Tag Archives: Smokestacks and Skyscrapers: An Anthology of Chicago Writing
Ben Hecht: A Town Where You Could Stay Yourself
This article is part of a continuing series on Chicago Writers, most of whom are contained in two of my Chicago books: Black Writing from Chicago, and, with David Starkey, Smokestacks and Skyscrapers. Go to complete lists of Chicago and … Continue reading
Finley Peter Dunne: “Is th’ race dyin’ out?”
Finley Peter Dunne was born on the West Side of Chicago in 1867 and graduated at the bottom of his high school class. That’s a funny and appropriate fact given the shape of his career. At 17 he began working … Continue reading
A.K. Ramanujan: A Country You Can’t Reach
Born in Mysore, India, Attippat Krishnaswami Ramanujan (1929-1994) is considered by many to be India’s finest modern poet writing in English, though he went far beyond English, his other writings as poet, scholar, playwright, philologist, folklorist, and translator ranging over … Continue reading