Great Chicago Writers to Read During the Lockdown

So you have binged watched your favorite Chicago films and wore out your best Chicago musician’s playlist. Now you may be asking what is there left to do during the lockdown? Well, it’s time to open a book (or e-reader, of course) and sink down in your favorite spot, break out a favorite beverage, and get lost in the art of storytelling as only a great author can offer. Of course, we aren’t talking about just any book or poem. Below is our list of great authors (some local and some not) whose work has made the city of Chicago one of the great literary settings of all time. So without further ado, let’s get to reading.

Carl Sandburg: No list of great Chicago writers would be complete without the work of Carl Sandburg. Born in Galesburg back in 1878, Sandburg published the poem Chicago in 1914 and introduced the world to Chicago phrases like “big shoulders” and “hog butcher.” His nine-poem collection of the city, Chicago Poems, was published to wide acclaim in 1916. Other notable works include Corn Huskers andhis biography of Abraham Lincoln, both of which won Pulitzer Prizes. Sandburg lived throughout the country during his life, but his many years spent in Chicago will always be strongly associated with this great American writer. 

Upton Sinclair: Not every writer creates a book that literally makes the government adopt new policies for an entire industry. But Upton Sinclair did just that with his 1906 novel, The Jungle. The story tells the tale of a working-class immigrant family struggling to stay afloat while working in the unsafe slaughterhouses and meatpacking district of the Chicago stockyards. Sinclair actually worked incognito in the stockyards while reporting for a newspaper to put help put together his tale of harrowing family miseries that showed the underbelly of the American Dream. While Sinclair hoped the novel would advance his socialist leanings, the book’s portrayal of the inhumane stockyard working conditions and repulsive handling of meat made the most significant impact. The public outcry after The Jungle was released led to the adoption of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which helped in the creation of the Food and Drug Administration.

Gwendolyn Brooks: Born Kansas in 1917, Brooks moved to Chicago at a very early age and used the city as a backdrop for her intense portrayals of urban life throughout her writing career. Publishing her first poem at the young age of 13, Brooks went on to cultivate a mastery of using language and story to depict deeply emotional tales of her character’s lives in her Bronzeville neighborhood. In 1945 she published A Street in Bronzeville. The book of poertyshowed a young author with an uncanny ability to show the reality of the community around her and the struggles everyday people face. Her second collection of poetry, Annie Allen, was released in 1949. The book tells the story of Annie, an African American girl, evolving from youth into womanhood. In 1950 Brooks received the Pulitzer Prize for the collection, making her the first African-American woman to receive the award.

That does it for this week’s list of great Chicago writers. Tune in next week to check out part two of our favorite authors and poets with a Chicago focus. Until then, explore one or all of the writers listed here to see just how important Chicago has become as a setting for major literary works.

ERIC KAPLAN AND DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO