The Chicago Review of Books is an online literary publication of StoryStudio Chicago that reviews recent books covering diverse genres, presses, voices, and media. The magazine was started in 2016 by founding editor Adam Morgan. It is considered a sister publication of Arcturus, which publishes original fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
After Morgan stepped down, the Chicago Review of Books was led by Editor-in-Chief Amy Brady. It is currently led by Editor-In-Chief Michael Welch.
Content The Chicago Review of Books publishes regular reviews and interviews from authors publishing across independent and large publishers, as well as book lists, feature essays, and podcasts. With an international audience and editorial scope, the magazine is also dedicated to shining a light on Chicago's literary scene and serving as a forum for literature in the Midwest.
The Chicago Review of Books Awards Since 2016, the Chicago Review of Books Awards have honored exemplary works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and essays & short stories published by authors from the Chicagoland literary community. The awards are voted on by a committee of Chicago booksellers and Chicago Review of Books staff, and past winners have included authors such as Rebecca Makkai, Eve L. Ewing, Mikki Kendall, Erika L. Sánchez, and more.
The Chicago Review of Books also introduced the Adam Morgan Literary Leadership Award to the annual awards ceremony in 2019. Named after the magazine's founding editor Adam Morgan, the award honors individuals for their contributions to the Chicago literary community through service, advocacy, and stewardship.
Past Winners
Fiction
2025 – The El by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. 2024 – Hot Springs Drive by Lindsay Hunter 2023 – Bliss Montage: Stories by Ling Ma 2022 – The School For Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan 2021 – The Upstairs House by Julia Fine 2020 – The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata 2019 – False Bingo by Jac Jemc 2018 – The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai 2017 – How to Behave in a Crowd by Camille Bordas 2016 – The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni
Nonfiction
2025 – Original Sins: The [Mis]education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racsim by Eve L. Ewing 2024 – The Night Parade by Jami Nakamura Lin 2023 – King: A Life by Jonathan Eig 2022 – Crying in the Bathroom: A Memoir by Erika L. Sánchez 2021 – Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood by Dawn Turner 2020 – Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall 2019 – Burn the Place by Iliana Regan 2018 – Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side by Eve L. Ewing 2017 – The Wrong Way to Save Your Life by Megan Stielstra 2016 – The South Side by Natalie Y. Moore
Poetry
2025 – Hardly Creatures by Rob Macaisa Colgate 2024 – The Murmuring Grief of the Americas by Daniel Borzutsky 2023 – I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times by Taylor Byas 2022 – Against Heaven by Kemi Alabi 2021 – Wolf Lamb Bomb by Aviya Kushner 2020 – Too Much Midnight by Krista Franklin 2019 – 1919 by Eve L. Ewing 2018 – Citizen Illegal by José Olivarez 2017 – Electric Archces by Eve L. Ewing 2016 – child in a winter house brightening by Abigail Zimmer
Essay/Short Story
2025 – “A Trans Migrant Came to Chicago to Escape Violence. Now She's Afraid of Deportation” by Adriana Cardona-Maguigad in WBEZ Chicago 2024 – “After 25 years of selling tamales in Chicago, an undocumented immigrant mother returns to Mexico without her family” by Laura Rodríguez Presa in Chiacago Tribune 2023 – “After the Buses: Meet the Migrants at the Center of Texas’ Manufactured Crisis” by Madison Savedra in Block Club Chicago & Borderless Magazine 2022 – “It’s quiet around here until it’s not” by Salem Collo-Julin in Chicago Reader 2021 – “The climate crisis haunts Chicago’s future. A Battle Between a Great City and a Great Lake” by Dan Egan in The New York Times 2020 – “When reporting on movement actions, revolutionary joy must be given the same space as the struggle” by Matt Harvey in The TRiiBE 2019 – “An Axe for the Frozen Sea” by Megan Stielstra in Believer Magazine 2018 – “After Unthinkable Loss” by Sarah Conway, photos by Sebastián Hidalgo in City Bureau / Chicago Magazine
References
External links