Newcity has just released it’s annual list of movers and shakers in the Chicago literary scene, the “Newcity Lit 50.” We were pleased to note four of our authors and one of our book designers have made the list.

Topping the Newcity list is none other than Roger Ebert who has published several books with the Press: Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert, Scorsese by Ebert, and forthcoming in October of this year, Great Movies III—Ebert’s third collection of essays on the crème de la crème of the silver screen.



Chicago author Stuart Dybek also made the top ten. Born and raised on the southwest side of Chicago Dybek is the author of several works of fiction and poetry inspired by his life in the Windy City. Some of his works include I Sailed with Magellan, The Coast of Chicago, Brass Knuckles, and Childhood and Other Neighborhoods, the last of which was acquired by the press in 2003.



Another of our authors whose work is propelled by his trenchant observations of day to day life in the city of Chicago, poet Reginald Gibbons also made Newcity‘s list. In his latest book from the Press, Slow Trains Overhead: Chicago Poems and Stories, Gibbons embraces a striking variety of human experience—a chance encounter with a veteran on Belmont Avenue, the grimy majesty of the downtown El tracks, domestic violence in a North Side brownstone, the wide-eyed wonder of new arrivals at O’Hare, and much more—to celebrate the heady mix of elation and despair that is city life.



We were pleased to also note Carol Fisher Saller’s name on the list. As Newcity notes, Saller—the University of Chicago Press copy editor who imparts her unparalleled knowledge of style and grammar in her monthly posts to the Chicago Manual of Style Q&A, as well as in her recent book The Subversive Copy Editor: Advice from Chicago (or, How to Negotiate Good Relationships with Your Writers, Your Colleagues, and Yourself)—is the authority on all things stylistic.



And though you can’t judge a book by its cover, Press book designer Isaac Tobin’s work might just make you want to pick up a book for the cover alone. As Newcity notes, Tobin’s work has garnered accolades from the Art Directors Club, the Association of American University Presses, and The Type Director’s Club, and his book jackets included in AIGA 50/50 and the Print Magazine Regional Annual. There’s a small sample of his work above but you can also check out some of his work featured on the book blog the Casual Optimist or on his website.
Congrats!