A Writer's Guide to Chicago: Libraries, Bookstores, Writing Groups, and Presses

Chicago Public Library's main library holds Archives and Special Collections and the Municipal Reference Collection. Study rooms and meeting rooms can be booked online. It is open daily.

The Uptown branch is open every day and has WiFi. Reserve a study room or the meeting room online before you come.

The Newberry is a research library whose collections run from American history and the Midwest to maps and modern manuscripts. Reader's cards are free. Bring a photo ID and proof of address to the Herget Welcome Center on the first floor; the reading rooms are open Tuesday through Saturday.

The Poetry Foundation's library holds 40,000 volumes of poetry and is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday. The same building has a performance space for free public events.

The center keeps the University of Chicago's rare books and manuscripts, along with the University Archives. Members of the public need an appointment. Get a visitor pass at the Regenstein entry desk, then register in JRL 130 with a photo ID.

The Seminary Co-op says it houses one of the largest collections of academic books in the world. Plein Air Cafe shares its address on Woodlawn, and the Co-op's other store is 57th Street Books.

Women & Children First has sold feminist books for more than 45 years. Its calendar fills with author talks, in the store and offsite, and several book groups meet here.

Myopic, on Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park, buys books from the public.

Unabridged is open daily and posts staff picks. Its book clubs meet in the store, with separate groups for queer books and horror and one called Reading is Resistance.

Quimby's specializes in zines, small press titles, and other unusual publications. It is open seven days a week. Watch for zine release parties and art openings.

Uncharted sells used, new, and rare books. It opened in Logan Square in 2012 and was in Andersonville until 2025, when it moved to North Center. Ask about the rare book catalog, or leave a want list.

Plein Air is a campus café at the Seminary Co-op's address. The Infatuation says it is always busy but never too crowded to get a seat with an outlet. On weekdays it stays open into the evening.

Good Ambler bakes and makes its own chocolate, and the Fulton Market space is open seven days. The Infatuation calls it huge, with great wifi and outlets. A second location in 2 North Riverside Plaza opens on weekdays.

The Infatuation points to Hexe's patio and the amount of room to work. It serves alcohol and stays open into the evening.

Swadesi is a daytime café in the West Loop, open daily. The Infatuation notes free wifi, printing, and big windows. Mealtimes get loud.

The Café serves seasonal sandwiches and salads, and the Modern Bar has lighter fare with coffee and tea. Both are for visitors with a museum ticket or membership. The museum is closed Tuesdays.

Uncommon Ground is a restaurant and the home of Greenstar Brewing. It keeps a live music calendar and holds openings for local artists. The kitchen is open daily.

The Billy Goat opened in 1934, and the tavern says it immediately became a favorite home of Chicago journalists. Saturday Night Live's Cheezborger sketch came from here.

The Poetry Foundation publishes Poetry magazine. Its building at Dearborn and Superior has a poetry library with private listening booths for recordings. The free events include festivals and staged plays, and many can be attended remotely. The Foundation also awards the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships and the Pegasus Awards.

The American Writers Museum is dedicated to American writers and keeps permanent and temporary exhibits, with more online. Author talks run in person and online, and the museum puts on the American Writers Festival. It is open Thursday through Monday.

The Guild presents readings and slams, along with poetry pop-ups and book launches. Its programming includes Spanish-language events with the Palabra Pura community and work by LGBTQIA+ writers. It also holds the Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards.

Printers Row Lit Fest is an annual free outdoor festival on South Dearborn Street between Ida B. Wells Drive and Polk Street. Its organizers bill it as the largest free outdoor literary event in the Midwest. The Near South Planning Board presents it.

Chicago Humanities presents author talks and Festival Days at venues around the city. Between events, the program archive and the podcast are online.

The Newberry offers long-term and short-term fellowships to scholars from PhD candidates to senior academics, as well as Indigenous and Tribal Research Fellowships. Local scholars can apply as Scholars in Residence. The library also gives the Weiss-Brown Publication Subvention and hosts research centers such as the D'Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies.

UIC's Institute for the Humanities names Faculty Fellows each year, and fellows join workshops and lecture on their research. It also sponsors faculty working groups and a Visiting Fellow program. Its calendar lists lectures and book talks.

