WICKER PARK — For a quarter of a century, Quimby's Bookstore in Wicker Park has provided readers and tourists with zines, comics, graphic novels, small press books and a place to meet creative Chicagoans.
From 7 to 9 p.m Thursday, a 25th anniversary birthday party at the store, 1854 W. North Ave., will kick off the weekend long Wicker Park and West Town Lit Fest, which will offer readings, workshops, talks and a book swap at various spots through Sunday.
Quimby's opened Sept. 15, 1991 on the southwest corner of Damen Avenue and Evergreen Street and moved to 1854 W. North Ave. in 1998.
The store's founder Steven Svymbersky, who now lives in Amsterdam but will be returning to Chicago for Thursday's party, sold the business to Eric Kirsammer, owner of Chicago Comics, in 1997.
Earlier this year, Kirsammer told the Tribune that rising rents forced the store out of its original location and while he has considered moving to a neighborhood in an earlier stage of gentrification, such as Humboldt Park or Pilsen, he worries that "we're pretty established now and people might not find us if we moved."
Liz Mason has been the manager of Quimby's for 15 of its 25 years.
On Tuesday, Mason said her favorite part of the job is opening the mail.
"It's like Christmas. We never know what we're getting," Mason said.
The store sells independently published zines on consignment and has worked with thousands of authors over the years who mail in their self-published works and share in the profits of any sales.
Along with Svymbersky, who will present a history of zines and underground comics and talk about the store's history, the "silver jubilee" on Thursday will offer a special Marz Community Brewing Quimby’s beer, an anniversary print by Chris Ware, copies of a printed store history, T-shirts and "more surprises," according to Quimby's Facebook page.
Thursday's event will kick off Wicker Park & West Town Lit Fest’s second year, which celebrates the neighborhoods’ literary-focused shops. Events around Wicker Park and West Town will include a story slam, book swap, workshops, author readings and signings and more. View the festival's full schedule here.
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