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Profiles by Kristin Scott
(numbers indicate rating of author/publisher in top 50 in the book biz in Chicago)
#18: Ann Christophersen and Linda Bubon
Women & Children First co-owners Ann Christophersen and Linda Bubon have been headliners on the national and local front. Christophersen, recently elected president of the American Booksellers Association, is the only Chicagoan and first owner of a feminist bookstore to head the organization. Primarily through continuing "the development of Book Sense," Christophersen plans to "strengthen the position of independent bookstores across the country." She and Bubon also actively opposed the development of the Goldblatt's property (and its proposed Borders store) at the corner of Lawrence and Broadway. And, as always, WCF serves up great author readings; upcoming: Carol Anshaw, Carol Gilligan and Joyce King, among others.
#20: Dominique Raccah
New York Times bestseller "Poetry Speaks," released last October by Dominique Raccah's built-from-scratch independent publishing company Sourcebooks, is poetry to the ears, literally. Lauded by Publishers Weekly as a "definitive anthology," this media-fusioned book and CD compilation is for devoted poetry fans and novices alike. The buzz from this year's Book Expo is that Raccah's next major book/CD project, "The Trials of Lenny Bruce," is sure to be hot when it hits the bookstores in September. Wanna know how she does it? Read Raccah's "How a Book is Made: From the Author to the Reader," due out in November.
#26: Rosellen Brown
Educator, poet and author of five novels, including the award-winning "Before and After," which was translated into twenty-three languages and made into a film starring Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson, Rosellen Brown is a player. Her book "Street Games" (Norton), was recently republished for the fourth time, and one of her short stories also made the cut in John Updike's best-selling "The Best American Short Stories of the Century" (Houghton Mifflin, 2000). Brown is currently writing a historical fiction set around the Columbian Exposition of 1893 and will be teaching a Writer's Workshop in Umbria, Italy, this summer.
#36: Haki Madhubuti
Born "Donald Lee," Haki Madhubuti's chosen Swahili name reflects his commitment to the tenets of truth and justice, Haki meaning "just" and Madhubuti meaning "accurate" or "dependable." And for more than thirty-five years, this poet, editor, essayist, educator and founder and publisher of Third World Press (1967) has vigorously lent himself and his words to the healing and empowerment of black people. Currently professor of English and the founder and director-emeritus of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center at Chicago State University, Madhubuti's most recent book, "Tough Notes: Letters to Young Black Men," is due out in paperback this month.
#38: Carol Anshaw
"Passing out flyers in a carrot costume" was a joke made years ago by author Carol Anshaw about potential jobs she could take while building her writing career. These days, that won't be necessary. She's out promoting her newest novel, "Lucky in the Corner" (Houghton Mifflin), a tumultuous story about a nuclear family gone awry. The author of "Aquamarine," a finalist for two Lammys, and winner of the Carl Sandburg and Society of Midland Authors award, Anshaw recently scored a hit at About Face Theatre with the stage adaptation of her novel "Seven Moves," the story of a therapist whose lesbian lover suddenly disappears.
#40: Ana Castillo
Long considered one of the nation's leading Chicana voices, poet, novelist, short story writer, editor, essayist, artist and educator (whew! What can she not do?), Ana Castillo's recent works include the novel "Peel My Love Like an Onion," a poetry collection, "I Ask the Impossible," and the children's book "My Daughter, My Son, The Eagle, The Dove." Carl Sandburg Prize and American Book Award winner, Castillo is returning to classrooms across the country after a six-year hiatus and venturing into yet another medium this summer--what she calls a "(be)low budget" film based on her first novel, "The Mixquiahuala Letters."
#41: Ellen Wadey
You heard it here first! Ellen Wadey is the new executive director of the Guild Complex, an award-winning literary arts organization that provides a forum for numerous discussions, workshops and readings. A longtime Guild volunteer, Wadey recently returned to Chicago after receiving her MFA in creative writing from the University of Pittsburgh. Julie Parson-Nesbitt continues her relationship with the Guild as the new advancement and development director, bringing in the bucks, while Wadey oversees programming and strategic planning. Wadey intends to continue the Guild's tradition of its culturally inclusive programming, giving the community an opportunity "to hear voices that aren't like their own," ones "they might not normally hear."
#42: Achy Obejas
Digging deep into her rich cultural heritage to explore issues of immigration, concealed identities, the elusive "other," and the search for equilibrium between teetering scales of ethnic boundaries, Havana-born Achy Obejas is on tierra firme in Chicago. Recently awarded yet another Lammy—her second—for Best Lesbian Fiction, her second novel, "Days of Awe" by Ballantine Books, explores the life of a Cuban-American woman of Jewish heritage. With a third, currently untitled, novel on the horizon, this veteran Chicago Tribune staff writer has written essays and articles for Vogue, Village Voice, Latina, Newcity, Chicago Reader, Girlfriend and Windy City Times, among others. |
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