October lineup image supplied by Write Club Chicago.
Chicago writers will face off over competing ideas when Write Club Chicago opens its 17th season at Gman Tavern on Tuesday, October 20. The evening begins at 7:30 p.m., with six writer-performers and a set from cover band Gargamel following the competition.
The format gives a literary reading a competitive edge: three pairs of performers deliver original, seven-minute essays on opposing topics. After each round, the audience chooses a winner. Prize money and the series’ signature trophy are at stake, but the short time limit also gives each writer a specific challenge: make an argument, tell a story, and win over the room before the clock runs out.
The October lineup includes Breon Arzell, Christopher Bigelow, Elizabeth Gomez, Archy Jamjun, Jean Marie Koon and Lawrence “Binkey” Tolefree, according to the organizers’ announcement.
Their work spans several corners of Chicago’s performance community. Gomez founded the Windy City Rollers and writes the Mixed Race Tape newsletter. Jamjun curates Outspoken LGBTQ Stories at Sidetrack and has won Chicago’s Moth Grand Slam. Bigelow is a writer, educator and senior fiction editor for Arcturus. Arzell, Koon and Tolefree bring backgrounds that include theater, poetry, storytelling and music.
Founded by Ian Belknap and Lindsay Muscato, Write Club is hosted and produced by Corrbette Pasko. The series brings original writing into a setting where listeners participate in the outcome, with the audience vote closing each bout.
Gman Tavern is at 3740 N. Clark St. Doors open at 7 p.m.; admission is a suggested $25 donation, available at the door. Additional bouts are scheduled for November 17 and December 15 at 7:30 p.m. More information is available through Write Club.
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