Women & Children First to host Chloe Benjamin, Anne Elizabeth Moore - 2053 - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News

Women & Children First is feeling the love this February at Women & Children First with two Valentine's Day event and a With Love from Andersonville supporting Chicago Books to Women in Prison. Feb. 14 through 17, 14% of profits will benefit this amazing volunteer-run organization that sends books to incarcerated women, trans, and nonbinary people nationwide.

The only event this month that requires registration is our evening with Heidi Stevens in conversation with Dave Cullen for Dave's new book PARKLAND: BIRTH OF A MOVEMENT on February 21 at 7 p.m. This event will be held at the Swedish American Museum, 5211 N. Clark.

The store is also honored to announce that we will be hosting feminist icon Laurie Halse Anderson on March 15. In 1999, Laurie's bestselling novel Speak opened the door for a national dialogue about rape culture and consent. Now, twenty years later, she reveals her personal history as a rape survivor in a searing poetic memoir, SHOUT. More info at lauriehalseanderson.brownpapertickets.com/ .

EVENTS:

Wednesday, February 6 at 7 p.m.

Chloe Benjamin in conversation with Rebecca Makkai

The Immortalists

Paperback Tour

It's 1969 in New York City's Lower East Side and a traveling psychic claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. Four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness sneak out to hear their fortunes. The Immortalists probes the line between destiny and choice. Chloe Benjamin is the author of The Anatomy of Dreams. Rebecca Makkai is the author of numerous books, including The Great Believers.

Friday, February 8 at 7 p.m.

Ann Russo

Feminist Accountability: Disrupting Violence and Transforming Power

Book Launch Party

In Feminist Accountability noted feminist scholar and activist Ann Russo offers an intersectional analysis of three areas of feminism in practice: anti-racist work, community accountability, and transformative justice. Russo shows us how we might contribute to the feminist work of transforming oppression and violence. Ann Russo is associate professor of Women's and Gender Studies and director of the Women's Center at DePaul University.

Saturday, February 9 at 11 a.m.

Cozbi A. Cabrera

My Hair Is a Garden

Kids' Story time

After a day of being taunted by classmates about her unruly hair, Mackenzie can't take any more, so she seeks guidance from her wise and comforting neighbor, Miss Tillie, who shows Mackenzie that natural black hair is beautiful. Cozbi A. Cabrera is the illustrator of several acclaimed children's picture books

Sunday, February 10 at 6 p.m.

One Book One Northwestern: The Handmaid's Tale Fan Fiction Reading

The School of Professional Studies' MA in Writing and MFA in Prose and Poetry Programs Present: The Handmaid's Tale Fan Fiction Reading featuring current students and alum Sara Connell, Allison Epstein, Audrey Fierberg, Salwa Halloway, Devin O'Shea, and Jameka Williams.

Monday, February 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Doors open at 7 p.m.

Sappho's Salon

Sappho's Salon will once again be hosting a Valentine's Day show & open mic! Our featured performers will be Elizabeth Swanson and Ada Cheng. The open mic sign-up list will be available at the front door starting at 7, first come, first serve. Spots are 5 minutes apiece so we can accommodate everyone. Open mic participants will receive a coupon to the bookstore! Admission is pay-what-you-can, with all proceeds going to the featured performers and the bookstore's Women's Voices Fund. This event is BYOB and the usual Mediterranean spread will be provided.

Thursday, February 14 at 7 p.m.

Anne Elizabeth Moore

Sweet Little Cunt

Author Reading

Anne Elizabeth Moore's newest book, Sweet Little Cunt offers a critical overview of one of the most influential women in independent comics, addressing longstanding questions about Julie Doucet's role as a feminist figure. Anne Elizabeth Moore is the former editor of Punk Planet and the Best American Comics series from Houghton Mifflin, as well as a Fulbright Senior Scholar.

Sunday, February 17 at 5 p.m.

Jay Rehak

Sideline Ink: Book 2

Book Launch Party

The second in the Sideline series continues the adventure of Emma "Sideline" Rockland as she begins 6th grade. Her successful businesses are secretly making her a fortune, but how long can she keep her secret from her irresponsible parents? Jay Rehak is the author of 27 short plays that have been produced around the world.

Thursday, February 21 at 7 p.m.

Dave Cullen in conversation with

Heidi Stevens

Parkland: Birth of a Movement

Author Reading & Book Signing

For this event, Cullen will be in conversation with Heidi Stevens.

Please note: this event will be held at the Swedish American Museum ( 5211 N. Clark St. ). This event is free, but RSVP is required. You can RSVP HERE.

Nineteen years ago, Dave Cullen was among the first to arrive at Columbine High. Cullen unfolds the story of Parkland through the voices of key participants. Dave Cullen is the author of New York Times bestseller Columbine. Heidi Stevens is a columnist at the Chicago Tribune, where she has worked as a writer and editor since 1998.

Friday, February 22 at 7 p.m.

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarsinha

Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice

Author Reading

Care Work is a mapping of access as radical love, a celebration of the work that sick and disabled queer/people of color are doing to build sustainable communities of liberation where no one is left behind. Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha is a queer disabled femme writer, organizer, performance artist, and educator of Burgher/Tamil Sri Lankan and Irish/Roma ascent.

Sunday, February 24 at 4 p.m.

Lucy Knisley

Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos

Book Launch Party

Lucy Knisley always wanted to be a mother. She didn't expect to experience fertility problems followed by miscarriages, and a successful pregnancy plagued by health issues. This moving, hilarious, memoir follows Lucy's personal journey to motherhood and illustrates the history and science of reproductive health. Lucy Knisley is the author and illustrator of Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride, Relish: My Life in the Kitchen, and French Milk.

Wednesday, February 27 at 7 p.m.

Anissa Gray

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls

Author Reading

Althea, the eldest sister is a force to be reckoned with, and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when she and her husband Proctor are arrested. What unfolds is a stunning portrait of the heart and core of an American family.

Anissa Gray is an Emmy and duPont-Columbia Award-winning journalist.

Save the Date

Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m.

Jacinda Bulle, Jaquanda Villegas, Monica Trinida, Rain Wilson, and Claudia de la Cruz

FILLINZ: Put Some Respect on It

A Prose Coloring Book Presentation

March 6 at 7 p.m.

Am I Man Enough?

Storytelling Show & Podcast

( This is the rescheduled date due to the January weather cancellation. )

Thursday, March 7 at 7 p.m.

Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman