#printers row

Every year in early June, several city blocks in the South Loop in Chicago are blocked off, and dozens of booksellers set up tents and booths to show off their new, old, rare, common, uncommon, hardcover, paperback, fiction, non-fiction, and every other kind of book that you can think of. It’s a book-lover’s dream, and one of my favorite events every year. This year, it falls on June 10-11.

The Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago began as a bookseller fair in the 1980s, but it has grown into the largest literary event in the Midwest. Thrown each year by the Chicago Tribune, the Printers Row Lit Fest is a great way to spend a summer weekend and refill your bookshelves. Every year, they bring in major literary names and some of the best chefs in Chicago, host writing workshops, and have plenty of programming for kids. There are block and blocks of booths of new, used, and antiquarian books, as well as some book-related crafts, like gorgeous hand-tooled leather notebooks. There are bookish t-shirts, Chicago paraphernalia, and more.

The festival is in the Printers Row neighborhood, which, if you can’t tell from the name, is where all the printers and publishers in Chicago used to be centered. There are still a few booksellers and printers permanently in the area, so make sure you keep an eye out for them. Watch out for the printers block sculptures, which act as benches in Printers Row Park.

47 W. Polk St.: This section of the sidewalk is located on the SW corner of W. Polk St. and S. Plymouth Ct. The condition can be hazardous to many who are walking due to the large crack in the pavement, especially considering that it is located right in front of the popular restaurant Bar Louie which contains lots of foot traffic.