IT’S OUR 9TH BIRTHDAY. You are morally obligated to come down to The Book Cellar on Monday, November 19th at 7pm. Also, this lineup is going to be so good, we might never need to have another birthday: Archy Jamjun is a storyteller, writer, professor, server, partner, cat-owner and TJ Maxxsonista. His work has been … Continue reading
Essay Fiesta turns 9 years old this month, which is 63 in dog years, 52 in cat years, and 97.4 in live lit years. Like many middle-aged dogs and cats, Essay Fiesta can be trusted to be left at home alone without wrecking the furniture. It will, however, still pee on the floor from time … Continue reading
Garfield has been hating Mondays for 39 years, but if he knew about Essay Fiesta, we’re sure he’d make an exception for third Mondays. So get out of bed, eat an entire pan of lasagna (maybe don’t do that), and head down to The Book Cellar on Monday, June 19th at 7pm for this lineup … Continue reading
On Monday, June 19, 1978, the first Garfield comic strip made its debut in 41 newspapers. Since its inception, the cutting-edge comic has never been afraid to shy away from controversial topics like Mondays, naps, and lasagna, so it’s no wonder that Garfield sprawled to over 2,500 newspapers and spawned a billion-dollar-a-year merchandising enterprise. (Yes, … Continue reading
Look, we don’t want to rain on the parade that is World Puppetry Day, but there’s something that the puppetry Illuminati doesn’t want you to know about puppets: they are dead, soulless inanimate objects. So instead of staying at home and playing with your sad, motionless facsimiles of real people, how about you come on … Continue reading
We know, we know. We’re absolutely crazy to schedule the next Essay Fiesta on March 21st, which is the much-anticipated World Puppetry Day. Most of you will be binge-watching episodes of Thunderbirds or Sifl & Olly before heading out to boogie down at your favorite creepy puppet dance party. How can we compete? But just in case … Continue reading
It’s our birthday and we’re 5 and that means we can do whatever we want. And what we want is for you to join us at The Book Cellar this Monday, November 17 at 7pm. We want to raise a bunch of money for 826CHI, while listening to a night of awesome stories from these awesome people: Megan Stielstra is … Continue reading
We are 5 now. That means we are REALLY OLD. Like any other 5 year-old child, we can now count ten or more objects, peddle a tricycle, and speak clearly using more complex sentences. We are also better able to express our emotions. And we have so many emotions. It’s been 5 years since co-founders Alyson Lyon and … Continue reading
Unfortunately, Bob’s eyeball is preventing him from attending. But he told us that he wants everyone take a break from watching curlers faceplant to join us at The Book Cellar on Monday, February 17th at 7pm. We’ll be raising money for 826CHI and draping medals around the necks of these essay champions. Paul Luikart is going to finish his Master of … Continue reading
Where would you rather be on Monday, February 17th at 7pm? In an unfinished hotel in Russia, catching a nasty eye infection from Bob Costas? Or at The Book Cellar, sipping on beer and/or wine and listening to world-class writers and storytellers? Why spend your monthly salary on tickets to stand outside in the cold … Continue reading
Essay Fiesta 