Stories Matter Foundation presents the 11th Annual CHIRBy Awards, a ceremony honoring the “literary gold” writers of Chicago.

Together with the Chicago Review of Books, we’re honored to co-host these awards
in the Fine Arts Building on December 3rd, 2026 6:30pm – 8:30pm CT. We’re thrilled to partner with Exile in Bookville for this event.

RESERVE YOUR TICKET & DONATE TO CHIRB HERE

Tickets are free but a donation of $10 is suggested. All donations from the evening will go to support the Chicago Review of Books. 

Stories Matter Foundation is the parent organization of StoryStudio Chicago, the Chicago Review of Books, and Chicago Stories Project.

THE NOMINEES FOR THE FICTION CATEGORY ARE:

  • Tenderness by Rowan Beaird
  • Kaplan’s Plot by Jason Diamond
  • The Hitch by Sara Levine
  • Every Exit Brings You Home by Naeem Murr
  • It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo
  • Man Overboard! by Kathleen Rooney
  • Majestic Hills by Dawn Turner

THE NOMINEES FOR THE POETRY CATEGORY ARE:

  • E by Noa Micaela Fields
  • The Bronze Arms by Richie Hoffmann
  • Be Easy by Adrian Matejka
  • Bisquick: An American Seance by C. Russell Price
  • Orange by Noel Quiñones

THE NOMINEES FOR THE NONFICTION CATEGORY ARE:

  • No Stars in Jefferson Park by Maggie Andersen
  • Body Weather: Notes on Chronic Illness in the Anthropocene by Lorraine Boissoneault
  • Great Lake: An Unnatural History of Lake Michigan by Theodore J Karamanski
  • Partially Devoured: How Night of the Living Dead Saved My Life and Changed the World by Daniel Kraus
  • Fire and Clay: How Bricks Reveal the Hidden History of Chicago by Will Quam

THE NOMINEES FOR THE STORY OR ESSAY CATEGORY ARE:

  • “The Case for a Parking Revolt” by Tal Rosenberg in Chicago Magazine
  • “The last days of Legion Park, before the city swept it” by Katie Prout in Chicago Reader
  • “Inside the Chicago Courier Classic, bike messenger culture refuses to die” by Andrew Stojkovich in Chicago Reader
  • “Chicago Under Siege: How Operation Midway Blitz Changed Our City” by Francia García Hernández, Madison Savedra, and Block Club Chicago Staff in Block Club Chicago
  • “Chicago, ICE, and the Lie of the American Pastoral” by Lauren Michele Jackson in The New Yorker

Books are eligible for the prize based on the following criteria.
Eligibility: 
– Titles published between September 1, 2025 & September 1, 2026
– Titles that were written by authors living in the Chicagoland area and/or titles in which Chicago plays a prominent role in setting, theme, or subject matter
– All titles are considered without need for submission by an author or publisher

Adam Morgan Literary Leadership Award

Named after the Chicago Review of Books‘ founder, Adam Morgan, the Adam Morgan Literary Leadership Award is given to a person who has made outstanding contributions to Chicago’s literary scene. This year’s award will be announced soon! Read more about last year’s winner, Samira Ahmed, at the Chicago Review of Books.