Chicago Public Media Live at Printers Row Lit Fest

Chicago Public Media is proud to partner with the Near South Planning Board for the 37th Annual Printers Row Lit Fest. The Printers Row Lit Fest, the largest free outdoor literary showcase in the Midwest, is a community-based celebration for book lovers.

This year’s event will feature programming from both WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times, topics range from romance, environmental justice, music, and social justice. All programming is free and open to the public, rain or shine! Seats are available on a first-come first-served basis. Registration is highly encouraged.

11:30 am - Romance Roundtable w/ Greta Johnsen, Adriana Herrera, and Sarah MacLean

Host: Greta Johnsen, Nerdette

Guests: Adriana Herrera, A Caribbean Heiress in Paris, Sarah MacLean, Heartbreaker: A Hell’s Belles Novel

Description: If you love romance novels, this panel is for you! Nerdette’s Greta Johnsen leads a panel discussion with two of the genre’s leading authors. The panel will include New York Times Bestseller Sarah Maclean and the ever-imaginative Adriana Herrera. Fall head over heels for these acclaimed authors in a conversation that is sure to make you swoon.

12:30 pm - Shine Bright: A conversation with Danyel Smith and Natalie Moore

Host: Natalie Moore, The Billboard

Guest: Danyel Smith, Shine Bright

Description: Shine Bright, the newest title from author Danyel Smith, is an overdue paean to musical masters whose true stories and genius have been hidden in plain sight.

From Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved woman who sang her poems, to the stories of Mahalia Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Mariah Carey and more, Shine Bright is an illuminating retelling of music history. WBEZ’s Natalie Moore will join Danyel in a conversation about the history of Black women’s music as the foundational story of American pop.

1:30 pm - Environmental Justice Exchange: A tribute to Hazel Johnson, the Mother of Environmental Justice

Guests: Cheryl Johnson, Hazel’s daughter and executive director of People for Community Recovery, Tarnynon Onumonu, poet and author of Greetings from the Moon, the Sacrificial Side and Luis Carranza, poet and author of Viva la Resistencia.

Description: Join us for a special in-person episode of The Environmental Justice Exchange — an event series with the Chicago Sun-Times.Hazel M. Johnson, “mother of environmental justice,” started an environmental justice movement when she noticed that her neighbors on the South Side were suffering from physical ailments associated with pollution, toxins and poor living conditions. She founded the environmental and human rights organization, People for Community Recovery, in 1979, which publicized the environmental issues that were disproportionately affecting low-income households and people of color.

At Printers Row Lit Fest, Sun-Times environmental reporter Brett Chase will be joined by several guests to pay homage to Hazel Johnson’s life and legacy: Cheryl Johnson, Hazel’s daughter and executive director of People for Community Recovery; Tarnynon Onumonu, poet and author of Greetings from the Moon, the Sacrificial Side; and Luis Carranza, poet and author of Viva la Resistencia.

2:30 pm - Social Justice in Chicago: The Mexican community’s fight to stay in the city

Host: Elvia Malagon.

Guest: Mike Amezcua, author of Making Mexican Chicago: From Postwar Settlement to the Age of Gentrification

Description: For the first time in Chicago’s history, Latinos in 2020 became the largest racial or ethnic group – surpassing Black residents, according to a Sun-Times analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Latinos, in particular Mexican and Mexican American communities, fought for decades against federal immigration and municipal policies to make Chicago their home. Mike Amezcua’s Making Mexican Chicago: From Postwar Settlement to the Age of Gentrification chronicles the plight of these communities on the city’s Southwest Side, detailing how Mexican residents built communities and homes despite policies intended to push them out of the city.

Join us for a special discussion at the 2022 Printers Row Lit Fest about the evolution of Chicago’s Mexican community with our event moderator, Elvia Malagón, Sun-Times social justice and wage gap reporter, and author Mike Amezcua.