- BY: Poetry Center
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On Wednesday June 18, join the Chicago Poetry Center for our annual summer celebration! In line with CPC’s anti-censorship roots and wrapping up our 50th anniversary year, the headlining poet for our 2025 Summer […]
- BY: Poetry Center
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Poetry @ The Green at 320 returns for summer 2025! The Chicago Poetry Center and The Green at 320 S. Canal are proud to reintroduce this free, weekly reading and open mic series co-curated […]
- BY: Poetry Center
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Letter sent by CPC Executive Director to all board, staff, and Poets in Residence on Monday, February 3, 2025: As news mounts of organizations changing their values or language due to pressure from the […]
- BY: Poetry Center
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From February through June of 2025, the Chicago Poetry Center is offering free online Critical Conversations: Anti-Racism sessions open to all. Drawing on CPC’s decades of workshop facilitation, Critical Conversations use poetry as a […]
- BY: Cai Sherley
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During our most recent workshop, Hyde Park began our session by attempting to fill in a map of the United States. This sparked a discussion about what it means to be part of a […]
- BY: Noel Quinones
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We all have sounds we adore and sounds that make us cringe. The 7th graders of Nettelhorst asked themselves what these sounds were for them before we read “Sweet Like a Crow” by Michael […]
- BY: Madison Mae Parker
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At Smyser Elementary, students explored blackout poems and created their visual poetry through art. Check out what they created! Mrs. Showalter’s ClassHazel P. Valerie S., “Where have all the children gone?” Noah C. Sienna […]
- BY: Joy Young
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For their 8th week, Twain 6th graders used poetry as a crystal ball to see into their futures. I asked students “What do you wish to do in the future? How can you achieve […]
- BY: Leslie Reese
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Today Brennemann 2nd graders talked about what it means to be curious: to be interested in learning what we don’t know and wanting to understand how things work and why things and people are […]
- BY: Leslie Reese
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Last Friday Swift 2nd graders began with a chat about things that are small enough to fit in one’s pocket, such as coins, crumbs, pieces of candy, and folded up pieces of paper. We […]
- BY: Noel Quinones
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Sometimes words are not enough to convey what we are trying to say. The high schoolers of MLA thought about what objects, animals, or shapes meant a lot to them before reading “Social Distancing” […]
- BY: Noel Quinones
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What can writing with a partner accomplish that can’t be done alone? This is the question the 8th graders of Clinton reflected on after watching “Cat Poem” by the Get Lit Los Angeles BNV […]
- BY: Noel Quinones
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What can writing with a partner accomplish that can’t be done alone? This is the question the 7th graders of Clinton reflected on after watching “Cat Poem” by the Get Lit Los Angeles BNV […]
- BY: Joy Young
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We only have a few weeks left in our residency, so for their 8th week of poetry Twain 5th graders thought about writing poems for someone else. Together we read and discussed the poem, […]
- BY: Noel Quinones
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The first step to building empathy is putting ourselves in the experiences of another, especially if that other can’t speak. The 8th graders of MLA asked themselves what inanimate objects, animals, or fictional characters […]
- BY: Noel Quinones
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Addressing what has wronged you can be healing, a way to clear the air. The high schoolers of MLA asked themselves what they liked and what they wanted to change about their school before […]
- BY: Timothy David Rey
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Students used magazines and created cut-up poems! They used ‘found language’ and images to create new meaning. Lesson Note: Creative Artist guru Julia Cameron says the part of us who creates art is about […]
- BY: Mayda del Valle
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As we come to the end of our workshop, I like to share more informal writing exercises with students that they can use on their own if they wish. A basic building block of […]
- BY: Mayda del Valle
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This week was a departure from our usual read a poem, discuss a poem, write a poem format. When I’m able to, like to share some of the resources I use as a writer […]
- BY: Mayda del Valle
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This week we read “Eating Dinner Alone at the 163rd Street Mall” by Ariel Francisco for both our English class and after school poetry club. Sometimes students shift around from different classes at LYHS, […]
- BY: Mayda del Valle
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Mario Benedetti’s poem, No Te Rindas has been a great addition to the curriculum arsenal. It’s always great when a poem can work across age groups because the message is so strong. For English […]
- BY: Mayda del Valle
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Today we introduced the concept of the list poem. Which is exactly what it sounds like! We read Pat Mora’s “To Do List” a silly poem about a student who imagines their perfect weekend, […]
- BY: Mayda del Valle
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This week we got to read of my favorite poems to use with students. The Quiet Machine by Ada Limon works so well with students of all ages, and it gives them a really […]
- BY: Mayda del Valle
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For class today we read “Versions of Me” by Aline Melo, a really wonderful piece that asks the reader to consider how all the different versions of us can be at peace with […]
- BY: Leslie Reese
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Brennemann 5th graders returned to their bluesy ideas from last week. While much of the blues are steeped in heartfelt sadness, some blues can make us laugh. Remembering that blues songs and poems have […]
- BY: Leslie Reese
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Last week a student expressed interest in writing haiku, so I offered Nettelhorst 2nd grade teachers the option of working on haikus or emotional creatures this week. Students in Ms. Rodriguez’s and Mrs. Barbeau’s […]
- BY: Mayda del Valle
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This week Ms Caplan’s class continued working on their golden shovels. In Ms. Murray’s class we tried something a little different. Students did a quick free write exercise and then picked a line they […]
- BY: Mayda del Valle
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This week we explored the Golden Shovel form created by Terrance Hayes. We discussed how even now, there are forms of poetry still being created and invented. Hayes was inspired by one of our […]
- BY: Madison Mae Parker
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In our 2nd to last week together at Henry Elementary, we spent our time together editing poems and talking about performance techniques in prep for our 7th grade reading! Check out some of the […]
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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.”
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