February 2021 Update and Pre-Launch
After an embarrassingly long amount of time, I’m actually updating this website so that it can do its job and represent me on the World Wild Web. In the meantime, I’ve got a whole bunch of things I wanted to mention for the month of February, so here’s an ugly-ass pre-launch blog post to get you up to speed:
UNREAL, my fiction-focused, experimental open mic, continues online for the foreseeable future. Our monthly show is coming up on Tuesday, February 16, which you can register to attend here. Be mindful of link/access troubleshooting info in the event details. Pretty soon, I’m going to add all these details to the Events page I’m building on this site, too, so you never have to look at my inane social media presence again (if you so desire).
Speaking of getting off social media, you can also just get these sweet UNREAL updates directly to your inbox by registering for our monthly newsletter. February’s update goes out 2/2/21.
Oh, and did I mention we’ve been nominated for Best Virtual Open Mike and Best Live Lit Series in the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago? I’d be immensely grateful if you’d pop by their ballot site and vote for us ASAP! The voting round closes at 12p CST on 2/8/21. You can tag us on FB (@unrealchicago) and Twitter (@UnrealChi), and be sure to use the hashtag #bestofchi.
We’re also recalibrating our fundraising process for UNREAL’s CAKE Fund initiative, which we launched last year in an effort to provide consistent contributions to Chicago community organizations for a period of at least six months. You can contribute here to our updated PayPal Pool (and find non-PayPal contribution options) as we strive to raise the remainder of our initial six-month goal for AirGo Radio, Chi-Nations Youth Council, the TRiiBE, and Black and Pink’s Chicago chapter.
In non-UNREAL news, Meekling Press and I are official, so I want to make sure you know that our submissions are open for full-length manuscripts until February 28 and we’re excited to read your work! Find out more about what we do and what we’re looking for roundabouts here.
Last but not least, I’m working on some new stuff to get 2021 popping for the Chicago Review of Books (CHIRB), and I want to hear from you! I’m in the process of building our 2021 events calendar, and I’d love to hear from you if you’ve got an idea you want to work on with us—author conversations for upcoming works, panels for online fests, dynamic and experimental presentations of prose and poetry, media sponsorship, the whole shebang! I also want to know about local DIY, small/micro press, and self-published works that could use a review! You can contact me at: my first name dot my last name at gmail dot com.
Better website design soon,
Chelsea