Programs and Events

These programs took place in 2011.

Quicklinks: Programs and Events | Author Events | DePaul University Course | For Teens

The below programs are free and open to the public, with no reservations required unless otherwise noted. For more information on programming, call (312) 747-8191.

Programs and Events

Chicago Below: The Pedway Tour
PLEASE NOTE: Reservations are no longer being taken for these pedway tours. These events are at capacity. For other tours offered in the pedway, go to chicagoelevated.com.
Wednesday, April 6 and Friday April 8, 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Take part in an adventure even Richard Mayhew would love. Led by Margaret Hicks of Chicago Elevated, this tour takes you down into Chicago’s Pedway, a series of passageways that connect the city above to the city below. Scurry under buildings and around train tracks, all the while learning about urban legends of underground Chicago as well as the certain hiding places of Croup and Vandemar.
Space is limited. Call (312) 747-8191 for reservations. Tour starts at 40 W. Lake Street, at Dearborn Avenue.

An Evening of Modern Fairy Tales
Thursday, April 7, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.*
Harold Washington Library Center, Cindy Pritzker Auditorium
400 S. State Street
One Book, One Chicago teams up with the Chicago Humanities Festival to present a rare opportunity for grownups to celebrate this monstrous and magical literary form. Join Lydia Millet (How the Dead Dream) and Kate Bernheimer (Horse, Flower, Bird and editor of My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales) for readings and conversation about these dark and delightful stories.
This is a free, ticketed event. Ticket reservations will be taken after March 8; call (312) 494-9509 or visit chicagohumanities.org.

Neverwhere on Stage: Lifeline Theatre
Monday, April 11, 6:00 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center, Cindy Pritzker Auditorium
400 S. State Street
Chicago’s Lifeline Theatre dedicates itself to literary adaptation and was lauded by critics, fans and Neil Gaiman himself last spring when they brought Neverwhere to their stage. Join the original cast for a full reading of the play, which was adapted for the stage by Robert Kauzlaric. The reading will be followed by a brief talk-back with Kauzlaric and his fellow actors, director Paul S. Holmquist and Lifeline Artistic Director Dorothy Milne.

Turning the Page: The Rise of the Graphic Novel
Monday, April 18, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
DePaul University, Loop Campus
DePaul Center, Room 8005
1 E. Jackson Boulevard
DePaul faculty scholar and writer Rebecca Johns Trissler hosts a lively discussion with Chicago authors and fans of fantasy to explore the history of this fascinating literary form. Drawing from their own experiences as storytellers and teachers, the panelists will consider the future of the graphic novel and the conventions of this widely popular genre.
Sponsored by DePaul University’s Department of English

Lawrence Krauss: Parallel Universes
Wednesday, April 20, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.*
Harold Washington Library Center, Cindy Pritzker Auditorium
400 S. State Street
Join the inaugural director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University and author of Quantum Man: Richard Feynman’s Life in Science and The Physics of Star Trek for an exploration of where fiction meets physics. An acclaimed lecturer, respected cosmologist and theoretical physicist, Krauss uses Neverwhere as a starting point for an entertaining lecture on how scientists are exploring the possibility of parallel universes.
Presented in partnership with the Illinois Science Council

* Book sales for these events provided by Seminary Co-op Bookstore

Neverwhere Literature Contest at DePaul

• Submissions: Due by Thursday, April 21
  Calling all writers! Submit your speculative and fairytale-based fiction and poetry in consideration for the Neverwhere Literature Contest, judged by One Book, One Chicago panelist Kate Bernheimer, author of, most recently, The Complete Tales of Lucy Gold and editor of Fairy Tale Review. Visit www.depaul.edu/~oboc for contest rules and prize information.
• Awards Reading and Reception: Wednesday, June 1, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
  John T. Richardson Library, Rosati Room (#300), DePaul University
  2350 N. Kenmore Avenue
  Celebrate and recognize the writers selected as winners of the Neverwhere Literature Contest. Award winners will read their work, and a reception will follow. For food, live music and one last look at “a world far stranger and more dangerous than you have ever known.”

