Indie book lovers have a haven of their own, Curbside Books & Records. Situated alongside Revival Bar | Café in the National Building at 125 South Clark Street, the new store is part of Curbside Splendor Publishing’s effort to help readers find treasures from small press and independent labels. It features a rotating selection of fiction, non-fiction and poetry from presses including Featherproof Books, Coffee House Press, Two Dollar Radio, Hobart, Akashic, Dorothy a publishing project, Rose Metal Press, Agate, Octopus Books, Rescue Press, Drag City, New York Review Books, the Paris Review and local magazine The Point. Managing editor Catherine Eves says they want to “challenge the traditional understanding of literature’s function in our world. We also aim to enhance the literary community in Chicago’s South Loop by hosting discussions, readings and pop-up events.”
Toni Nealie is the Literary Editor of Newcity and the author of the essay collection “The Miles Between Me.” A Pushcart Prize nominee, her essays have appeared in Guernica Magazine, Rust Belt: Chicago, The Rumpus, The Offing, Essay Daily, Chicago Quarterly Review, Hobart, Entropy and elsewhere. She worked in magazine journalism, politics and PR in her native New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Singapore and now edits, writes and teaches in Chicago. Find her at toninealie.com and on Twitter @tnealie. She can be reached at toni@newcity.com.
