- One of the great Chicago writers of the 20th century, most famous for what was one of the first novels about drug addiction, "The Man with the Golden Arm" (winner of the National Book Award).
- Was one of the first to rally to the cause of jailed boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, he uprooted from Chicago in the late 1970s and moved to New Jersey in order to write a book about the railroading, in his opinion, of Carter, resulting in a novel, "The Devil's Stocking."
- (1951) Prose poem: "Chicago: City on the Make" An edited version was originally published as "One Man's Chicago" in the October 1951 issue of Holiday magazine. Unedited version published in book form by Doubleday.
- (1947) Short story collection: "Neon Wilderness"
- (1941) Novel: "Never Come Morning"
- (1949) Novel: "The Man with the Golden Arm" (filmed as The Man with the Golden Arm (1955))
- (1956) Novel: "Walk on the Wild Side" (filmed as Walk on the Wild Side (1962))
- (July 1950) Radio: The Chez Show (WMAQ/Chicago) Algren guests on this late night talk show from the Sapphire Bar of the Chez Paree nightclub. Mike Wallace and his then wife Buff Cobb host.
- (January 4, 1964) TV: Prairie Giant (WBBM/Chicago) Algren and James T. Farrell discuss the contributions of Chicago authors to the world of literature. 30 minutes.
- (January 23, 1949) Radio: Northwestern University Reviewing Stand (WGN/Chicago and the Mutual network) "What is America Reading?" Algren, Northwestern University teacher Harrison M. Hayford, Margaret Clara Scoggin from the NY Public Library and Forrest Spaulding of the American Library Association discuss popular literature. James McBurney hosts. 30 minutes.
- (August 31, 1947) Radio: Report Uncensored (WBBM/Chicago) Algren and Willard Motley contribute "Date with Gabriel," a dramatization of a delinquent boys life story, for this documentary series about juvenile delinquency. Fahey Flynn hosts. 45 minutes.
- (June 16, 1963) Radio: A Conversation with Nelson Algren (WBAI/NYC) Algren talks with Dick Elman and Gene McGarr about his new book, his past work and about American society and what he thinks is a "frightening isolation" increasingly felt in this country. The program was also broadcast on June 18, 1963. 60 minutes.
- (January 3, 1965) Radio: Nightline (WBBM/Chicago) Panel discussion with Algren, former FCC chair Newton Minow, Chicago Daily News columnist Mike Royko, Northwestern University law professor Claude Sowle and Father John Banahan, director of the Chicago Roman Catholic Archdiocese's office of radio and television. John Calloway hosts. 3 hours and 50 minutes.
- (February 24, 1970) TV: Chicago Festival (WTTW/Chicago) Robert Cromie takes a look at the authors who passed away in the 1960s, including Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O'Connor and Langston Hughes. Algren reads from Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro." 30 minutes.
- (December 1942) Radio: The World's Greatest Stories (NBC) "Biceps" Nelson Olmsted reads Algren's short story "Biceps" AKA "A Bottle of Milk for Mother." 15 minutes.
- (February 28, 1959) TV: At Random (WBBM/Chicago) Chicago Sun Times columnist Irv Kupcinet welcomes guests Algren, Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck and Peggy Wood and Imogene Coca, appearing in "The Girls in 509" at the Civic Theatre.
- (May 30, 1963) Radio: Observation Point (WQXR/NYC) Duncan MacDonald welcomes Algren as her guest. 30 minutes.
- (August 28, 1965) Radio: The Hip '400' (WBAI/NYC) Frank Brady visits Algren and discusses Chicago, dope addiction, Hemingway and hipness. 30 minutes.
- (March 16, 1956) TV: Midnight Ramblers (WGN/Chicago) Hosts Frank and Rita Drury welcome Algren and Fran Warren, starring in "The Pajama Game" at the Shubert, as guests on the premiere of this late night program. Music by Dick Marx and Johnny Frigo. 60 minutes.
- (September 22, 1956) TV: Northwestern University Reviewing Stand (WGN/Chicago) "Current Trends in the American Novel" Algren, Francis Coughlin, William J. Haskins, English professor at Northwestern University, and publisher Henry Regnery are the guests. James McBurney hosts. The audio portion is rebroadcast the following evening on WGN radio. 30 minutes.
- (October 1, 1941) Radio: Author's Playhouse (NBC) "Biceps," an adaptation of the Algren story with a script by Studs Terkel. The program was rebroadcast on June 23, 1943. 30 minutes.
- (June 17, 1956) Radio: The Mitch Miller Show (CBS) Miller welcomes Algren, singer/actress Doretta Morrow and Robert Weede of the Broadway hit "The Most Happy Fella." 30 minutes.
- (May 29, 1956) Radio: The Tex and Jinx Show (NBC) Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg interview Algren. 25 minutes.
- (May 16, 1963) Radio: Leona Milen (WNCN/NYC) Milen discusses trends in American fiction with Algren and Arnold Gingrich, publisher of Esquire magazine.
- (February 18, 1958) Radio (WFMT/Chicago) "Chicago's Contributions to the American Arts" A discussion between Frank Lloyd Wright, musician Rudolph Ganz, writer Archibald Macleish and Algren, held at a fund-raising dinner at the Sherman House Hotel for Roosevelt University. A transcription of this symposium was published in the January 1983 issue of Chicago Magazine under the title "Searching for the real Chicago."
- (February 11, 1960) Stage: "A Walk on the Wild Side" opens at the Crystal Palace Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. A musical version of the 1956 novel starring Bob Dorough as Dove Linkhorn, with book by Algren and Jay Landesman, music by Tommy Wolf, lyrics by Algren and Fran Landesman. It runs three weeks.
- (September 19, 1984) Stage: "City on the Make" premieres at the Northlight Theatre in Evanston, Illinois. A musical based on the writings of Algren with book by Denise DeClue, music by Jeffrey Berkson, lyrics by John Karraker. Kevin Dunn and Megan Mullally were in the cast. Another workshop version of the show was presented at the Chelsea Center for the Arts in New York City (December 17, 1986 through January 11, 1987), followed by a production by East Coast Arts, also in NYC, which ran from November 4, 1988 through November 27, 1988. Columbia College in Chicago mounted a new production which premiered October 24, 2012 and ran through November 3, 2012.
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