The Franke Institute keeps its offices and public rooms in the Regenstein Library. It offers residential fellowships and Franke Book Manuscript Workshop Grants, and it runs the Every Wednesday Luncheon Series. Past Franke Forum Lectures are in the site's archive.

Illinois Humanities is the state humanities council. Its Envisioning Justice grants are open to individuals as well as organizations, and it gives project and general operating grants. Its programs include the Illinois State Poet Laureate and the Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards.

The University of Chicago Press has published books for scholars, students, and general readers since 1892, and more than 5,000 of its titles are in print. The Chicago Manual of Style and the Phoenix Poets series are both on its list. Preparing a manuscript for the University of Chicago Press

Sourcebooks is an independent publisher in Naperville, outside Chicago, and it publishes across many categories. Sourcebooks Fire and Sourcebooks Landmark are two of its imprints. Preparing a manuscript for Sourcebooks

Haymarket is a radical, independent, nonprofit publisher, and it has put out more than 900 titles since 2001. Its books aim to contribute to struggles for social and economic justice. The press also runs Haymarket House, a space for community organizing and events.

Chicago Review Press is an independent publisher whose categories include biography and popular science, along with children's nonfiction. Lawrence Hill Books and Academy Chicago Publishers are among its imprints.

NCSBN's quarterly peer-reviewed journal publishes scholarly work on nursing regulation, with attention to patient safety and public protection. Its editorial staff work at NCSBN in Chicago. Preparing an article for the Journal of Nursing Regulation

This monthly peer-reviewed journal publishes case studies and research on whether efforts to improve the safety and quality of health care are working. Editor-in-chief Elizabeth Mort is at The Joint Commission in Oakbrook Terrace. Preparing an article for the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety

Implementation Science publishes research on moving proven findings into routine health care, including the de-implementation of low-value practices. Co-editor-in-chief Rinad Beidas is at Northwestern University in Evanston, and the other co-editor, Paul Wilson, is at the University of Manchester. Preparing an article for Implementation Science

Since 1927, Social Service Review has published research on social welfare policy and practice, along with essays and book reviews. Jennifer Mosley edits it with the faculty of the University of Chicago's Crown Family School. Preparing an article for Social Service Review

The Illinois Arts Council Agency funds individual artists through the Creative Projects Grant and the Creative Accelerator Fund. Creative Projects supports work with a public release or presentation. Individual applicants must be at least 21, have lived in Illinois for a year or more, and not be enrolled in a degree program; Ph.D. candidates qualify once their coursework is done.

The city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events gives these grants to practicing artists who live in Chicago, to make and present work or for professional development. Literary Arts is one of five eligible disciplines.

Writers whose projects depend on the Newberry's collections can apply for one-month residencies, in genres from poetry and journalism to playwriting. Residents get a research carrel. One of the named fellowships goes to historical fiction. There are no degree or residency requirements.

The Chicago Public Library Foundation gives the Carl Sandburg Literary Award and the 21st Century Award. Past honorees are listed in its awards archive.

The Near South Planning Board, which produces Printers Row Lit Fest, presents this award to a writer at a dinner held in its name.

This page lists research grants and graduate fellowships at the University of Chicago, plus undergraduate creative writing prizes.

Northwestern students in Evanston have the same kind of guide.

Loyola students can find their school's grants and writing resources here.

DePaul students get a guide of their own.

This one covers the University of Illinois Chicago.

Illinois Tech students will find paid research programs and fellowships listed here.

Rush University's page lists grants and writing resources for its students.

National Louis University students can start here.

Spudnik is a community print studio where members can reserve studio time, and it also does printing for hire. Its classes include risography. Open studio runs six days a week, and there is a residency program.

The Collaborative offers printmaking memberships and private and group classes. Its gallery is open three days a week and by appointment.

Columbia's letterpress studio has five Vandercook presses and is open to enrolled students, graduate students, and artists-in-residence. At the same address, papermaking students grow plants for paper in the Papermaker's Garden, and the bookbinding studio has a Kensol foil stamper. A Risograph is in the separate printmaking facility at 623 S. Wabash.

Loyola's library bindery binds theses and dissertations in hardcover for Loyola faculty, staff, and students. Bring copies already printed. Covers come in maroon, navy, black, or dark green. You can also drop off at the Lewis Library circulation desk on the Water Tower Campus.