Morgan Campbell at Printers Row Lit Fest 2026: An Important Update

A few weeks ago I announced that I was confirmed for the 2026 Printers Row Lit Fest, and that My Fighting Family and I were finally coming back to Chicago. Today marks the one-month countdown to my appearance, and now I have precise info on the time, location and the TV broadcast of my presentation.

Wait, TV broadcast?

Yes, TV broadcast. Bookmark that thought, because I’ll return to it later. But for now, please note the following details and update you calendar apps accordingly.

I’m on at 3pm on Sunday, Sept. 13, on the Digital Reality Stage (Polk St. at Plymouth Ct.), presenting alongside Ed Taylor, a University of Washington professor, and the author of The Power of The River. Session moderator is Evan F. Moore, the veteran Chicago journalist and the unofficial mayor of South Shore. He’s so South Shore that Carlo Rotella, that absolute treasure of a Chicago author, name-checks him in the acknowledgements section of his masterpiece on the neighborhood, The World is Always Coming to An End. Evan was also the first journo to publish an article about my memoir back when the hardcover hit stores back in 2024, so this is the fullest of full-circle moments.

We’re on stage for an hour, but I’m aiming to show up early and stick around afterward for old friends who want to catch up, new contacts who want to schmooze, and people who need their books signed. For me, it’s fun and it’s good business. I sell more books in an hour at an author talk than I do in a month in the wild.

And for you, a signed copy of My Fighting Family is your bonus for showing up when you could just watch on TV.

Yes, TV, because, according to the schedule organizers just sent me, C-SPAN will have their cameras trained on the Digital Reality stage all day. So when Eve L. Ewing, author of Ghosts in The Schoolyard and Original Sins, hits the stage at noon, you can watch her on C-SPAN, though I recommend you check out her presentation in person.

And when fellow Canadian, Omar El Akkad, author of the must-read One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, you can see him, too. Just leave the TV on C-SPAN after watch me, assuming you can’t make it to Printers Row in person, which is the best option for all of us.

Now, yes, I understand we’re up against the first full Sunday of the 2026 NFL season, in a city where folks are hooked on football. Bears-Panthers should wrap up around 3:20 central — overlapping the first portion of our author talk — with the next slate of games kicking off minutes later. If you’re at home you can put us on a secondary device till 3:30, and I won’t judge you for it. My memoir includes an entire chapter about my family’s collective addiction to Chicago Bears games so I understand if you can’t quit them, especially on the season’s first Sunday.

But let me suggest a solution: watch the first half on your tablet or phone, then promote us to your main screen at 3:30. The afternoon games are all skippable anyway. No self-respecting Bears fan would build a Sunday around Packers-Vikings, and I promise will be more fun than Cardinals-Chargers.

That’s if you can’t make it to Printers Row in person. I’d prefer it if you showed up, though.

I can’t sign your book through the TV.

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