If you love books, writing, and thoughtful conversation about the artform—which, if you’re here, I imagine you do—then you know that there is nothing more special than finding people you trust. There’s a joy in flipping the pages of your favorite newspaper or magazine or booting up your go-to website and knowing that the jolt of discovery will be followed by quality and insightfulness, whether or not you agree with it.
Art is a leap of faith. For 10 years, the Chicago Review of Books has been determined to meet that wild and beautiful endeavor with clear-eyed generosity that readers can trust.
Coming from the land of street-level observers like Mike Royko and Studs Terkel and art populists Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert as well as countless literary pioneers, our city has a long-established tradition of taking an approachable, unpretentious perspective when it comes to looking at the world and the ways in which arts responds to and informs it. At the Chicago Review of Books, we live by the legacy. In fact, it’s in large part the reason we exist. When Adam Morgan founded the the Chicago Review of Books in 2016, he laid out the following founding principles that our outlet would follow:
Diverse Voices. We believe literary criticism should engage with writers from all continents and cultures. We believe independent, university, and small presses deserve a larger place in the cultural conversation alongside the Big Five.
Diverse Settings. While we do feature many Chicago-based stories, writers, and publications, the Chicago Review of Books is as untethered to city limits as the New York Review of Books and the Los Angeles Review of Books. We aim for 30% Chicago, 70% everywhere else.
Diverse Genres.We don’t believe in the antiquated distinction between “literary” and “genre” fiction. We read an eclectic mix of books and will never compliment a title by saying it “transcends the genre.”
Diverse Ideas.We seek to explore the connections between literature, current events, and pop culture. Our contributors are as diverse as the books we cover, from established authors, journalists, and writing professors to students and freelance critics.
Now 10 years later, I’m proud to say that the review has not only lived up to principles, but expanded upon them. Our coverage has grown and deepened to feature voices from across the world and the publishing spectrum, including through our Translator’s Voice series that explores the art of translation and Interview with an Editor, which spotlights the independent publishers and the beautiful work they bring into the world. We also expanded our focus to highlight writing as a practice and the ways in which it responds to our cultural and political moment in our columns Stories Matter, New Release Radar, and Read Your Resistance. We want to be a space where readers can learn more about books that will challenge, delight, and excite them. We also want to publish work that inspires the practice of writing and helps us understand how art and the current moment are shaping one another.
I often like to say that our review has an international eye and a Chicago heart. We exist to bring rigorous critical discussion of books to the world, but I also believe we have a responsibility to be the Chicago literary community’s greatest cheerleader. I’m proud to say we’ve grown into this role as well through our coverage, our annual previews of books written by Chicago authors, and the city’s most uplifting literary celebration, the CHIRBY Awards. We stand on the shoulders of countless icons, and we’re proud to honor Chicago’s literary legacy of innovation, audacity, and creativity.
It’s also not lost on me that our review is celebrating this milestone at a precarious and uncertain time. We were founded in 2016 at the dawn of the first Trump administration, and here we are at 10 years living under a second. The worlds of book publishing and literary criticism are under intense threat, not to mention our freedom to read. Authors face mounting challenges to getting books into the hands of readers. Outlets nationally are cutting their books sections or shuttering entirely, putting great critics out of work. Book bans are intensifying and spreading.
Amid the bleak outlook, we turn 10 years old. Thanks to a brilliant team, a wonderfully supportive parent organization Stories Matter Foundation, and an incredible community, the Chicago Review of Books is not only surviving, but thriving. There’s no greater joy than watching the review come into its own over the years. It also reminds us that we have a responsibility to our community of readers, writers, and book lovers.
What does that responsibility look like 10 years in and 10 years into the future? We aim to continue to do the following:
- Represent and observe the publishing, political, and cultural worlds. We offer both a broad and deep look into the world of books at any given time. We also believe in exploring how it is evolving, from the Big 5 to the vast ecosystem of independent and international literature, as well as the ways in which this art form intersects with and interrogates our political and cultural realities.
- Spotlight writing for, by, and about humans. Art is a human pursuit, full stop. We will always honor that in the books we cover and the writing we publish. We will be a space for careful curation and thoughtful critique, and it will be written by humans and for humans on the topics of art that speak to our shared humanity.
- Build a writing and reading community in Chicago and beyond. The mission of our parent organization Stories Matter Foundation is to build a strong writing community, and we believe our review holds a special place in that pursuit. In addition to our coverage about the world of books, we will continue to work directly in the community and publish work about the practice of writing to create a trusted space where people can connect, learn, and find their community.
To our readers, thank you for your continued trust and support. It’s been a beautiful ten years of talking books with you, and the best has yet to come.
Here’s to decade two of the Chicago Review of Books!
To learn more about how we’re celebrating our 10-year milestone, visit our page here.
