“I still clutch the sacred / scribbled long after the pages // wash out, little holes marring / the words. I look for the sun” – Bob Sykora, “Self Portrait as Utopian”
IF YOU LIVE IN CHICAGO, this special Monday update of the Shipwrecked Sailor Blog is for you. Specifically, if you’re in Rogers Park, or Edgewater, or Andersonville, or Uptown, or West Ridge (lol no one lives in West Ridge).
The first installment of The Lazy & Entitled Reading Series1 is Monday, June 16th. It will take place at 7 p.m.—doors a little earlier, readings starting at like 7:15 ish—at Rivers & Roads Cafe, located at 1259 W Devon Ave. Here’s a flier:
Some more about our readers:
Bob Sykora is the author of the collection Utopians in Love (Game Over Books 2025) and the chapbook I Was Talking About Love–You Are Talking About Geography (Nostrovia! 2016). A graduate of the UMass Boston MFA program, he teaches at community college, edits with Garden Party Collective, co-hosts The Line Break podcast, and curates the KC Poetry Calendar.
Adrian Sobol is a Polish immigrant / musician / poet. He is the author of the poetry collection The Life of the Party is Harder to Find Until You’re the Last One Around and HAIR SHIRT. He lives in Chicago and is the editor-in-chief of KICKING YOUR ASS.
Sandra Marchetti is the 2023 Winner of The Twin Bill Book Prize for Best Baseball Poetry Book of the Year. She is the author of three full-length collections of poetry, DIORAMA, from Stephen F. Austin State University Press (2025), Aisle 228 (SFASUP 2023), and Confluence (Sundress Publications 2015). Sandy is also the author of four chapbooks of poetry and lyric essays. Her poetry appears widely in Poet Lore, Blackbird, Ecotone, Southwest Review, Subtropics, and elsewhere. Sandra’s essays can be found at The Rumpus, Whiskey Island, Mid-American Review, Barrelhouse, Pleiades, and other venues. She is Poetry Editor Emerita at River Styx Magazine. Sandy earned an MFA in Creative Writing—Poetry from George Mason University and now serves as the Assistant Director of Academic Support at Harper College in Chicagoland.
Chris Corlew is a writer and musician living in Chicago. His work has appeared in Cotton Xenomorph, Moist Poetry Journal, Whisk(e)y Tit, The Rumen, Cracked.com, and elsewhere. With Bob Sykora, he co-hosts The Line Break, a podcast about poetry and basketball. With Brendan Johnson, he is 1/2 of Lazy & Entitled, the band that writes novels. His music can be found on Bandcamp.
Micah Mabey is a musician, writer, and performer. They are the co-creator, co-writer, co-director, and co-star of ABSOLUTELY, a Chicago-based absurdist, chaotic, talky comedy sketch show from writers, directors & merry-makers Micah Mabey & Brendan Johnson (not that one). ABSOLUTELY can be seen on Instagram. Their other work can be found on YouTube.
B & The Nothingness is The Devil’s Bastard. His albums i’m well, and yrself? and Satan Songs and Other Joyful Noise can be found on Bandcamp.
At the reading, Rivers & Roads espresso bar will be open. The event will also be BYOB with ID. Look, it’s gonna rip.
Brendan and I are beyond stoked for this. This kicks off Bob’s world tour in support of Utopians. Bob, Adrian, and Sandra will be selling books. We plan on many readings after this one, but none will be quite like this one.
Sorry you got an email (on a Monday, no less!),
Chris
- naming our thing “Lazy & Entitled” is really paying off whenever we have to name other stuff. ↩︎