CliffsNotes is soo twentieth century, and the young literati, especially its upstarts, know it. Two University of Chicago freshmen have just signed a book deal with Penguin to translate 75 classic literary works as “Twitterature,” reports the Chicago Tribune. Alex Aciman and Emmett Rensin, both 19, are rewriting classics by Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Dante and other greats in 20 or fewer 140-character tweets.

“Imagine if Achilles had a Twitter account and an iPhone, and he was telling his story in real time,” Aciman said. “That’s what this book is going to be like.”

Rensin added, “It’s like [CliffsNotes], but funnier—it reflects the narcissistic nature of Twitter.”

Awh, he said “narcissistic,” how cute. Don’t mind me, I’m just jealous; it’s hilarious, and it actually sounds like an incredibly fun project, combining synopsis and fresh interpretation with aspects of translation, full of possibilities for prose-poem-esque brilliance. Will Twitterature dominate literature? I think not. It would be a great gift to give someone 75 books all in one, but only once.

Speaking of the tweeting world, Literago is launching Twiterago (by the way, we totally came up with that before Twitterature! And ours only has one ‘t’ in the middle–classier, eh?) to keep you up to date on as many lit events as we can twit. Look for Twiterago on, well, you know where.

Who: Reading Under the Influence (RUI)
What: FREE event featuring Patrick Somerville and Jonathan Messinger
Where: Sheffield’s, 3258 N. Sheffield Ave.
When: Wednesday, July 1, 7:30 pm

Which U.S. president had little formal education though he loved to read (and reportedly was willing to walk miles to borrow a book)? Brush up on your presidential trivia - RUI’s theme for this month is Abraham Lincoln. This FREE July installment of RUI features Patrick Somerville, author of The Cradle;  Featherproof Books founder, author, and book review editor for Time Out Chicago, Jonathan Messinger; as well as RUI’s own Jesse Jordan and Rob Duffer. New to RUI? Watch a video or read a Gapers Block description about this 4-year old alcohol-soaked Chicago reading series. I’m betting the contents of this book get a mention at least once in between shots.

Yo, peoples! Ron Offen, editor of Free Lunch, is trying to contact published poets who once attended or graduated from Wright College, located on Chicago’s northwest side. Please contact Ron at poetsfl@gmail.com if you’re one of those people. Over and out.

Today’s New York Observer reports that The Baffler will resume biannual publication thanks to a new publisher, semi-recent Northwestern grad Conor O’Neil (who doesn’t seem to be in my Facebook network — who is this guy?).

The  lineup for the next issue is awesome: “Hermenaut founder Joshua Glenn, n+1 editor Mark Greif, BookForum editor Chris Lehmann, University of Illinois at Chicago professor and cultural critic Walter Benn Michaels, Zizek! director Astra Taylor and freelancers Christine Smallwood and Moe Tkacik.

Is this more or less exciting than the rumored Pavement reunion? It’s not for me to say. All I know is that reading The Baffler is like having a series of tantric orgasams while eating pastry atop a fluffy white cloud looking out over a lovely mountain vista. I’m thrilled we get to share in that experience together twice a year for the forseeable future. Aren’t you?

Date: Sunday, June 28th

Time: 1pm ($8)

Location: The Hideout

Corn AND readings? We’re in. Eat some ‘cue to celebrate the start of The Dollar Store’s national tour (which I’m so so so excited to host in Boston).

Who: Never Too Old: A YA book club for adults
What: Discussion of Judy Blume’s Forever
Where: The Book Cellar, 4736-38 N. Lincoln
When: Wednesday, June 24 at 8pm

The first time I was involved in a discussion of Judy Blume’s Forever was at a sixth grade slumber party at my best friend Lisa’s house.  Wrapped in sleeping bags, we huddled in darkness on the astroturf floor of Lisa’s enclosed porch as Wendy, who was somehow more worldly than the rest of us, recounted the relevant details of Katherine & Michael’s relationship.  I didn’t actually read the book myself until much later, and the memories of Wendy’s risqué narration clashed a bit with the parts she left out: the realistic portrayal of the emotional issues surrounding first love and teenage sexuality.

