A Valentine’s Day party unlike any other
At Get Lit: Down with Love, which took place on Valentine’s Day, we took an anti-romance approach to the festivities and we had a lot of fun. Don’t get us wrong, we love love. But we also understand, especially as writers, that all of us encounter rejection at some point. We fall in love, and we also fall out of it. It’s beautiful and enthralling and heartbreaking and messy. And it’s all ok. So we celebrated all parts of love, the ups and downs and ins and outs and everything in between. And yes, we did have refreshing adult beverages along the way. Check out some of the highlights from Get Lit: Down with Love below.
Get Lit is an after-hours event series from the AWM on the second Tuesday of every month from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. It is, dare we say, the most LIT happy hour in downtown Chicago with a different theme each month. Our next event, Get (Chick) Lit: Women Writers, takes place March 14 and tickets are on sale now. March is Women’s History Month, so we are celebrating with a book swap with books by women writers, a scavenger hunt throughout the museum focused on women writers, original poetry written live by Poems While You Wait and more. Get your tickets here!
Rejection Letter Open Mic
The highlight of Down with Love was the Rejection Letter Open Mic in which attendees and AWM staff read various rejection letters and shared stories of being rejected. We read letters from editors to famous writers rejecting their work, personal rejections from editors and lovers alike, stories of dates gone awry and relationships dissolving. The result was a collective catharsis and a great reminder that even as we face rejection individually, we are not alone. We’ve all been there and we’ve all come through it and maybe, just maybe, we’re better off because of it. Check out this fun montage of some of the highlights.
Candy Hearts Photobooth
We created a photo booth designed like a box of those candy hearts you always get around Valentine’s Day. But instead of the lovey-dovey messages on them, we came up with some fun alternatives! Attendees had fun posing with their friends and significant others to create a special memento from the evening.
Shoot Your Shot Station
Don’t worry, we left room for love to blossom to. At the Shoot Your Shot station, attendees had the opportunity to use our vintage typewriters to write a note to someone. Whether they were writing a letter to their beloved, or sharing their feelings with their secret crush, or even writing a response to a rejection, attendees had fun using these classic machines. Typewriters are a lot of fun, and they are available to use at every Get Lit event!
Thank you to everyone who joined us on Valentine’s Day to Get Lit and say Down with Love. Or perhaps even find love! We had a blast, and can’t wait to do it again next month. Check out more photos from past events below, as well as the schedule for upcoming Get Lit happy hours. The full list of upcoming Get Lit happy hours can be found here.
Written by Nate King, Photos by Nikki Geslani
