Printers Row Lit Fest

Printers Row Lit Fest The Printers Row Lit Fest is the largest free outdoor literary event in the Midwest. Celebrating our 41st Lit Fest in 2026, visit us on September 12 + 13📚

Printers Row Lit Fest was founded in 1985 by the Near South Planning Board to attract visitors to the Printers Row neighborhood (once the city's bookmaking hub) in the South Loop of Chicago. By 2002 it had grown to five city blocks (on Dearborn, from Ida B. Wells Drive to Polk), attracting more than 200 booksellers from across the country displaying new, used and antiquarian books, and featuring seven stages with more than 100 free literary programs. For 2022 the event will be held on Sept. 10th & 11th!

Don’t miss these Poet Laureates in the Printers Row Lit Fest programming! Brenda Cárdenas, Wisconsin Poet Laureate 2025-...
09/11/2026

Don’t miss these Poet Laureates in the Printers Row Lit Fest programming!

Brenda Cárdenas, Wisconsin Poet Laureate 2025-2027
Mark Turcotte, Illinois Poet Laureate 2026 - 2029
Mayda Del Valle, Chicago Poet Laureate 2026-2027
avery r. young, Chicago Poet Laureate 2023 - 2025

1:30PM Saturday | Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation Stage
Two Paths, Many Stories: A Poetry Reading and Discussion featuring Illinois Poet Laureate Mark Turcotte (Illinois Humanities) and Chicago Poet Laureate Mayda Del Valle (Chicago Public Library) in conversation with Adrian Matejka, Editor of Poetry magazine

4:30PM Saturday | Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation Stage
RHINO’s 50th anniversary reading featuring Brenda Cárdenas (Wisconsin Poet Laureate), MJ Dean, Teresa Dzieglewicz, Paul Martinez-Pompa, Yolanda Nieves, Cynthia Dewi Oka, and Sandra Santiago
Emceed by Marcy Rae Henry

3PM Sunday | North Stage
Writing for the Stage featuring Rachel DeWoskin, Ban the Bans, Joe Meno, The Boy Detective Fails (musical), and avery r. young, safronia (opera) in conversation with Mark Larson

See the full line-up:
https://printersrowlitfest.org/schedule-grid/

41st Annual Printers Row Lit Fest
Saturday, Sept 12 & Sunday, Sept 13
10 AM - 6 PM
Chicago, IL
FREE

📚 Six stages. 80 programs. 250+ presenters. One incredible weekend of books, ideas, and stories.Get ready for the 41st A...
09/11/2026

📚 Six stages.
80 programs.
250+ presenters.

One incredible weekend of books, ideas, and stories.
Get ready for the 41st Annual Printers Row Lit Fest! With six stages packed with programming all weekend long, there’s something for every kind of reader.
📖 Center Stage
📖 North Stage
📖 Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation Stage
📖 Digital Realty Stage
📖 Grace Place, 2nd Floor
📖 Grace Place, 1st Floor

Not sure where to start? Start planning your Lit Fest schedule now! Scroll through for a snapshot of what’s happening on each stage Saturday and Sunday, then build your must-see list.

👉 Explore the full schedule: https://printersrowlitfest.org/schedule-grid

41st Annual Printers Row Lit Fest
📅 Saturday, Sept. 12 & Sunday, Sept. 13
⏰ 10 AM–6 PM
📍 Chicago, IL
🎟️ FREE

09/11/2026

Thank you WGN News for this segment!

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND 📚
The 41st Annual Printers Row Lit Fest is coming back to Chicago for another unforgettable weekend celebrating books, storytelling, and the literary arts and it’s FREE!

📆 Saturday, September 12 & Sunday, September 13
⏰ 10 AM – 6 PM
📍 South Dearborn Street from Ida B. Wells to Polk Street, in the heart of historic Printers Row

Join us for a weekend filled with:
🎪 6 stages
📚 70+ literary Programs
📖 200+ booksellers & exhibitors
🎙️ 250+ presenters including authors, writers, journalists, poets, and artists

Whether you’re a lifelong reader, aspiring writer, or simply looking for inspiration, there’s something for everyone at the Midwest’s largest outdoor literary fest.