Never Too Old, the Book Cellar’s club for young-adult fiction lovers, will be discussing the frequently censored Forever on Wednesday night.  Times have changed, and newer editons of the book include a forward addressing the dangers of AIDS (and an updated cover, of course). But almost 35 years after publication, the book still shows up on lists of frequently challenged books.  Throughout all the censure and criticism over the years, however, Blume has only apologized to one special group with regard to Forever: men named Ralph.

above: Printer's Row 2008 at the Museum of Contemporary Art

Printer’s Ball 2009 is coming! The fifth celebration of print literature will be hosted by Columbia College and the Center for Book & Paper Arts in the historic Ludington Building, former home to the American Book Company. Poetry magazine has opened the event to organizations outside of Chicago. Tomorrow, June 24, is the deadline for organizations wishing to showcase their print materials. If your organization wants to get involved, it’s time to send the following information:

• Name of your publication or organization and corresponding URL
• A 20- to 50-word mission statement
• Contact person (full name and e-mail)

E-mail to fsasaki@poetryfoundation.org

If you’re an individual wishing to attend: relax. You’ve got over a month to make plans.

But here’s the event information anyway:

The Printers’ Ball
Friday, July 31, 2009
5pm to 11pm
1104 South Wabash Avenue
Chicago
Free to Attend!

According to an article in today’s Tribune, a group of parents wants to ban Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian from Antioch H.S.’s reading list.

A group of concerned parents object to the book’s graphic language, including fascist supermom Jennifer Anderson, who has deemed the book too vulgar for her 14 year-old son: “Anderson said she would like to make this a national conversation about placing warning labels on books. ‘We rate movies and put warnings on music and TV,’ she said. ‘What about books? There is no warning whatsoever if there is vulgar language in a book.’”

My second reccomendation to Ms. Anderson, right after “get bent,” is to go out and rent “This Film is Not Yet Rated.” There’s my contribution to her proposed dialogue. Stuff it, lady. You’re giving soccer moms a bad name.

John Whitehurst, Chariman of the Antioch H.S. English department, can hold his own quite nicely, though: “(Anderson’s argument) is like saying that because Romeo and Juliet committed teen suicide, we condone teen suicide,’ Whitehurst said. ‘Kids know the difference. Like it or not, that is the way 14-year-old boys talk to each other.’”

This April 30 event was billed as a “What’s New & What’s Next” discussion at Maxim’s in the Gold Coast. Presented by the new Department of Literary Arts & Events (within the Department of Cultural Affairs), it featured speakers Garrett Kiely (University of Chicago Press), Rick Kogan (Chicago Tribune), and Donna Seaman (Booklist & Chicago Public Radio).  Pics aren’t superb–I was trying not to interrupt the lecture with a blinding flash!–but this gives you a good idea about the crowd. For more,  check out our earlier post in re: the WBEZ interview with Danielle Chapman, the new Director of Publishing Industry Programs at the Department of Literary Arts and Events.

Danielle Chapman (Dept. of Cultural Affairs), Jonathan Messinger (everything), Ivan R. Dee (Ivan R. Dee), Doug Seibold (Agate) and Garrett Kiely (U Chicago Press) were interviewed at Printer’s Row Lit Fest for this piece on WBEZ this morning.

Kiely and Seibold feel the Chicago publishing scene is isolated and overlooked. Chapman is optimistic as ever, citing our city’s toughness and grit as an ideal breeding ground for a new regime of small, fleet independent publishers. Dee is blunt: ”This is not a civic enterprise. I’m all for the city making a little to-do about it, but finally, it comes down to a pretty individualized sort of business.”

I, for one, am encouraged that WBEZ is bringing this dialogue to their many listeners and grateful to everyone interviewed for being so on point. Listen for yourselves!