Admirers of the great American novel have a treat in store, as the first museum devoted to US writers opened in Chicago in mid-May.
Seven years in the making, the $5m American Writers Museum (adult $12, child free, open Tues-Sun) offers an entertaining and sometimes surprising tour through the whole tradition, from early colonists to modernists such as Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams. Along the way visitors can learn about their rackety lives and wonderful words, and just how the US has seen itself over the years.
“This country was founded on the written word,” says museum president Carey Cranston. “From the Declaration of Independence and the constitution onwards, our whole history has been wrapped up in the power of written words. We want to celebrate that and make people understand what writing can do for them.”
The museum is on the second floor of an art deco skyscraper on Michigan Avenue, opposite Millennium Park with its cultural landmarks – the mirrored Bean sculpture by Anish Kapoor, outdoor arena by Frank Gehry and vast Art Institute of Chicago. Inside, it’s a purpose-built circuit of rooms featuring graphic displays and interactive activities.
The key exhibit is A Nation of Writers, a wall-length exploration of 100 authors going back to 1490. Facing it is the Surprise Bookshelf of less-literary wordsmiths, such as lyricists and journalists. Further on is a space for temporary exhibitions, starting with Jack Kerouac and his coast-to-coast road trip that became On The Road. The 37-metre-long paper roll on which it was typed, in a three-week frenzy of words and drugs, is here.
Visitors are encouraged to join in digital literary games and communal writing projects. A huge interactive map allows Americans to discover writers in their home states, and affiliate museums offer the chance to visit authors’ homes, from Robert Frost’s farm in New Hampshire to Mark Twain’s shack in Missouri.
One such shrine, on the edge of Chicago, is the Hemingway Birthplace in Oak Park. The clapboard villa with wraparound porch is a genteel Victorian home, crammed with dark furniture and family photos. When Ernest Hemingway was born, in 1899, it bordered open prairie. Perhaps it was the fresh air and wide spaces that led him to a lifetime of adventure. Just across the road in this now elegant suburb is the Hemingway Museum, exploring his life and work in fascinating detail.
For bibliophiles, a good time to visit Chicago is the annual Printers Row Festival in June, when the old printing district hosts author readings and events. And on Sunday nights the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge hosts the famous Uptown Poetry Slam. There, in the 1940s splendour of Al Capone’s favourite jazz club, fans can see for themselves how the US’s literary tradition continues to evolve.
• The trip was provided by Choose Chicago and Aer Lingus, which flies twice daily to Chicago via Dublin from £279 one way
