Happy New Year 2019 typed on a vintage typewriter

AWM Story of the Year

As 2018 draws to a close, we reflect back on the year. At the AWM, we’ve had a pretty awesome, fun-filled year with so many new author programs, great field trips, and amazing memories. Check out the videos below for a peek at 2018, and be sure to visit us in 2019 for even more author events, workshops, and parties!

Way back in January, we welcomed A.J. Finn and Gillian Flynn to the Museum to discuss Finn’s first novel, The Woman in the Window. In case you haven’t heard, both of these great authors have been pretty busy this year as Finn’s novel will soon be adapted to film, and several of Flynn’s stories have recently been adapted for film and television. Congratulations to them both!

Just before our big birthday bash in May, we had a great time with Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen and his fellow anthology contributors Vu Tran and Kao Kalia. In this video, he talks about empathy:

Tayari Jones, whose book An American Marriage was an Oprah’s Book Club pick, visited us in July. Here, she talks about getting that life-changing call from Oprah:

Jacqueline Woodson was the first event we hosted for free for students eligible for our Write In Program. These kids were able to meet a writer – for many, a first time experience – and share in a love of reading and expression with none other than the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature herself! Thank you so much Jacqueline!

Can’t get enough of the amazing programs here at the AWM? Check out the full 2018 list below, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube page to never miss any of the clips we upload from previous programs. See you in January!

2018 Programs List

January 9: Claire Hartfield: A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919

January 16: A.J. Finn & Gillian Flynn

February 11: Becoming Madeleine (biography of Madeleine L’Engle written by her granddaughters)

February 11: Wrinkle in (an Hour’s) Time Workshop

February 13: Eve Ewing: Electric Arches

February 20: André Aciman: Call Me By Your Name (Oscar-winning film adapted from this novel!)

March 13: Erin Banco: Pipe Dreams

March 18: Kate Moore: The Radium Girls

March 20: Martin Amis: The Rub of Time

April 5: Anne Trubek: Voices from the Rust Belt

April 11: Kathleen Rooney: Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

April 17: The Thrill of the Grass: Celebrating Baseball Writing for the Ages

April 26: Nikki Giovanni

May 9: Viet Thanh Nguyen, Kao Kalia Yang & Vu Tran: The Displaced

May 22: Chicago Coalition for the Homeless Writing Showcase

May 23: Celebrating Zora Neale Hurston’s Barracoon

June 5: Ana Simo: Heartland

June 19: Jennifer Keishin Armstrong: Sex and the City and Us

July 9: Jim McGrath: Pamplona (in partnership with the Goodman Theater)

July 12: Screening & Talk: Rita Coburn Whack on Maya Angelou

July 19: Tayari Jones: An American Marriage 

August 2: Manisha Sinha: The Slave’s Cause

August 8: Kenneth B. Morris: The Legacy of Frederick Douglass

August 16: SCIENCE FRIDAY: David Quammen and Sy Montgomery

August 19: Back to School Teacher Open House

August 27: Norman Mailer and the Siege of Chicago: Maureen Corrigan & J. Michael Lennon

September 4: Fearless Women in Science Fiction

September 6: David L. Carlson: The Hunting Accident

September 7: Jacqueline Woodson

September 11: Nnedi Okorafor

September 20: The Frederick Douglass MIXTAPE (Young Chicago Authors Workshop)

September 21: Singers & Songwriters: Dessa

September 24: Independent Writers of Chicago

September 27: Ken Krimstein: The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt

October 4: 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: James Mustich & Elizabeth Taylor

October 6: Singers & Songwriters: Ketch Secor

October 12: Turning Pages: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor

October 15: Sara Paretsky: Shell Game

October 18: Jonathan Santlofer: The Widower’s Notebook

October 22: John Scalzi: The Consuming Fire

October 23: Great American Read Costume & Cocktail Party

October 24: Walter Mosley: John Woman

November 5: Glory Edim: Well-Read Black Girl

November 12: Russell Shorto: Revolution Song

November 19: Max Allan Collins & A. Brad Schwartz: Scarface and the Untouchable

November 27: Nicole Chung: All You Can Ever Know

December 1: Singers & Songwriters: Robbie Fulks

December 3: Samantha Silva: Mister Dickens and His Carol

December 9: Singers & Songwriters: Louie Pérez: Good Morning Aztlán

December 12: Books & Bubbles: Authors Guild Holiday Reading and Reception

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