After spending years behind bars, hundreds of men and women with incontrovertible proof of their innocence—including 120 from death row—have been released from America’s prisons. The thirteen men and women portrayed in SURVIVING JUSTICE, and the hundreds of others who have been exonerated, are the tip of the iceberg. There are countless others who are in prison today for crimes they did not commit. These are the stories of some of the wrongfully convicted, who have managed to prove their innocence..

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor (Pillar of Fire) Branch will read from and sign the third and final installment in his ground-breaking biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.—AT CANAAN’S EDGE: America in the King Years, 1965-68. This event will be held at the Harold Washington Library Center, Pritzker Auditorium. Call 312.747.4050 for more information.

Janis Kearney is a lecturer and oral historian who served as personal diarist to President Clinton. COTTON FIELD OF DREAMS paints a vivid picture of role of women and family in the Delta, and memorializes her parents, who taught their 17 children that nothing was too far out of reach if they put their minds and hearts into it. It is about the hard lessons learned from under-educated but wise parents whose greatest gift was giving their children permission to dream.

Anthony Rapp’s first audition for the workshop production of Rent began a journey that would take him all the way to Broadway as the star of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning musical, experiencing tragedy, loss and enlightenment along the way. WITHOUT YOU is his account of his exhilarating ride with the cast and crew of Rent, as well as his life behind the curtain.

Rescheduled from last month. Come to Barbara’s and here the many voices of the future. Columbia College is bringing high school students from all parts of Chicagoland to Barbara’s and giving them a chance to open their mouths and tell their stories. If you are, or know, an aspiring young writer, or if you are interested in what the next generation has to say, join us for an evening that could be anything, except dull.

The eldest daughter of Al and Tipper Gore, Karenna Gore Schiff, joins us at Barbara’s UIC to read from and sign LIGHTING THE WAY: Nine Women who Changed Modern America. This is both an intimate and accessible account of nine trail-blazing women who deserve not only to be honored, but to have their examples serve as a guiding light for the activists and leaders of tomorrow. Call 312.413.2665 for information.

UNCONDITIONAL: A Collection of Inspirational Stories, With Poems by Melanie White and Shonda Rowe, came out of writer Nycki Whiting’s experiences and challenges while working on her Stone Trilogy. The raw emotions of those humbling experiences motivated her to write this collection of inspirational, thought-provoking stories that take the reader on a journey to a crossroads, where they will be inspired to love unconditionally.

Obsessed by a young Romanian guy in cheap platform shoes and being driven mad by translating Celine Dion’s autobiography, Bruce Benderson discovers an uncanny similarity between his own fixation and the disastrous love affair of the last king of Romania. Benderson’s Prix de Flore winning memoir, THE ROMANIAN: The Story of an Obsession, is the codeine fueled story of a man whose belief in perfect romance cannot be stopped, even when being chased down by wild dogs.