A New Old West in “Outlawed” – Chicago Review of Books

A New Old West in “Outlawed” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] “In the year of our Lord 1894, I became an outlaw,” begins the scrappy young heroine of Outlawed, an epic new Western by Anna North. This postapocalyptic, alternate history reimagines the Wild West’s notorious Hole-in-the-Wall Gang as a posse of female and nonbinary robbers forced into a life of crime. Ada is a seventeen-year-old … Read more

Exploring the Future of Humanity in “Persephone Station” – Chicago Review of Books

Exploring the Future of Humanity in “Persephone Station” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In Persephone Station, Stina Leicht negotiates the conflict between humanity and technology in a future universe. While many science fiction novels grapple with this central question of what exactly it means to be human, Leicht goes to great length to give us a wide array of characters with diverse gender identities, different planets of … Read more

Cheryl Boyce-Taylor on Grief, Courage, and Building Community – Chicago Review of Books

Cheryl Boyce-Taylor on Grief, Courage, and Building Community – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Many times in the past tumultuous year, during moments of sadness and isolation, I comforted myself with James Baldwin’s oft-shared quote, “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” It returned to me again when I picked up Cheryl Boyce-Taylor’s new collection Mama … Read more

An Interview with Matt Harvey of The TRiiBE – Chicago Review of Books

An Interview with Matt Harvey of The TRiiBE – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] At this year’s CHIRBy Awards, The TRiiBE Staff Writer Matt Harvey won the essay/short story prize for his article “When reporting on movement actions, revolutionary joy must be given the same space as the struggle.” What makes his essay particularly exceptional is also what makes it the journalistic standard at The TRiiBE. There are … Read more

5 Poetry Collections From 2020 To Revisit – Chicago Review of Books

5 Poetry Collections From 2020 To Revisit – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] One of the enduring pleasures of poetry is how like wine, or friendship, it improves as it—and you—age. Re-read the 2019s or the 2000s, or the 1966’s to savor the context of our past, through your present vantage point. Other than live theatre, there is no other medium such as poetry so well-situated for … Read more

Memoir, Poetry, and Climate Change in Felicia Luna Lemus’ “Particulate Matter” – Chicago Review of Books

Memoir, Poetry, and Climate Change in Felicia Luna Lemus’ “Particulate Matter” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Burning Worlds is Amy Brady’s monthly column dedicated to examining how contemporary literature interrogates issues of climate change, in partnership with Yale Climate Connections. Subscribe to her monthly newsletter to get “Burning Worlds” and other writing about art and climate change delivered straight to your inbox. Unlike most books explored in this column, Felicia Luna Lemus’s Particulate Matter … Read more

18 Notable Debuts by Trans, Non-binary, and Gender Non-conforming Authors – Chicago Review of Books

18 Notable Debuts by Trans, Non-binary, and Gender Non-conforming Authors – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Being a debut author is overwhelming in any year, but those who published books in 2020 have dealt with challenges none could have ever imagined (a global pandemic, the news cycle from hell, and everything and everyone going online). Despite that, this year brought us many standout books by established trans, non-binary, and gender … Read more

The Liminality of Craig Mod – Chicago Review of Books

The Liminality of Craig Mod – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] There’s perhaps no adage more cliche than the phrase, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” We can hear this, but so very few of us have actually taken it to heart; maybe we’ve simply reached our saturation point with it. Walking has taken on something of a new color in the quarantine year, … Read more

9 Works of Criticism You May Have Missed in 2020 – Chicago Review of Books

9 Works of Criticism You May Have Missed in 2020 – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Works of criticism, or more broadly, texts that critically survey our world, often don’t subscribe to fixed genres or easily distinguishable forms. During a year that rattled our attention and pulled hard at our ability to concentrate, these books, in their varied forms, drew us in. Through their joy (and pessimism) and critical perspective, … Read more