Wow, hard to believe, but after two years of working on the plans for this arts center, our live-event schedule finally begins in a mere two and a half weeks. Yikes, I'm nervous! And that's because we still have a lot to do before the first event happens, including finding venues for our three ongoing shows. Want to help? Got a place in mind? Here's how the month of September is looking, for those who are interested...
--To start, on Friday September 15th will be the first CCLaP Session, in this case featuring Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn. This was formerly scheduled to be held at a coffeehouse in the Uptown neighborhood, owned by the boss of my last day job; but he and I have ended up having a falling-out, so now we're back to having no venue. (It's this previous day job, in fact, that has ended up causing all these problems with CCLaP in the first place; namely, that I ended up putting in over 420 work hours at it in two months, leaving me with just absolutely no time at all this summer to work on these final details.)
--Then on Thursay, September 21st will be the first of our CCLaP Showcases; three to five mid-level writers, many with their own books and zines, each reading on a common subject picked in advance. And yes, once again, we currently have no venue associated with this show.
--And then on Monday, September 25th, comes the date that I know many of you are looking forward to -- the first CCLaP Slam and open mic. And no, we don't have a venue for this yet either!
After this, then, CCLaP settles down into its regular schedule; the Slam every Monday, the Showcases the third Thursday of each month, the Sessions the second Friday of each month. Anyway, that's the latest; and if any of you either own or work at a venue in Chicago that would be interested in sponsoring one of these shows, or simply know of a cool place that you think will likely say yes, by all means please let us know. By all means let us know!