Learn more at PrintersRowLitFest.org
PRLF2026

In partnership with the Chicago Printers Row Lit Fest, we’re (Prime Video) excited about the ultimate movie night and an...
09/10/2026

In partnership with the Chicago Printers Row Lit Fest, we’re (Prime Video) excited about the ultimate movie night and an exclusive early showing of The Love Hypothesis, starring Lili Reinhart. Get ready to watch the sparks fly before anyone else as the screen adaptation of Ali Hazelwood’s bestselling novel comes to life before its release on Prime Video. The screening will take place on Saturday, September 12, at AMC Roosevelt Collection 16.

Screening Details:
Date: Saturday, September 12

TICKETS TO EARLY SCREENING 🎟️🎥

https://rsvp.zkipster.com/_8pk979?p=1

See you at the Printers Row Lit Fest
Sept 12-13
Chicago, IL
PrintersRowLitFest.org

Three days.Three days until South Dearborn Street transforms into a celebration of books, ideas, and storytelling.Presen...
09/09/2026

Three days.

Three days until South Dearborn Street transforms into a celebration of books, ideas, and storytelling.
Presenters are rehearsing.
Authors are packing boxes of books.
Poets are perfecting every line.
Volunteers are preparing to welcome thousands of readers.
Tents are ready to rise.
Families are planning their day.
Literary organizations are preparing to inspire.
Readers are making their must-see author lists and dreaming about that signed copy they’ll take home.

Every detail is coming together.

Just 3 days until the 41st Annual Printers Row Lit Fest. We can’t wait to welcome you.

For more info visit
PrintersRowLitFest.org
ChicagoEvents

Printers Row Lit Fest for the whole family🎨We have a ton of fun activities for children at the Lit Fest you won’t want t...
09/07/2026

Printers Row Lit Fest for the whole family🎨

We have a ton of fun activities for children at the Lit Fest you won’t want to miss! On top of 15 author exhibitors bringing children’s books, we have children’s programming!

Sat 10AM
Storytime with Betsy Bird, Giant Dance Party and Rekha S. Rajan, That Swingin’ Sound

Followed by the Storybook Children’s Parade featuring the Chicago Public Library’s Great Horned Owl, Drum Major Nicholas Wade, Rekha S. Rajan who will dance, and Betsy Bird who will hand out free books!

11AM
Chicago Multicultural Dance Center presents a reading of The Rap on Girls in Ballet by Founder Homer Hans Bryant, accompanied by Hiplet Next

1:30AM
Storytime with Leslé Honoré, who will read from her book My Brown Boy

Followed by Storytime with County Board President Toni Preckwinkle who will read Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss

Sun 10AM
Choose Your Own Fairytale, an interactive production presented by Broadway Dropouts, featuring Kerry Daimid, Gavin Harper, Abby Hofmeister, Anna-Marie Kontos, Gregory Kontos, Marianna Kontos, Juan Sedonio, Rich Swierzewski and Kate Yun.

11AM
Bilingual Storytime and Draw-Along Event
One Day Came a Rumble / Un día se oyó un estruendo will be read by children’s authors Elizabeth McChesney and Daniel Hatcherand, Spanish version read by Christina Gonzalez from Laundry Cares Foundation
Draw-Along led by the book’s illustrator Steve Musgrave
(Ages 3-8)

12-2:30PM | Henry Park
Books & Beats
Just a short walk from the festival, the Chicago Printers Guild and Englewood Arts Collective present “Books & Beats”. Presented as part of the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks series, the event features hands-on art-making, live music, beat-making demonstrations and interactive activities that bring artists and neighboring communities together through creativity.

4PM
Readers ages 8–12 can hear Julian Randall, author of Shook, and National Book Award winner Shifa Saltagi Safadi, author of Sisters Alone, discuss new young adult novels in a conversation moderated by Skyler Schrempp.

Visit the YMCA at table 505 from 10AM - 1:30PM Saturday and Sunday for face painting!🎨

Printersrowlitfest.org

C- SPAN 🔴 RECORDING🔴We’re so grateful to have C-Span joining us again at Printers Row Lit Fest. This year, they will be ...
09/04/2026

C- SPAN 🔴 RECORDING🔴

We’re so grateful to have C-Span joining us again at Printers Row Lit Fest. This year, they will be recording all programs on the Digital Realty Stage on Sunday, 9/13, from 10am-6pm. 🎥

You won’t want to miss!

10AM
Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner John West, The Internet Will Die, and So Will You: On Learning to Live in Our Digital Age in conversation with Elizabeth Taylor

11AM 
Examining the Architecture of Education, Citizenship, and Power featuring Eve L. Ewing, Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism and Daisy Hernández, Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth in conversation with Melissa Bell, CEO of WBEZ.

