I attended the Printer's Row Lit Fest today despite misgivings about recent changes in its organization which I detailed in a post 2 days ago. However, I did see a theme in the fest this year. All of the authors exhibiting their books were from Chicago or nearby suburbs. I would say that they were mainly nationally unknown authors. There were many writer's groups with booths where authors could present their books in two and a half hour shifts. Some of these groups I did not know existed nor did I know that there were so many writer's groups in the Chicagoland area.
Sisters in Crime Chicagoland was one group that I did not know we had here. As you readers are probably aware, this is a group of female mystery writers. Also, there are two local groups under the
Romance Writers of America. The Chicago Writers Association, She Writes Press, Windy City Historians, Independent Writers of Chicago,
Naperville Writers Group, Illinois Women's Press Association, Chicago Black Authors Network, Bizarro Writers (comics), Society of Midland Authors, University of Chicago Press, University of Illinois Press, Northwestern University Press, Chicago Review Press, the Poetry Foundation of Chicago, and Lawyers for the Creative Arts all had booths with authors selling books. Even the Lawyers for the Creative Arts had books with legal information for writers. A few major booksellers from Chicago reclaimed their booths again such as Haymarket Books.
This book fair was an impressive display of local talent. There is some pride in that. However, there is also sadness that this book fair has lost its national stature. It had been the third top book fair in the U. S. Now it is a local book fair.
I was there for four hours and had fun talking with the authors. What did I buy? Check out these books which you can get on Amazon.
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