Happy Birthday, Tom Robbins!

July 23, 2015

Yesterday marked the 83rd birthday of outlaw novelist-poet Tom Robbins, and in lieu of cake and candles, we’re celebrating with this candid animated interview courtesy of Blank on Blank.  Originally recorded in 1994, the rascally Robbins talks at length about the quirks of his creative approach including how “a raven quill dipped in lizard blood” […]


Local Art @ EPL

June 11, 2015

We are thrilled to introduce local photographer Dale Wickum as the next featured artist in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL.  His show – Following the Tracks – is currently on display on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Library where you can catch it through June 30th.  Documenting a trio of railroad journeys […]


Poetry 365

May 29, 2015

This month for Poetry 365 we’re highlighting Erin Belieu’s savvy new volume Slant Six.  Crisp and conversational, this fourth collection from the LA Times Book Prize finalist explores “politics, pop culture, and parenthood” while reflecting on “our collective moments of hypocrisy and hope” in contemporary America.  Favorably compared to the work of Frank O’Hara and Tony […]


An Interview with Ed Ravine

May 21, 2015

Edward Ravine is a practicing psychotherapist, local painter, and the next featured artist in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL.  His show – Live Life Like a River – is currently on display on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Library where you can catch it through May 31st.  Representing 15 years of […]


Local Art @ EPL

May 7, 2015

We are happy to introduce local painter and psychotherapist Edward Ravine as the next featured artist in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL.  His show – Live Life Like a River – is currently on display on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Library where you can catch it through May 31st.  Representing […]


Goodbye, National Poetry Month!

April 30, 2015

Time sure flies when you’re having fun.  It’s hard to believe another National Poetry Month is already drawing to a close, but for one last hurrah, don’t miss this great mini-film adaptation of W.S. Merwin’s poem “Antique Sound.”  Enjoy, and make sure to keep coming back to Off the Shelf for Poetry 365 – a great […]


National Poetry Month: April 30th

April 30, 2015

To the Break of Dawn by Michael Robbins I wandered lonely as Jay-Z after the Fat Boys called it quits, before the rapper from Mobb Deep met up with the Alchemist. I wandered lonely all along The Watchtower’s office front in Dumbo, then across the bridge that tempts the bedlamite to song. From here you […]


National Poetry Month: April 29th

April 29, 2015

Your Laughter by Pablo Neruda Take bread away from me, if you wish, take air away, but do not take from me your laughter. Do not take away the rose, the lance flower that you pluck, the water that suddenly bursts forth in joy, the sudden wave of silver born in you.


An Interview with Lynn Torbeck

April 28, 2015

Lynn Torbeck is a retired Evanston statistician and the latest featured artist in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL.  His show – Art in Science – is currently on display on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Library where you can catch it through April 30th.  Intrigued by Piet Mondrian and inspired by […]


National Poetry Month: April 28th

April 28, 2015

The Missing Person by Donald Justice He has come to report himself A missing person. The authorities Hand him the forms. He knows how they have waited With the learned patience of barbers In small shops, idle, Stropping their razors.


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