Gretchen Kalwinski

Now that I’ve settled into a new, full-time copywriting job, I thought it was high time to get more involved with my graduate program; (I’m in the Masters in Creative Writing program at Northwestern University). To that end, I recently started contributing to the blog associated with their literary magazine, Triquarterly Online. I’ll focus my posts around print and online literary magazines and they’ll be housed here.

I will be posting one blog entry each week, and it’ll go up on Mondays. I’ve done four posts so far–about NanoWrimo, the Baffler’s resurgence, online writing tools, and the Occupy, Writers movement. So far, what I like about this gig is that it’s forcing me to keep up with the stuff I’m interested in; i.e., literary and publishing news, and the fiction, poetry, and criticism being published in literary mags. And, having a weekly deadline helps keep me focused on reading the news I’m actually interested in, rather than, say, refreshing Gawker.com twenty times a day or searching incessantly for the perfect winter boot that is simultaneously stylish, warm, and has excellent, ice-grabbing traction. But if anyone’s got a lead on that, do let me know.

“That’s the kind of thought that could lead a person to start drinking gin at 9 in the morning.” A poignant & thought-provoking talk on genius and Socratic “daemons” living in artists’ walls to help them with their work. Yeah, Gilbert wrote Eat, Pray, Love. This still rocks.

The novel I’m working on as my thesis for Northwestern is very focused on aroma, olfaction, and natural botanical perfumery. In my research, I’ve come across the wonderful Aftelier Perfumes by Mandy Aftel, a preeminent natural botanical perfumer. I’ve been reading her book Essence and Alchemy, and am enamored of the way she thinks about scent and perfume. I just stumbled across this post about the public class she’ll be offering at the fantastic Esalen in Big Sur, and realized, come hell or high water, I’ve got to go. I visited Esalen for it’s hot springs when I lived in San Francisco, and the place is spectacular; hot springs and a simple natural setting on the gorgeous California cliffs. Bonus that it’s in January; not a bad time to leave Chicago for Big Sur…

Chicago journalist Rob Elder wrote a book on breakups and since my husband Rob Funderburk and I knew the designer, we got to be “models” for the funny, irreverent, photo-booth book cover. Check out the third photo down and you’ll see my face got the “slash” treatment, but Rob-sans-eyeglasses can be pretty well made out. The book is getting swell coverage so far: check ABC Chicago, The Star, or check it out on Amazon. I have to say, though I had nothing to do with the book content, my 18-year old self would have been extremely impressed to be involved in a project praised by Kevin Smith. Ha!

I’ll be reading tonight with several other writers at the largest traditional coffee “cupping” event to happen in Chicago (conducted by Intelligentsia). Don’t know what cupping is? Neither did I, so I pasted some info from the WBEZ site below, or you can click here for more info. The piece I’ll be reading–and am still working on, oops–is an essay of my 20-year old coffee addiction, begun inelegantly with Mountain Dew, continuing with a brief, ugly Mini-Thin period in college, and now centered around my much more moderate, one-Americano-before-noon stasis.

CHICAGO (March 15, 2011) –Chicago Public Media (WBEZ 91.5 FM) continues its live event series, the Off-Air Series, with an exclusive chance to participate in a new culinary conversation and learn just how little is actually known about tasting and brewing coffee. Designed to be the largest ‘traditional coffee cupping’ (aka tasting) ever held in Chicago, Don’t Call Me Joe, in collaboration with Chicago’s own Intelligentsia Coffee, will be held at Catalyst Ranch, 656 W. Randolph Street, on Saturday, April 9 at 7:00pm. The event has limited seating and is almost sold-out, but there will be a wait list at the door.

Cupping is the industry standardized way of critically evaluating coffee; it is how Intelligentsia selects green coffee and is an integral part of their Direct Trade buying model. The standard procedure involves deeply sniffing the coffee, then loudly slurping so it spreads to the back of the tongue. The taster attempts to measure all aspects of the coffee’s taste including body, sweetness, acidity, flavor, and aftertaste. The amazing team of buyers, tasters and trainers from Intelligentsia Coffee, will educate about tasting terminology, coffee processing, and history, while cupping with some of Chicago’s most experienced staff: Baristas, Roasters, Green Coffee Buyers, and members of the Intelligentsia Quality Control team.

