The book fair is free and has seven stages with writers and entertainment. It runs through Sunday.
The celebration stretches five blocks on Dearborn from Congress to Polk.
Pete Hamill's new book is called Tabloid City. It is a thriller about murder, passion and a newspaper's demise, a sign of the times.
Fans can meet Hamill at the Lit Fest as he was scheduled to be in conversation with the Chicago Tribune's Rick Kogan at 1 p.m. Saturday on the center stage.
