It was my pleasure to return to Twain Elementary to meet with fresh groups of 3rd graders for our fall poetry residency. Students were curious and ready to begin our adventure into reading, discussing, […]

I’m excited to be back teaching 4th graders this year at Twain Elementary. To get to know this new group of students, the theme for our first session on Tuesday was self-portraits. Artists create […]

At the Chicago Poetry Center, we believe that poetry is for everyone: children and adults, career writers and hobbyists, people with creative writing degrees and folks who write privately in their journals. We also […]

You’ve written poems. Now it’s time find your readers. But where to start? Join the Chicago Poetry Center as poet and editor Lisa Low shares advice on finding the right publications your poetry, writing […]

The Chicago Poetry Center presents BLUE HOUR, a free, public monthly in-person reading series and generative writing workshop at Haymarket House (800 W. Buena) hosted and facilitated by Marty McConnell. The Blue Hour reading […]

Kicking off our 50th with lots of press! Chicago Reader – Featured Article on CPC’s Legacy and Current Moment NBC – 3 Minute Feature on NBC Chicago for Exhibit and Event Poetry Foundation: Essay […]

The Chicago Poetry Center board, staff, and community at large are mourning a massive loss in our community, the passing of Mary Ellen Woods.  Mary Ellen Woods joined the Chicago Poetry Center board in […]

A Bigger Table: 50 Years of the Chicago Poetry Center Closing Event* Saturday, September 1411 AM – 12:30 PMPoetry Foundation: 61 E. Superior St. *Registration Required! Please register here. Celebrate the last day of […]

We hope that you’ll join us in Albany Park this month at ECOS: A Chicago Latine Poetry Festival. The fest celebrates Chicago’s relationship with and influence on Latine poetry. It echoes (“ecos’ in Spanish) the […]

The Chicago Poetry Center presents BLUE HOUR, a free, public monthly in-person reading series and generative writing workshop hosted and facilitated by Marty McConnell. The Blue Hour reading includes a brief open mic followed […]

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Poetry Foundation for the exhibition opening of A Bigger Table: 50 Years of the Chicago Poetry Center. We had a blast celebrating CPC’s 50th anniversary […]

Celebrating Our Historic Collection and Retrospective Exhibit Open Until September 14 🙌🏾 A Conversation with B. Metzger Sampson Executive Director B. Metzger Sampson sat down with writer James D. Sullivan to discuss the origins […]

Poetry @ The Green at 320 continues for the summer season this August! The Chicago Poetry Center and The Green at 320 S. Canal are proud to host this free, weekly reading and open […]

This past Wednesday, I finished my 5-week summer residency with the Terrapins and the Dreamers at the O-School. I created a chapbook for our time together as a final project. While listening to music, […]

This was my 5th and final week at the O-School, where I had back-to-back days (Tuesday/Wednesday) to finish our summer residency. Since, the Terrapins and the Dreamers students love music, I decided on Tuesday […]

For our 4th week at the O-School we explored how to use our five senses to recall memories. I passed around different objects to students that represented the five senses, a seashell (touch), a […]

This week at the O-School, students explored different types of technology. We watched a video of kids, who reacted to older technology such as a typewriter, rotary phone, and record player. It’s amazing how […]

The Chicago Poetry Center sends its warm gratitude to the incredible students, families, and teachers that helped make the Chicago Poetry Center’s Winter and Spring 2024 All Schools Readings a success! It was an […]

What’s your favorite day of the week? What’s your least favorite? These are the questions I asked this past Tuesday for my second week with Terrapins and Dreamers students at the O-School. Friday and […]

Poetry @ The Green at 320 continues for the summer season this July! The Chicago Poetry Center and The Green at 320 S. Canal are proud to host this free, weekly reading and open […]

** UPDATE: We’re no longer accepting applications. Thank you to all who have applied! We will follow up with all candidates.** Downloadable PDF – Poet in Residence Posting ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION Mission & ProgramsThe […]

What are some things that make you feel connected to the rest of humanity? That’s the question we started with this week, before reading Roque Dalton’s like you. Students worked on pieces, where their […]

After a bit of a pause in our program, due to the spring break and a schedule conflict, I was back at Perez with Mr. Reinholdt’s 7th graders to finish up poems inspired by […]

This week we got started on poems using personification as a device in our poems. We read “A Lament” by Percy Bysshe Shelley and talked about how we could give human qualities to things […]

I ended our Perez residency with Ms. Murrays 4th graders by bringing in We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks. Students wrote some amazing poems, and we closed out by sharing what we took away […]

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“Writing poetry makes me feel like I can see myself, like I can see my reflection, but not in a mirror, in the world. I write and I know I can be reflected.”
-Oscar S.

“Writing poetry makes me feel free.”
-Buenda D.

“Writing poetry is like your best friend.”
-Jessica M.

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