The Chicago Poetry Center presents BLUE HOUR, a free monthly in-person reading series and generative writing workshop at Haymarket House, 800 W. Buena. Our April featured readers are Ayokunle Falomo and Viola Lee.
The Blue Hour reading includes a brief open mic followed by two featured poets from Chicago and beyond. The open mic includes five readers drawn lottery-style from a hat that goes out at 7:15. The reading starts promptly at 7:30. Each open mic poet reads one poem or for three minutes, whichever comes first.
The name comes from a line by Chicago poet Li-Young Lee, from a section of “The City in Which I Love You”: I wait in a blue hour and faraway noise of hammering, and on a page, a poem begun, something about to be dispersed, something about to come into being.
EVENT DETAILS FOR MARCH 19:
- Workshop (registration required) begins promptly at 6 p.m., ends at 7 p.m.
- Open mic sign-up begins at 7:15.
- Reading (registration recommended but not required) begins at 7:30, followed by community gathering time.
- Reading registration is free; the workshop is a sliding scale with a suggested donation of $10.
- Register for the workshop here.
- Get your free ticket for the reading here.
- Livestream is available here.
ABOUT THE READING:
The Blue Hour reading features readings by two poets from Chicago and beyond, preceded by a five-person lottery-style open mic and followed by a community gathering time.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:
The Blue Hour generative writing workshop is suitable for writers and poetry fans of all levels. We begin by discussing a poem, and then Marty guides the group through individual writing on an exploratory prompt that draws on themes from the poem.
ABOUT THE SPACE:
Accessibility, Health, & Safety:
– All restrooms at Haymarket House are gender-neutral, including single-user and stalled restrooms.
– Each event includes ASL interpretation. Haymarket House is ADA-compliant and fully wheelchair-accessible; email curator@poetrycenter.org to ensure ramp access and any other accessibility needs.
– Masks are strongly encouraged for all indoor events, and the space has a professional air filtration system.
MARCH FEATURES:
Ayokunle Falomo is Nigerian, American, and the author of “Autobiomythography of” (Alice James Books, 2024), “AFRICANAMERICAN’T” (FlowerSong Press, 2022), two self-published collections and “African, American” (New Delta Review, 2019; selected by Selah Saterstrom as thae winner of New Delta Review’s 8th annual chapbook contest). He is the recipient of fellowships from Vermont Studio Center, MacDowell, and the University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program, where he obtained his MFA in Creative Writing—Poetry.
Viola Lee graduated from NYU with an MFA in Poetry. Her book “Lightening after the Echo” was published by Another New Calligraphy. She has published poems in literary journals throughout the US, including Barrow Street, Bellevue Literary Review, and Another Chicago Magazine. Her poems were finalists in the Pleiades Prufer Poetry Prize and the 2022 Mississippi Review Poetry Prize. Her manuscript “The Only Home” was a finalist in the 2023 Switchback Books’ Gatewood Prize, Semi-finalist in the 2023 Perugia Press Poetry Prize and finalist in the 2024 X.J. Kennedy Poetry Prize. She lives in Chicago with her husband, son and daughter. She teaches 4th, 5th and 6th graders at Near North Montessori School in Chicago.
ABOUT THE HOST:
Marty McConnell is a poet, educator, and healer based in Chicago. She is the author of When They Say You Can’t Go Home Again, What They Mean is You Were Never There, winner of the 2017 Michael Waters Poetry Prize; her first full-length collection, wine for a shotgun, received the Silver Medal in the Independent Publishers Awards and was a finalist for both the Audre Lorde Award and a Lambda Literary Award. Her first nonfiction book, Gathering Voices: Creating a Community-Based Poetry Workshop, is available through YesYes Books. She is the co-creator and co-editor of Underbelly, a website focused on the art and magic of poetry revision. An MFA graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including Best American Poetry, Southern Humanities Review, Gulf Coast, and Indiana Review.
To learn more about the series and history, go here.
