In celebration of the written word, The American Writers Museum (AWM) held its annual benefit, OnWord, at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago. Complete with poems crafted for attendees on vintage typewriters by Poems While You Wait and the announcement of AWM’s newest initiative, Field Trip in a Box, the event championed the impact of traditional writing techniques while highlighting ways to preserve the art for generations to come.
The benefit drew leaders in storytelling, including Chicago broadcast couple Bill Kurtis and Donna La Pietra, esteemed poet Peter Kahan and bestselling author and journalist Susan Orlean. The event’s co-chairs, Jay and Robin Hammer, Amanda and John Rutledge, and Ally and Suzette Bulley led the event benefiting the only museum dedicated to the works of American writers.
The evening raised over $800,000 for the museum’s operations and honored writers with awards recognizing their influence among students, the media and literary industries. The scholarship winners of the annual John Estey Student Writing Competition, which awards $10,000 in scholarships and prizes annually, were also celebrated, with multiple winners from 3rd to 12th grade recognized for their achievements.
Donna LaPietra and Bill Kurtis
John Estey and Makayla Gholar
Malcolm O’Hagan enjoyed the evening’s program.
Peter Sagaland and Susan Orleans conversed on stage.
Board trustee Brenda Grusecki addressed the OnWord crowd.
Leigh, Doug, Ben and Christina Conant with Robert Chang
Photography by: KYLE FLUBACKER
