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Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor on End Times Fascism
Past event
Featured Book
Chicano Camera Culture
Examines the depth and evolution of Chicana/o/x lens-based image-making
Published to accompany a major exhibition of the same title, this volume surveys some 150 works by nearly fifty US Chicana/o/x artists. It moves thematically and intergenerationally, spanning from early activist photographers shooting in the 1960s and ’70s to contemporary artists of subsequent generations, whose work builds on this powerful legacy. The exhibition was organized by the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in 2026 and curated by Elizabeth Ferrer, the leading scholar of Latinx photography in the United States.
Spanning the 1960s to the present day, Chicano Camera Culture is the first publication to survey the entire history of photography by Chicano artists based throughout the United States. The generously illustrated book includes original scholarship from such leading scholars as Elizabeth Ferrer, Jennifer A. González, Deanna Ledezma, Nicole F. Scalissi, Mary Thomas, and Charlene Villaseñor Black. Their essays underscore the significant, historically overlooked role that Chicano photographers have played in advancing aesthetic and technical innovations in the photographic medium. The book also reveals the priority that photographers have placed on portraiture, on the representation of self and others as a means of conveying individual and collective identities.
This book will be available for purchase at the event.
About This Event
A new iteration of the far right is on the rise. Award-winning authors and organizers Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor join us to share a dangerous development they’ve identified: Christian nationalists, tech-bro reactionaries, and populist survivalists are united in their apocalyptic belief that some kind of cleansing cataclysm is coming. And, rather than avoiding this conflagration, they welcome it. Klein and Taylor will provide a recipe for how to fight back, because most of us desperately want a future we can believe in — and leaders who believe in us.
This event is generously underwritten by Ellen Stone Belic.
We are pleased to partner with the Seminary Co-op Bookstores, the country’s first not-for-profit bookstore.
Pre-order End Times Fascism through the Chicago Humanities box office and save up to 20% while supporting local, independent bookselling. Add books to your cart when adding tickets. Your PDF ticket will contain a book voucher, which you show to the bookseller on-site to pick up your book(s).
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Featured Authors
Elizabeth Ferrer
Elizabeth Ferrer is a New York-based curator and writer, and one of the nation's leading scholars of Latinx photography. Ferrer is the author of Latinx Photography in the United States: A Visual History, the first comprehensive survey of the field, as well as of a monograph on the Chicano photographer Louis Carlos Bernal, named as one of the best art books of the year in 2024 by The New York Times.
Astra Taylor
Astra Taylor is an award-winning writer, activist, and documentarian, and a co-founder of the Debt Collective. She is the author of The People’s Platform, which won the American Book Award; Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone; and The Age of Insecurity. Taylor regularly writes for publications including The New Yorker and The New York Times. Taylor toured with the band Neutral Milk Hotel and was the 2023 CBC Massey Lecturer.
In Conversation With
Kat Abughazaleh
Kat Abughazaleh is a Palestinian-American researcher, journalist, and former congressional candidate trying to make politics suck less. Formed after her close election loss, Abughazaleh's organization Kapow works to integrate mutual aid and direct action into electoral politics by using campaign resources to help people rather than manipulate them. Abughazaleh lives in Chicago with her partner, Ben, and their two cats, Heater and Dragon. She hates ICE, Flock, and genocide, but finds joy in her loving family, mediocre knitting, and space operas.
About the Venue
First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple
Presented by Chicago Humanities
Presented with Seminary Co-Op Bookstore
The Loop
77 W Washington St
Chicago, IL 60602
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NaNo 2.0
Ready to Write Your Novel? Say hello to NaNo 2.0—a community-led endeavor that’s keeping the spirit of National Novel Writing Month alive. The goal? Write 50,000 words over the course of November or you can pick any writing project for the month that feels exciting to you! At the Seminary Co-Op Bookstores, we want to support our writerly community by hosting NaNo Drop-ins on November 2, 9, 16, and 30 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the Seminary Co-Op (5751 S Woodlawn Ave). Seminary Co-op Board Member Holly Smith (MA Writing) will be at each drop-in and available to be a sounding board for anything that has you stuck. If you want to buy books at a NaNo Drop-in, you will just have to do so before 6pm. Please send any questions about the event to events@semcoop.com. We hope to see you there!
Frances Ferguson - "Records of Reward: Essays on Literature and Value" - Heather Keenleyside
Frances Ferguson will discuss Records of Reward: Essays on Literature and Value. She will be joined in conversation by Heather Keenleyside. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion.
A Conversation with John Scalzi!
Join us for a conversation and book signing with New York Times Bestselling Science Fiction author John Scalzi! We are so excited to welcome beloved Science Fiction author John Scalzi to the Co-op! John will discuss his newest novel MONSTERS OF OHIO. A Q&A and book signing will follow the conversation. About the Book: Welcome to Richland, Ohio. Things aren't great. The town’s biggest employer is closing shop, and Richland's on the brink. It's where Mike Boyd, with his own set of problems, finds himself returning to after decades away. He's not planning to stay. But Richland has other plans for Mike, his old friend Dave, and a newcomer Andi. They're caught in a swirl of local troubles, private equity, executive theft… and something extremely weird involving Jeremy Keller’s prize cow. Welcome to Richland. Leave your expectations behind. Bring a tarp. About John Scalzi: JOHN SCALZI is one of the most popular science fiction authors of his generation. His debut, Old Man's War, won him the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include The Last Colony, Fuzzy Nation, Redshirts (which won the Hugo Award for Best Novel), The Last Emperox, The Kaiju Preservation Society, Starter Villain, When the Moon Hits Your Eye, and The Shattering Peace. Material from his blog, Whatever, has earned him two other Hugo Awards. He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter. Helpful information: *There is street parking only. There is a parking lot next door to our store but it is NOT ours and we cannot guarantee that you will not be towed. *You may start lining up at 6pm. Doors will open at 6:30pm. *Refund requests will not be accepted after 3pm, 11/04! *If you have a free general admission ticket, you MUST purchase the book at the event to enter the signing line. *Limited seating is available on a first come first serve basis. There will be standing room only once seating is full. If you do require seating, please email mgmt@semcoop.com to reserve a seat. *Additional copies of the book and backlist will be available for purchase at the store during the event.