Sponsored by DePaul University’s Department of English

Screening and Discussion: Mirrormask
Monday, April 25, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
DePaul University, Loop Campus
Lewis Center, Room 1209
23-25 E. Jackson Boulevard
This award-winning 2005 film was written by Neil Gaiman and is told through the spectacular visuals of director Dave McKean. The story of an epic quest where strange, magical creatures dwell in a fantasy world and a 15-year-old girl must find the legendary MirrorMask to save the kingdom, this film is sure to captivate audiences. Refreshments will be served, and a discussion will follow the screening.
Runtime 104 minutes. Sponsored by DePaul University’s Department of English

DePaul University Course

Literature and Social Engagement: One Book, One Chicago
DePaul University’s Department of English offers ENG 378 Literature and Social Engagement: One Book, One Chicago, a course dedicated to the close study of the current One Book selection. This spring, the course will be taught by Assistant Professor of English Rebecca Johns Trissler, whose teaching interests include fiction writing, magazine writing, contemporary literature and nonfiction writing. Her first novel, Icebergs, was a finalist for the 2007 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for first fiction and a recipient of the Michener-Copernicus Award. Her second, The Countess, was published in October 2010 from Crown Books and will be translated into six languages. Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere will be prominent on the required reading list. This 10-week course meets Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:20 a.m. to 12:50 p.m., beginning March 28, 2011.
This is a paid tuition-based course. For more information, go to www.depaul.edu/~oboc or call (773) 325-7485.
Sponsored by DePaul University’s Department of English

For Teens

Digital Media Workshops in YOUmedia
Thursdays through April 28, 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center, YOUmedia
First Floor
400 S. State Street
Join a team of mentors and other teens to add even more dimensions to the worlds of Neverwhere. Read, discuss, create and be inspired in these after-school digital media workshops inspired by Neil Gaiman’s novel. Check youmediachicago.org or call (312) 747-5260 for more information.

• Fan-Fiction: This is your chance to remix and/or continue the story of Neverwhere. Write and create a mixed media digital flipbook to chronicle significant characters and themes represented in Neverwhere
• Graphic Novel: Using the application Comic Life, this is your chance to create an adaptation of Neverwhere. By creating a graphic novel you will be able re-envision the book’s characters, events and themes.
• The “Chicago Below” Mix Tape (Spoken Word & Hip Hop): Create and perform thematic spoken word poetry and/or hip hop inspired by characters and themes presented in Neverwhere.
• Sounds About Write (Book Soundtrack): Compose an original score that reflects themes, characters or events represented in Neverwhere.
• Video and Photo Documentary: Use video and photography to reflect on the two worlds of Chicago Above (The City) and Chicago Below (The Subway). Compare and contrast how this reflects the themes in Neverwhere.

Write Your Own Drama in YOUmedia
Mondays through April 11, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center, YOUmedia
First Floor
400 S. State Street
Wonder what happens after Neverwhere ends? Share your vision with other writers as we develop and write scripts based on Neverwhere for performance by the Chicago Public Library’s Reader’s Theatre Troupe. See your work go from idea to page to stage.

Teen Volume Book Discussions of Neverwhere
Join us at one of these book discussions for teens ages 14 and older, and learn more about what your peers think of London Below!

• Wednesday, March 16, 4:30 p.m.
  Harold Washington Library Center, YOUmedia
  First Floor
  400 S. State Street
  (312) 747-5260
• Tuesday, April 5, 5:00 p.m.
  Lozano Branch
  1805 S. Loomis Avenue
  (312) 746-4329
• Thursday, April 7, 4:00 p.m.
  Chinatown Branch
  2353 S. Wentworth Avenue
  (312) 747-8013
• Thursday, April 7, 6:30 p.m.
  Lincoln Park Branch
  1150 W. Fullerton Avenue
  (312) 744-1926
• Monday, April 11, 4:30 p.m.
  Thurgood Marshall Branch
  7506 S. Racine Avenue
  (312) 747-5927
• Thursday, April 14, 6:00 p.m.
  Albany Park Branch
  5150 N. Kimball Avenue
  (312) 744-1933
• Wednesday, April 20, 4:30 p.m.
  Woodson Regional Library
  9525 S. Halsted Street
  (312) 747-6921