In-person Book Launch: THE TIME WE HAVE by Michele Weldon

Please join us in welcoming Michele Weldon to celebrate her new essay collection, The Time We Have: Essays on Pandemic Living. For this event, Michele will be joined in conversation by Arlene Malinowski.

Please note: This event is free to attend, but we ask that you register! By registering for this event, you agree to abide by W&CF's Covid-19 policies, including wearing a mask throughout the duration of the event.

A candid and cathartic exploration of pandemic life, from family to pop culture to healthcare—and beyond
At a time when so many are dealing with collective and personal grief, award-winning author and journalist Michele Weldon’s new collection of essays navigates the revelatory and upending nature of this extraordinary pandemic era through a lens of love and connection. Weldon explores pain and pleasure alike with emotional texture, empathy, wisdom, vulnerability, and humor. She interrogates moments of joy, despair, and triumph, offering readers the possibility for a richly cathartic experience. With honesty and agility, Weldon creates poignant intersections of her narrative with popular culture, history, media, news, consumerism, family traditions, and healthcare. Employing honest and daring language, Weldon examines the concepts of safety, importance of beloved objects, power of words, shift to remote relationships, concepts of feminism, betrayal of public lies, and more. Ultimately, with grace and heart, Weldon offers in these essays useful pathways toward framing this swath of time so that we might arrive at a sense of understanding, belonging, and peace with our new realities.

Michele Weldon is a journalist and author of six award-winning nonfiction books and chapters in seven anthologies and is emerita faculty at Northwestern University’s Medill School for Journalism, Media & Integrated Marketing Communication. Her work has appeared in CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, MSNBC, TIME, NBC Think, Slate, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Narratively, and more. She is a senior leader with The OpEd Project, a TEDx speaker, and a live storyteller.

Arlene Malinowski is a writer, actor and teaching artist. Arlene views her solo work as an extension of the social justice work she’s been committed to for the last 30 years. She’s performed her 4 award-winning solo shows nationally and abroad. She is the recent recipient of 3 Arts/UIC Fellowship and Chicago Cultural Theatre Residency. She is a Resident Playwright and faculty at Chicago Dramatists. Her book "Writing and Performing the Solo Show" will be published by Northwestern University Press 2025.

Accessibility: This event is hosted at the bookstore, which is a wheelchair accessible space. Masks are required. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis. To request ASL interpretation for this event, please email [email protected] by no later than 14 days before the event. For other questions or access needs, please email [email protected].

Host or Publisher Women & Children First