12PM 
Peabody Award-winner Geoff Bennett, Black Out Loud: The Revolutionary History of Black Comedy from Vaudeville to ‘90s Sitcoms in conversation with Natalie Y. Moore

1PM
Scott Turow will be joined by novelist Jane Hamilton to chat about his recent novel “Presumed Guilty,” the third installment in his best-selling series about beleaguered Illinois prosecutor Rožat “Rusty” Sabich. The first novel in the series, “Presumed Innocent,” was adapted into a 1990 feature film and most recently a 2024 Apple TV+ series starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

2PM
Surviving Sexual Abuse in the Public Eye featuring Reshona Landfair, Who’s Watching Shorty?: Reclaiming Myself from the Shame of R. Kelly’s Abuse and Brooke Nevils, Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame, and the Stories We Choose to Believe in conversation with Cianna Greaves, Senior Producer, WBEZ

3PM
Where Life’s Currents Meet featuring Morgan Campbell, My Fighting Family and Ed Taylor, The Power of the River in conversation with Evan F. Moore

4PM
Omar El Akkad, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This in conversation with Bill Ayers

5PM
How Politics Broke Our Brains and Media Polarized Us featuring David Ost, Red Pill Politics: Demystifying Today’s Far Right and Heather Hendershot, When the News Broke: Chicago 1968 and the Polarizing of America in conversation with Danny Postel, New Lines Magazine 

See the full line-up:
https://printersrowlitfest.org/schedule-grid/

We are thrilled to have seven Pulitzer Prize-winning authors and journalists featured on the festival’s lineup.Don’t mis...
09/02/2026

We are thrilled to have seven Pulitzer Prize-winning authors and journalists featured on the festival’s lineup.

Don’t miss these Programs:

📚Saturday 9/12📚

Saturday, 11AM | Digital Realty Stage
Reporting on Operation Midway Blitz featuring several members of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Tribune staff: Andrew Carter, Gregory Royal Pratt, Laura Rodriguez Presa, Erika Slife in conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bill Healy

Saturday, 11:30AM | Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation Stage
New Books on the 1980s City featuring Pulitzer Prize-winner Heather Ann Thompson, Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage and LaShawn Harris, Tell Her Story: Eleanor Bumpurs & the Police Killing That Galvanized New York City in conversation with Lisa Lucas

📚Sunday 9/13📚

Sunday, 10AM | Digital Realty Stage
Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner John West, The Internet Will Die, and So Will You: On Learning to Live in Our Digital Age in conversation with Elizabeth Taylor

Sunday, 11AM | Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation Stage
Pulitzer Prize-winner Viet Thanh Nguyen, To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other in conversation with Donna Seaman

See the full line-up:
https://printersrowlitfest.org/schedule-grid/

41st Annual Printers Row Lit Fest
Saturday, Sept 12 & Sunday, Sept 13
10 AM - 6 PM
Chicago, IL
FREE

Cultural icon Patti Smith will receive the 2026 Harold Washington Literary Award ✨The prestigious award honors the legac...
05/17/2026

Cultural icon Patti Smith will receive the 2026 Harold Washington Literary Award ✨

The prestigious award honors the legacy of Harold Washington, a champion of the arts whose vision embraced the diversity of the American experience and recognizes distinguished literary achievement, artistic excellence, and a commitment to the written word.

Author, poet, songwriter, and visual artist, Patti Smith has long been one of the most influential cultural voices of her generation. “Patti Smith is unparalleled in her ability to create deeply literary work across mediums,” said Anne K. Ream, co-chair of the HWLA Selection Committee. “Her writing is marked by moral clarity, artistic rigor, and deep empathy. She exemplifies the spirit of the Harold Washington Literary Award.”

Hosted by the Near South Planning Board, the ticketed Harold Washington Literary Award ceremony and dinner on Sept. 10 will serve as the official kickoff to Printers Row Lit Fest weekend, one of the country’s largest free literary festivals and a celebrated gathering of book lovers from across the nation. 📚

Since 1989, the award has honored literary legends including Sandra Cisneros, Ray Bradbury, Gwendolyn Brooks, Saul Bellow, Kurt Vonnegut, and Studs Terkel.

For tickets and more details about the Sept. 10 ceremony and dinner: https://thenspb.org/our-events/harold-washington-literary-award-dinner/

Address

620 S Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL
60605

Opening Hours

Saturday 10am - 6pm
Sunday 10am - 6pm

Telephone

(312)9871980

Website

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