800 thousand dollars for Chicago’s newest “geniuses”.

Good morning, Chicago. ✶

And welcome to October.

In today’s newsletter, we meet two Chicago-based recipients of this year’s MacArthur “genius grants” and learn more about their disciplines.

Plus, we’ve got news of a Chicago Fire contestant filling the cultural gaps within the team, three performers vying to be the “World’s Next Drag Super Monster,” and more community news to check out below.

: 7-minute reading

— Matt Moore, Bulletin Reporter (@MattKenMoore)

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TODAY’S TOP STORY

Two Chicagoans won MacArthur ‘genius grants’

Reporting by Davis Giangiulio

Geniuses from the Windy City: This morning, two Chicago-area residents were named recipients of a 2024 MacArthur “genius grant.” This year’s class of 22 includes Ling Ma, a fiction writer, and Ebony G. Patterson, a visual artist.

Ling Mam: Chinese-born fiction writer Ma, 41, came to Chicago to attend the University of Chicago in 2001. She moved to various cities in the U.S. before returning here in 2017. Her work is characterized by bending genres and blurring reality with whimsy. This strategy of combining topics sets Ma apart, said Marlies Carruth, director of the MacArthur Fellows program. “Her ability to combine reality with surrealism was extraordinary. (…) She has a very cinematic approach to writing.”

Ebony G. Patterson: Born in Kingston, Jamaica, visual artist Patterson has been dividing her time between her birthplace and Chicago since 2019. The 43-year-old’s work focuses on identity, class, beauty and race. Although Patterson focuses on these topics, he does not seek answers. Her work combines a variety of media and materials, from photography and painting to textiles and everything in between. “(Patterson’s work) reminds us to connect with what is beautiful and magical, and at the same time (it is) very rooted in humanity and connection to place and community,” Carruth said.

Key context: The fellowship, organized by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, is designed to ignite creativity and innovators across the country and support them in their work. Fellows receive a no-strings-attached stipend of $800,000 for five years.

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WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING?

• Drought can dim the fall leaves: Due to moderate drought in August and September, leaf colors may be less vibrant this season, and many trees shed their leaves early.
• Teenager accused of postman’s deathA 15-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting Octavia Redmond while delivering mail in West Pullman last summer was arrested Monday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, authorities said.
• A police chase caused a fatal accident: Overnight, an oncoming Chicago police car ran a red light and collided with an SUV in McKinley Park. It then crashed into a building, throwing the passenger from the car who died this morning.
• Remembering John Amos: The actor starred as the family patriarch on the Chicago series “Good Times” and earned an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of the adult Kunta Kinte in the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries “Roots.” He was 84 years old.
• 3 stars for “Another Happy Day”: Lauren Lapkus stars in this vivid and completely real film as an artist struggling to bond with her newborn child, writes Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper.

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NOW GAME

Three Chicago artists compete for the title of ‘The World’s Next Drag Super Monster’

Reporting by Jake Wittich | For the Sun-Times

Three Chicago-area drag performers compete in a battle of horror, grime and glamor for a chance to become “the world’s next drag supermonster” on an upcoming reality show.

“The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula,” which premieres Tuesday on Shudder and AMC+, begins its sixth season with three Illinois contestants among 12 monsters competing for the title and the $100,000 grand prize.

These include Aurora Gozmic, a mainstay in the Chicago drag scene for the past decade; Aunt Heroine, a drama camp queen who is also a community leader in the Rockford area; and Scylla, an otherworldly performer from Chicago inspired by fantasy and mythology.

“This is going to be one of the craziest seasons of ‘Dragula,'” Gozmic told the Sun-Times. “We’re bringing the look and drama of one of the best seasons ever.”

The program features drag queen artists from around the world who are judged on their performances and costume challenges according to the three tenets of “Dragula”: horror, dirt and glamour. Each week someone is eliminated until the grand finale.

Since it first aired in 2016, “Dragula” has made an effort to include drag kings, trans and non-binary competitors, and bearded drag queens like Heroine.

“I didn’t see people or styles like me on other shows, but thanks to ‘Dragula,’ I was able to see myself reflected on TV,” Heroine told the Sun-Times.

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BRIGHT

Striker Fabian Herbers’ language skills bridge cultures on and off the pitch

Reporting by Brian Sandalow

Chicago Fire forward Fabian Herbers has a knack for languages, which has helped him and his teammates throughout their careers.

Growing up in Ahaus, Germany, Herbers, 31, learned his country’s native language. English was taught from the fifth grade. Ahaus is located near the border with the Netherlands, and Herbers has taken over the Dutch, although he admits that this level is fading a bit.

While playing for the Philadelphia Union in 2018, Herbers learned Spanish, a language he perfected when he joined the Fire a year later and had many teammates with Latino and Latin American roots. This skill helped him bond with his teammates. Additionally, Herbers’ girlfriend is from Ecuador, and the couple speaks Spanish at home. Herbers also gives media interviews in Spanish.

“Even though you don’t know all the words all the time, I feel like people still understand you and respect you when you try,” Herbers said.

Herbers sees multilingualism as a way to communicate with team members from different backgrounds. He can speak German with teammates Maren Haile-Selassie and Allan Arigoni and interact with Spanish speakers who have not yet learned English.

“Not only is it helpful to speak their language because they feel welcome, but I also understand a little bit of their culture through my girlfriend and through experiences with other teammates,” Herbers said. “You understand where they’re coming from.”

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YOUR DAILY QUESTION

Do you plan to vote in the November presidential election? Tell us why or why not.

Write to us (please provide name and surname). To find out the answer to this question, check out our Morning Edition newsletter. Don’t subscribe to the Morning Edition? Register here so you won’t miss anything!

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Thank you for reading this afternoon’s edition of the Sun-Times.
Have a story you think we missed? Send us an email here.

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Written by: Matt Moore
Editor: Esther Bergdahl
Copy editor: Chris Wolt