Last Friday we celebrated the fourth annual Chicago Review of Books Awards, co-presented by StoryStudio Chicago at the Ravenswood Event Center. The “Chirby” awards celebrate the best books published by Chicago-based writers and poets in the past year. Here are 2019’s winners. Congratulations to all of these incredible writers!
Poetry:

1919 by Eve Ewing
Here’s the poetry shortlist.
Nonfiction:

Burn the Place by Iliana Regan
Here’s the nonfiction shortlist.
Essay/Short Story:

“An Axe for the Frozen Sea” by Megan Stielstra
in Believer Magazine
Here’s the best essay/short story shortlist.
Fiction:

False Bingo by Jac Jemc
Here’s the fiction shortlist.
The Adam Morgan Literary Citizen Award:
This year we also awarded the first Adam Morgan Literary Citizen Award to a person making outstanding contributions to Chicago’s literary scene. This year the award went to Ydalmi Noriega of the Poetry Foundation.

And many, many thanks to this year’s judges, which included many of the Chicago Review of Books‘s editorial staff and several representatives from Chicago’s independent bookstores:
- Suzy Takacs, The Book Cellar
- Rebecca George, Volumes Bookcafe
- Thomas Flynn, Volumes Bookcafe
- Sarah Hollenbeck, Women & Children First
- Jeff Deutsch, Seminary Co-op and 57th Street Books
- Wayne Giacalone, RoscoeBooks
- DL Mullen, Semicolon Bookstore & Gallery
- Adam Morgan, CHIRB Founding Editor
- Amy Brady, CHIRB Editor-in-Chief
- Todd Van Luling, CHIRB Managing Editor
- Jordan Foti Gulino, CHIRB Daily Editor
- Sara Cutaia, Editor-in-Chief at Arcturus Magazine and CHIRB Editor-at-Large (judge for best essay or short story only)
- Taylor Moore, Fiction Editor at Arcturus Magazine and CHIRB contributor
- Aram Mrjoian, CHIRB Editor-at-Large
- Rachel León, CHIRB contributing staff
Amy Brady is the Editor-in-Chief of the Chicago Review of Books and Deputy Publisher of Guernica Magazine. Her writing has appeared in Oprah, The Village Voice, Pacific Standard, The New Republic, McSweeney's, and elsewhere. Follow her on Twitter at @ingredient_x.
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