The Chicago Treasures series focuses on Chicagoans whose work has defined the city, while the city has defined their work. This series frames the question: Why Chicago? What opportunities does the city offer, and what challenges does it reveal? How is Chicago unique and what makes Chicagoans so different?

Stuart Dybek is a lauded author of fiction and poetry and a Chicago native. His work has been published in numerous magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Atlantic, and The New York Times. Dybek’s stories are frequently read on public radio and have been adapted for film and stage. He has worked on various literacy programs for children and adults and helped found the PEN/Faulkner Writer-in-the-School Program. In 2004, The Coast of Chicago was selected for the “One Book, One Chicago” program, and recently Dybek has received several prestigious awards: 

The annual Rea Award for the Short Story, established in 1986 by the late Michael M. Rea to encourage short story writing by honoring a living American or Canadian writer who has made a “significant contribution to the short story form”.

And in September 2007, Dybek received a MacArthur Fellowship - a $500,000 grant to individuals who show exceptional creativity in their work and the prospect for still more in the future.

Recorded Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at Chicago History Museum.