Tricia Crisafulli
Susan Baller-Shepard
Harker Brautighan
Maureen Connolly
Willa Moore
Joe Weintraub
Upcoming TallGrass Writers Guild Events
Recent Open Mic Featured Authors
Martin Altman
Timothy David Rey
Tracey Luvikl
Kathleen McElligott
Cynthia Gallaher
Marjorie Skelly
Brittany Roque
Virtual Open Mics — 1 P.M. to 3:30 P.M. Held on the 4th Saturday of the month expect for holiday and special events scheduling changed to the 3rd Saturday.
August 26, 2023 Virtual Open Mic — Tracey Ludvik of Sheboygan, Wisconsin was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in poetry (2019) and has had dozens of poems published in literary journals Iconoclast, Haiku Journal and Outrider Press anthologies. She writes, "Earlier this August, I published Butterfly, a chapbook focusing on how I mature from an emotional girl to relatively
sane young woman in terms of attitude, mood, and lessons learned while encountering strong characters along the way. Despite a brain injury and vision loss, I am working on publishing my
first collection of poetry about the harrowing and mystical nature of one woman’s life journey. In the summertime of 2023 I worked with the Sheboygan County Writers Club to host our first literature and song festival, Word Fest at Peace Park on the Sheboygan shore of Lake Michigan." A member of Tall Grass Writer’s Guild, Ludvik previously taught college liberal arts courses in Oregon and in her home state, Wisconsin. Visit Poets & Writers Magazine at pw.org /directory /writers /tracey_ludvik.
September 30, 2023 Virtual Open Mic—SCHEDULE CHANGE—Chicago's Bob Lawrence headlines the Saturday, September 23, TallGrass Writers Guild Open Mic at 1:00 P.M. For 20 years, Bob Lawrence has delighted audiences at coffee houses, taverns, libraries, art galleries, art festivals, and other venues with poetry, comedy, puppetry and, on occasion, original music. Poems of his have appeared in Tallgrass Black & White anthologies, other anthologies, and literary magazines. His chapbook, Rock n Roll Dreams and Other Poems, published by Naked Mannekin Press in 2009, is available through Puddin’head Press. His book, In Japan, a multi-themed and multi-styled encounter with the culture of Japan, is a full-color, limited edition book of poetry and illustrations released by Lagoons Editions in 2018. Lawrence, who has taught college English for over 35 years and edited two literary magazines, Riverrun at Triton College and Connections at DeVry University, now teaches college English part-time and serves as the Zoom Master for the Poets Club of Chicago. Following his program are the Open Mic readers, each with 6 to 8 minutes of read time for original poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, music, comedy and more. The Sign-up to read starts at 12:30 P.M. CDT. Email Jeff Nowak: jnowak@chipubDOTlib for sign-up info and links to this event.
October 28, 2023 Virtual Open Mic—Joe Weintraub of Chicago is the Featured Author at the TallGrass Writers Guild virtual Open Mic. He is a writer, dramatist, poet, and translator whose work has appeared in many literary journals--such as Prairie Schooner, Cream City Review, and Crab Orchard Review--as well as in regional and specialty publications such as The Chicago Reader and Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical Food Studies. In 2018 his annotated translation of Eugène Briffault’s Paris à table: 1846 was published by Oxford University Press.
A recipient of an Illinois Arts Council grant, he has been an Around-the-Coyote poet, and, as a voting member of Chicago Dramatists Guild, has had one-act plays and staged readings produced internationally and throughout the United States. Joe has had almost 40 full productions of this shorter plays, including one in early 2022 of "The Bright and Shining Future" by FirstRun Theater in St. Louis. In addition, "The Interview" by the GreenMan Group in Elmhurst, IL, and "The Wedding," were produced by Rhino Studio Theatre in Pompton Lakes, NJ.
Following the program, the Open Mic readers will each have up to six minutes for For information on this and other TallGrass Writers Guild events, visit the website: wwwDOToutriderpressDOTnet and click on the “TallGrass Writers Guild” tab.presenting original (non)fiction, poetry, comedy, music and more.
To register your attendance as an Open Mic reader/audience member, send an email to jnowakATchipublibDOTorg. You'll receive a link letting you know how to join in.
Emily Dagostino
Michele Williams
Caroline
Johnson
Tracie Padal
Bob Weinberg
Dawn Smith
Whitney Scott
Tina Jens
Jerry Pendergast
Yvonne Zipter
Outrider Press Small Press Publishing & Writing Contests
Outrider Press small press publishing w/editorial, design & typeset support plus writing contests & anthologies
Patti Cavaliere
Bob Lawrence
David Stowe
Diane Williams
Gay Guard-Chamberlin
TallGrass Writers Guild - Open Mics, Readings, & Anthologies
TallGrass Writers Guild is a Chicago-based independent, nonprofit arts organization serving writers at all levels of development. For 30 years, TWG has provided local, regional, national, and international performance and publication opportunities.
Performance Opportunities — Chicago's Most Supportive Open Mic for 30 Years
TallGrass Open Mics -- now virtual -- will return to Chicago's Sulzer Regional Library, 4455 N Lincoln Ave. a, and can present 6 to 8 minutes of work at 1:00 p.m. Open Mic readers follow the Featured Author's program. Free to all. VIRTUAL Open Mics remain on the 4th Saturday during the Pandemic until further notice. Contact Jeff Nowak at Sulzer Library: jnowak@chipub.org.
TallGrass Writers Guild will resume providing these performance opportunities once it is safe to do so:
Themed Readings — FREE programs a year by TallGrass members at Book Cellar, 4736 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago;
Special Programs — Include February's Black History Month, April's National Poetry Month, June's National
PRIDE Month and October's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, FREE to all.
Tri-State readings — At venues throughout Illinois, Indiana, and recently at Milwaukee's Historic Central Library; and
Seasonal/Holiday Programs by the TallGrass Performance Ensemble at libraries, nature centers, and universities throughout the Tri-state region. These Performance
Ensemble shows of poetry and short fiction are free, and have earned a listing in The Best of the Best, the programming guide Illinois librarians use to present quality special
events to Illinois libraries