This Monday, Nov. 14th, the English Department and the Visiting Writers Program are hosting a very special event. At 6 p.m. in the new DePaul Art Museum, join Prof. Miles Harvey for a conversation with writers Richard Cahan and Michael Williams, the founders of CityFiles Press.

Frustrated by the creative constraints of working with traditional publishers, Cahan and Williams founded CityFiles Press in 2005.  Their wildly ambitious and stunningly beautiful books include the brand new The Lost Panoramas: When Chicago Changed its River and the Land Beyond, a collection of photographs of Chicago and its surroundings from 1894- 1928, many of which have never been seen before. The Lost Panoramas uses 21,834 of these photographs to tell the story of Chicago before, during, and after the reversal of the Chicago River.

Booklist has just given The Lost Panoramas a starred review, calling it

(T)he latest volume of discovery from Williams and Cahan, the eloquent archival sleuthing duo…Williams and Cahan profile the players, elucidate the technological innovations, track the politics, and document the beneficial and catastrophic consequences of this massive and hubristic tinkering with nature.

This short video tells the fascinating story behind the book–which is based on a century-old cache of 22,000 glass-plate negatives– and gives a look at some of the photographs published in The Lost Panoramas.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/31212403]

For those interested in seeing Cahan and Williams’ work first hand before the event, Prof. Harvey has generously agreed to leave his own copy of The Lost Panoramas at the front desk of the English Department, along with Cahan and Williams’ previous work, Edgar Miller and the Handmade House.

We hope you can make it to what is sure to be a fascinating look at the publishing industry through the unique perspective of Cahan and Williams and CityFiles Press.