By Raymond Ward, Chicago Crusader
A GOOD READ: The Chicago Public Library Foundation and the Chicago Public Library have announced the recipients of the 2016 Carl Sandburg Literary Awards.
Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winner Alice Walker will be honored at a special free, public event at 6:00 PM, Wednesday, May 25th in the Winter Garden of the Harold Washington Library Center, located at 400 South State Street on the 9th Floor. At the event Ms. Walker will participate in a conversation to discuss her body of work, her influences and her creative process, which will be hosted by Johnson Publishing Company Chairman Linda Johnson Rice, the Board President of the Chicago Public Library. Please be advised that registration is required and available at chipublib.org
This Fall, Sandburg Awards will be presented to best-selling authors Erik Larson (“Devil in the White City,” “In the Garden of the Beasts,” “Dead Wake”) for non-fiction and Scott Turow (“Presumed Innocent,” “The Burden of Proof,” “Identical”) for fiction. The two esteemed authors will be celebrated at the Carl Sandburg Literary Awards Dinner on Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at The Forum, located at 725 West Roosevelt Roadon the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The 21st Century Award, presented to a Chicago-based emerging author, will be presented to short story writer Amina Gautier (“At Risk, “ “The Loss of All Lost Things.”)
For information about the Awards Dinner or to purchase tickets, please visit cplfoundation.org
HIGH TEA: One of Chicago’s most popular theater companies, City Lit Literate Theater, will host it’s annual Spring Tea Fund Raiser on May 21st at 2:00 PM.
The event takes place at the Edgewater Beach Cafe, located at 5545 North Sheridan Road and features a high tea, a silent auction and a signature reading of “The Nightingale and The Rose” by Oscar Wilde.
Admission is $35 per person or $55 for two. Discounted parking will be available. For tickets please call 773-293-3682.
DRESS-UP: The Equity Gold Coast theater, Shaw Chicago (which is the Artist-In-Residence at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts) marks the 400th birthday of William Shakespeare with its annual Gala, entitled Shaw Celebrates Shakespeare, at The Casino, 195 East Delaware Place on May 21st at 6:00 PM. The event will note Shaw’s admiration of Shakespeare’s work. Hors d’oeuvres will be served during the Cash Bar at 6 PM, along with complimentary wine. Dinner will begin at 7 PM. Tickets are $200, $250 for the Queen’s Table and $1400 for groups of eight and can be purchased online or by calling 312-587-7390.
