saturday: 10am–5pm
Sunday: 10am–5pm

Students participating in a workshop

Tickets

Adults: $16
Seniors (Ages 65+): $10
Students & Teachers (w/Valid ID): $10
Members & Children (Ages 12 & Younger): Free
Exhibit Open: November 21, 2025 – November 2026
Admission: Free with General Admission

Get Tickets

Museum exterior and entrance

Group Rates

Minimum of 10 guests
Adults: $12/Person ($11 w/Tour Operator)
Seniors & Students: $8/Person ($7 w/Tour Operator)
Groups must book in advance.
The group rate does not apply to walk-in groups.

Book Group Tour

Press

Check back soon for the latest updates and press coverage.

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