In order to ensure full immersion in this culinary realm, the Chicago-based publisher Stop Smiling Books has arranged ‘Readings on Coffee’ for the listening pleasure. Participating authors include: Kyle Beachy, Paul Durica, Fred Sasaki, Gretchen Kalwinski, Mairead Case, and Sam Weller. “The Off-Air Series is designed to extend the WBEZ listening experience out into the community and allow people to come see what they’ve been hearing, or in this case taste,” said Event Producer Breeze Richardson. “Learning a little more about coffee – where it comes from and why it tastes the way it does – helps you appreciate it more. Just like a wine tasting, Don’t Call Me Joe is an opportunity to skillfully taste coffee with the experts. And the chance to create Chicago’s largest cupping ever makes this event even better!”

Tickets to the event are nearly sold out, but there will be a waiting list at the door for those interested. More information is available at www.wbez.org/events.

I’ve spent a good portion of the last 2 years working as a freelance editor for the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF), for some of their products/services/textbooks, including their Prostart guide, ServSave book, and Food Management Professional guide. They are now merged with their educational foundation, but when I began freelancing for them back in 2005, they were known simply as “NRA.” Funnily, many people in this industry are also affiliated with the “CIA” (Culinary Institute of America), and FBI (Food and Beverage Institute). The organization is a huge one, and because it’s politically active, is sometimes controversial, but I’ve had nothing but good experiences working with NRAEF staff over the years.

I just penned a book review for Make Literary Magazine on Bruce Boone’s poetic/New Narrative memoir “Century of Clouds.” It was lovely to swim around in the wonderfully obtuse, digressive book for a few hours this winter and I know so much more now than I did before about the New Narrative group. Century of Clouds is a reissue and an important staple of the New Narrative writers.

In a case of terrible timing, I was asked to wear a t-shirt this winter (5 days after the cookie-bloated Christmas holidays), for Flinchy, a t-shirt company founded by pals–the founders are Jay Ryan, Tom Stack, and Diana Sudyka. Essentially, Flinchy is a group effort to make cool t-shirt designs by local artists and designers. Here’s my shot of the gorgeous Raven Heart t-shirt, designed by Diana Sudyka, and here is Flinchy’s main site.

I recently finished some freelance writing and editing for the American Library Association’s wonderful “I Love Libraries” site. If you don’t know about this resource, you should — it lists ways for everyday people (non-librarians) to get involved with advocating libraries on the local and national level. Years ago, I worked for the ALA’s Trustee division and it was a pleasure seeing volunteers who were so passionate about fighting for library funding, and ensuring that books, resources, and information would continue to be provided to their communities. Here’s an oft-trotted out quote from Carl Sagan about libraries, available on the ALA’s “Library Quotes” page: ”I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture, and our concern for the future, can all be tested by how well we support our libraries.”

I wrote a new piece on Jean Shepherd, radio raconteur and famed for “A Christmas Story,” for the Chicagoan, a “new nonprofit media organization whose mission is to document the arts and culture history of Chicago and the greater Midwest with an emphasis on long-form storytelling.” Please note the beautiful illustration by Chicago artist Rob Funderburk. I’m so excited about this promising new project, and what a great excuse for me to wax poetic about my love/hate relationship with Shepherd, who was also born and raised in Hammond, IN.

Colleague Travis Nichols has written a book of poetry titled “See Me Improving” and to celebrate its launch, some of us will be performing previously untold “talents and amateur attempts” at his book release party at Stop Smiling, tomorrow, Wednesday December 8, starting at 6:30 p.m. (1317 N. Milwaukee Ave). I’m told that among the amateur skills being celebrated are: mixology, headstands, and for my part, I’ll be demonstrating my newfound adeptness at applying “smoky eye” makeup. See above for the dramatic difference that it can make. For more info, go to Travis’ blog, See Me Improving.

While at Ragdale last fall, I wrote a (very) short, off-the-cuff story titled “The Hunter” for Featherproof Books. The idea with these stories, available via Itunes app, is that they’re three screens, with exactly 111 words per screen — a fun experiment in brevity.

In November 2009, I received a Ragdale Artist Residency and just spent a spectacular three weeks there, working on my short fiction collection in Lake Forest, Illinois, writing, thinking, dreaming. Some pics are attached, and here’s a Literago post I wrote on my time there.

A few hours ago, I had fun appearing on Chicago Tonight (as Literago.org co-founder) to chat about books  to give/read during the holidays. My fellow roundtablers Professor Al Gini and author Brigid Pasulka had impressive lists to share and now I have WAY too many books on my “to read” list. The video is here, and all of our lists of recommended books are archived here.

A new short story I published in Proximity Magazine is up at their site, along with the beautiful illustrations of Rob Funderburk. (Reading it over, I’m realizing it needed several more drafts, at least, but anyway.)

