From Gwendolyn Brooks in Chicago to David Foster Wallace in Normal, Robert Coover in Herrin to Edgar Lee Masters on the Spoon River, the state is a microcosm of America and so is its native literature. Here are 10 of its best works. Read more
Robert Forster's tough-guy long vowels got him typecast as a cop, like Chicagoans Dennis Farina and Dennis Franz. But Forster is from upstate New York. So what gives? Read more
Appointing replacement legislators takes the decision out of the hands of voters, but it also gives underdogs an advantage they wouldn't have in an expensive special election. Read more
Judas and the Black Messiah doesn't just track the betrayal of the Black Panther, but the birth of a coalition that elected Mayor Harold Washington and our 44th President. Read more
Mike Simmons made headlines for his upset appointment over Rep. Kelly Cassidy. Lost in the scuttlebutt: Springfield's never seen anything like him before. Read more
Ousting him as House speaker is just the beginning of the party's renovation. Next up: ditching him and his outdated tactics from the chairmanship. Read more
More people left our state than any other in the 2010s. Part of the problem: Unlike elsewhere, there's been no urban growth to offset rural decline. Read more
Two weeks into a new term, State Sen. Heather Steans is retiring, leaving political allies to pick her replacement. On the Far North Side, that’s simply how it’s done. Read more
The Netflix adaptation (and August Wilson's original play) track Rainey's abuse at the hands of a white recording industry. But there was also a go-between: J. Mayo Williams, a Chicago talent scout and Paramount's first Black A&R rep. Read more
