Printers Have a Ball and so Will You

What is the Printers' Ball ? Officially, it's described as, "…an annual celebration of print literature in Chicago…[it] showcases a diverse selection of print publications, available free of charge, including magazines, journals, weeklies, posters, and broadsides, plus a full night of live entertainment."

What you'll find if you attend is an armful of free reading, chances to meet local authors, poets, and publishers, a couple of interactive DIY exhibits like a poetry machine and a screen printing demo. The crowd is as diverse as the literary offerings, old and young, musical and those tied to words, the audiophiles and those who prefer tactile text.

There are DJs and live music, readings, and usually a lively crowd of Chicago's indy literary scene. Last year's event at the Zhou Brothers Center on 35th Street was a blow out. This year, there are more than 100 contributors represented, each with a booth and giving out free copies of their 'zines, books, and other publications.

The music will be non-stop, brought to you by Pure Magical Love and Stagecoach (members from Mahjongg) presented by Proximity Magazine and DJs Logan Bay, Dustin Drase, and Greg Gaffud presented by CHIRP, Lumpen, and Venus Zine.

Last year, there were bars and complimentary hot-dogs and promotions by a couple of liquor vendors. In addition to browsing the refreshments and all of the free literature, the planned events include: Killing Him: A Radio Play by Yehuda Amichai, considered by many to be the greatest modern Israeli poet, who writes in colloquial Hebrew, presented by Poetry, Dollar Store Reading with Usama Alshaibi, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Jonathan Messinger, and Julie Shapiro, a screen-printing demonstration by Mat Daly , the Librarians' Boudoir, a viewing library of limited run publications, and the Gnoetry poetry machine

Here is a list of all the various contributors who will be represented:

ACM (Another Chicago Magazine)·After Hours Press·ALARM Magazine·Anti Gravity Surprise·AREA Chicago·Publications Department of the Art Institute of Chicago·Bailliwik·Beard of Bees Press·Black Lodge Press·Black Swan Press·Bleached Whale Design·Busy Beaver Button Company·Canarium Books·Charles H. Kerr Company·Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs' Literary Arts and Events·The Chicago Independent Radio Project (CHIRP)·Chicago Innerview·Chicago Quarterly Review·Chicago Reader·Chicago Review·Chicago Underground Library·Chicagoland Tails·ChicagoPoetry.com Press·Columbia Poetry Review·contratiempo·Court Green·Cracked Slab Books·Dalkey Archive Press·Mat Daly·Delicious Design League·Dexterity Press·The Dollar Store·featherproof books·Flood Editions·Free Lunch·Fresh Squeezed Poetry · Front Forty Press·ghost factory magazine·Gnoetry·Golden Age·The Green Lantern·The Guild Complex·The Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing at Chicago State University·Haymarket Books· Highest Hurdle Press ·Hotel Amerika·Hourglass Books·International Socialist Review·JAB (The Journal of Artists' Books)·JOT (Journal of Ordinary Thought)·The Journal·Kenning Editions·Lake Claremont Press·Literago·Little Bang·Love, Chicago·Lumpen·LVNG·MAKE: A Chicago Literary Magazine·Mildred Pierce Zine·Milk Magazine·MoonLit·Mule Magazine·Museum of Contemporary Art·Neighborhood Writing Alliance·Newcity·Ninth Letter·Northwestern's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Journal·Northwestern University M.A. and M.F.A. in Creative Writing Program·Other Voices, Inc.·THE PLATYPUS REVIEW·Please Don't·Poetry·The Poetry Center of Chicago·The Poetry Foundation·Polyphony HS·Proximity Magazine·The Puddin'head Press·Quimby's Bookstore· Ragamuffin Press ·Red Rover Series·Residents' Journal·Rhino/The Poetry Forum·Roctober Magazine·Rose Metal Press·Rubba Ducky·Sara Ranchouse Publishing·Screwball Press·Select·SevenTen Bishop·Shimer College, The Great Books College of Chicago·The Skeleton News·Small Happy·The Small Science Collective·Socialist Worker Newspaper·STITCH Magazine·STOP SMILING·Switchback Books·terry plumming·THE2NDHAND·Third World Press·Time Out Chicago·TriQuarterly·Twilight Tales·University of Chicago Library·UNSCENE·Venus Zine·VERBATIM·Virtual Artists Collective·La Voz del Paseo Boricua·Wednesday Journal, Inc./Chicago Journal·What to Wear During an Orange Alert/Orange Alert Press·Windy City Story Slam·We The People Media·Windy City Media Group, Windy City Times·Writer's Studio·The Writers WorkSpace·Wurlington Press·You Are Beautiful