During last week’s Printers Ball, I spoke on camera with Amy Guth of ChicagoNow’s Chicago Subtext about the Ball, Chicago publishing and books, and Literago.
Gretchen Kalwinski at Printers’ Ball from Amy Guth on Vimeo.

At last month’s Printer’s Row Book Fair, I was invited by the Poetry Foundation to read a poem from the Poetry Tour at the Printers Row Book Fair. Audio from the event is archived here.

This week, I spent a fun 10 minutes talking to Mike Stephen with WLUW’s Outside the Loop radio show for their literary-themed edition (to correspond with the Printers Ball). Some info is here, and the direct link to the streaming audio is here.

Just published: a new book review for Stop Smiling, of Nelson Algren’s Entrapment. The mag does a thing called “Two Takes,” where they have two writers review the same book; then they publish the two reviews alongside each other. Beth Capper wrote the “alternate take.”

I recently did some copywriting for Vosges Haut Chocolat’s catalog — the Gypsy-themed Valentine’s Day issue. It’s not available online, unfortunately, but here are some excerpts from the mailer, “A Book of Chocolate Love Spells.”

• [The word Gypsy refers to the Roma people, a wandering ethnic group that originated in northern India around the 9th century. A creative people who live outside modern rules of ownership and property; the world is their home to wander.]
• [Gypsies are said to travel with magic carpets and snakes and are notoriously private--it is almost impossible for an outsider to penetrate a gypsy band. Because so much of gypsy lore is shrouded in secrecy, popular culture tends to either romanticize or demonize them, focusing on their mystical powers.]
• [The pagan practice of men showering their sweethearts with roses started when early practitioners of herbal medicine learned that eating rose hips (the fruit of the rose that remains after the petals have fallen) assisted in many aspects of female health. So on Valentine's Day, bask in the knowledge that by enjoying roses, you are taking part in an ancient ritual.]

Cavalier Inn
(About Us section of website)
Serving the North Hammond neighborhood and Polish Community for generations

Known simply as The Cav by those who frequent it, this Polish restaurant and bar has served the North Hammond neighborhood and Polish community for generations. The Cav is owned and managed by Wally and Mary Kasprzycki and their son, Wally. Wally Sr. arrived in the United States in 1938 and opened the Cavalier Inn 1949. The Cavalier Inn thrives not only because of the consistently wonderful Polish food (best pierogis and potato pancakes in town), but also to the welcoming atmosphere instituted by Wally and Mary, and carried on dutifully by their son….[for more, click the site, but consider yourself warned about the polka music.]

Last weekend, I read with a group of authors–authors way, way more illustrious than I; Bill Savage, Stuart Dybek, Marion Coleman, Marc Smith, Ellen Wadey, Peter O’Leary–at a Printers Row Lit Fest event presented by the Poetry Foundation. The Trib listed it here, along with my bio.

The Chicago Poetry Foundation presents the Chicago Poetry Tour Premier. Saturday 5 p.m. Arts & Poetry Stage.
Gretchen Kalwinski: The co-founder and managing editor of the literary Web site Literago.org. Her fiction and essays have appeared in Stop Smiling, The Chicago Reader, Chicago Magazine and Punk Planet.

I wrote a few pieces for Time Out Chicago’s recent “DIY issue,” including an article about making your own deodorant (so cheap!) and another about teaching myself to sing that actually inspired me to start voice lessons at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Dated: Apr 23–29, 2009

….Also for the TOC Polish issue, I co-wrote an article on how to drink Polish. Nadrowie!

For Time Out Chicago’s “Polish Issue,” I wrote articles about growing up Polish-American in Chi-town and old-school versus new-school Polish Chicago.

Issue 209

I pitched a “Polish Issue” of Time Out Chicago that was published last week. In cahoots with that, I posted this at the Time Out Chicago blog: “TOC’s Polish Roots are Showing”

Issue 209;

In Chicago, wintertime spa visits are crucial. For Time Out Chicago’s Spas issue, I got to enjoy spa treatments and write about Lisette Paez, maestro nail-technician at the Four Seasons, plus spa-etiquette, and DIY spa treatments.

Issue 206; Feb 5, 2009

In celebration of Abe Lincoln’s 200th birthday, I spent a weekend in Springfield, Illinois, and wrote about it. Now, I never need to go back to Springfield, Illinois. Whew.

Issue 206; Feb 5

I’m thrilled to have a new coffee shop in my ‘hood, and posted about it on the TOC blog.

Birmingham, Alabama: it’s prettier and hipper than you thought. Here’s my travel essay about what to do during a weekend trip to the Magic City.  Issue 201; Jan 1