Billy Lombardo is a well-established Chicago writer and college essay coach with over 35 years of experience teaching at Chicago-area high schools and universities. He is the founder of Polyphony Lit, a global literary platform for high school writers and editors, and Writing Pros/e, his own writing and editing business.
Lombardo’s emotionally raw 2009 novel, originally published under the title How to Hold a Woman, is being reissued this month as part of Tortoise Books’ New Chicago Classics series. Retitled Morning Will Come, this captivating drama is in turns haunting and humorous as it tells the heart-wrenching tale of one family’s struggle to cope with unspeakable violence and loss. Set on the north side of Chicago, Morning Will Come is a timeless, searing story told through the fractured lens of grief. Through its crisp dialogue and exquisite writing, this concise and compelling portrait of family, love and marriage serves as a moving account of the anguish of modern life and the redemptive power of the human heart.
In addition to Morning Will Come, Lombardo is the author of three previous books of fiction. He was the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Grant as well as the winner of a Nelson Algren Award for his short fiction. Lombardo, who is renowned as a dynamic and charismatic speaker, will appear at Boswell Book Co. at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8.
