In the last few weeks, I have made the transition from “and many more” to “prominent author.”
The “and many more” was for “Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology,” which I wrote about in August and which conveniently ran out of pixels on the website before they could add my name to the list of contributors. While I am honored to be part of this collection of pieces about life in 21st century Chicago, this is the writing equivalent of getting to play with your favorite band but seeing “and Guest” on the marquee when you pull up to the club.
But although I got the Professor and Mary Ann treatment in the marketing copy, it’s still a great book, mine was one of the five stories they chose to put online and you should totally buy it.
My upgrade to “prominent author” just came this evening, and you should totally put your money toward that too.
I alluded to this before, but on October 2, I will be participating in a fundraiser for the American Civil Liberties Union. The night will be sponsored by Third Coast Review and Kill Your Darlings. Check out this promo they just released:
We Read Banned Books: An ACLU Benefit
Prominent Authors Read Censored Works
Monday, 10/2, 7 p.m. @ Public House Theatre, 3914 N. Clark
WHAT: ThirdCoastRev
WHEN: Monday, October 2, 2017, 7-9 p.m. The first Monday in October was chosen to coincide with the new session of the Supreme Court, the judicial line of defense for the American Constitution’s First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
WHERE: The Public House Theatre, 3914 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60613; full service bar. Free Clark Street parking (no Cubs game); CTA busses; Sheridan Red Line.
TICKETS: Pay-what-you-can at the door; $10 minimum suggested. Pre-sale at 773-230-4770 or at the Public House Theatre’s website. Net proceeds benefit ACLU of Illinois. Patrons can pre-purchase event tickets and/or just make a donation in these amounts: $10; $35; or $50
…
Eh? Eh? Notice that.
No, not that it will be a great night in support of a wonderful cause. No, not that net proceeds will benefit the ACLU of Illinois. No, not that the CTA line said “busses” instead of “buses” so technically it means “makes little kisses.”
It called me a prominent author.
There are other “prominent authors” reading that night too, names like Bill Savage, Juan Martinez, Ignatius Valentine Aloysius, Ruth Margraff, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Ada Cheng, Andrew Huff, Ed Yohnka, Nancy Bishop, Emma Terhaar and Julian Ramirez, but we all know I’m the most prominent and, through my unrivaled mastery of the English language, the most author… y.
So come along, won’t you? I’m going to read about cannibalism, cross-dressing incestuous sex slaves and the other works of Shel Silverstein. As the night grows long and the CTA makes little kisses, we’re going to say words people in power tried to stop us from ever knowing. We’re going to support those who fight for our right to say words brought to us by banned writers like Shel Silverstein, Mark Twain, Sherman Alexei, Marjane Satrapi, Toni Morrison.
And many more.
