Spudnik Press Cooperative is thrilled to announce the 10th annual Printers Ball: Chatter. For the second year, the annual celebration of literary culture and printmaking will be held at the Hubbard Street Lofts, 1821 W. Hubbard Street, Chicago.  Slated forSaturday, June 28 and offering a robust schedule of performances, live printmaking demos, exhibitions, and food and drink tastings, this year’s festivities will run from 4 – 9 p.m., and include outdoor entertainment with DJ-ing by Odd Obsession and a beer garden hosted by Maria’s Packaged Goods.The history of Printers Ball is quintessentially Chicagoan. Founded in 2004 by Fred Sasaki, Poetry magazine’s Art Director, the first Printers Ball was held at the now-shuttered HotHouse. In the ensuing decade, the event has taken up residence in various venues throughout Chicago, including the Double Door, the Zhou B Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and Columbia College Chicago. Along the way, it has grown from a local celebration to an event with presenters from all over the United States and drawing thousands of attendees from across the city and beyond. Beginning in 2013, Spudnik Press Cooperative took the organizational reins, curating an event uniquely informed by printmakers and poets and returning the event to West Town, one of Chicago’s most artistically vibrant neighborhoods.

The 2014 programming is inspired by “Chatter,” a term that printmakers know as the ink debris surrounding an image. It’s also a sentiment rich in meaning to the layperson, signaling the verbal barrage and fragments that oscillate through social media and blogs, online magazines and texts. Printers Ball 2014: Chatter is the intersection of the timeless and the new. “This year’s event highlights the scope and quality of literary and arts programming that keep our city vibrant year round. By featuring a dozen local reading series in tandem with world-renown writers, printmakers, and designers, the 10th AnnualPrinters Ball pays homage to the energy and chatter of concurrent creative practices,” says Angee Lennard, Executive Director and Founder of Spudnik Press Cooperative. “This multiplicity of voices and viewpoints is what keeps the world of printmaking, poetry, and literature vigorously moving forward.”

As is tradition, magazines, literary organizations, and design studios—over 400—from across the country will provide a sampling magazines and ephemera for attendees to peruse. This year will feature a book exchange and opportunity for local writers to share and highlight their books during the festivities.

Curators of Printers Ball 2014: Chatter include Sarah Dodson, MAKE Magazine; Kevin Kilroy, Black Lodge Press; Chad Kouri, The Post Family; Angee Lennard, Luke Daly, Veronica Siehl, and Caroline Walp, Spudnik Press Cooperative; and Corrina Lesser,Chicago Humanities Festival. Design by Veronica Corzo-Duchardt of Winterbureau.