Join us for a virtual fireside chat with journalist, author and filmmaker Alex Kotlowitz, author of national bestseller There Are No Children Here. For forty years, Kotlowitz has been telling stories from the heart of America, deeply intimate tales of struggle and perseverance. His most recent book is An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago has been named a best book of the year by NPR, The Washington Post, The Economist, The National Book Review and more. His body of work has been honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters with the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award for books which “illuminate astonishing national inequities through the lens of individual experience.”

While Alex’s home is print, he has also worked in film and radio. His documentary, The Interrupters, a collaboration with Steve James was cited as one of the best films of 2011 by The New Yorker, The Chicago Tribune, Entertainment Weekly and The LA Times. For the film, Alex received an Emmy, a Cinema Eye Award and an Independent Spirit Award.

A former staff writer at The Wall Street Journal, Alex’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and on This American Life. His stories, which one reviewer wrote “inform the heart”, have also appeared in Granta, Rolling Stone, The Chicago Tribune, Slate and The Washington Post, as well as on PBS (Frontline, the MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour and Media Matters) and on NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition.

Our fireside chat will be moderated by Pulitzer Prize winning Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich. Alex and Mary will have a forty-five minute wide-ranging discussion followed by time for your questions.

This event is co-presented with Westchester Public Library and a group of libraries serving the Chicago suburbs.

Space is limited.

You must register to participate in this live, online event. You will receive a link to participate by email.

New to Zoom? Try these tips to prepare for the event.