The Chicago Poetry Center presents BLUE HOUR, a free monthly in-person reading series and generative writing workshop. Our September featured readers are Marianne Chan & Meghann Plunkett.
Each event takes place at Haymarket House (800 W. Buena) and includes a brief open mic followed by two featured poets. Pre-registration is free and recommended. 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.
EVENT DETAILS FOR SEPTEMBER 17:
- 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 sliding scale with a suggested donation of $10.
- Register for the workshop here.
- Get your 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 community gathering time.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:
The Blue Hour generative writing workshop is suitable for writers and poetry fans of all levels. We will discuss a poem together, then Marty will guide 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 with any other accessibility needs.
– Masks are currently strongly encouraged for all indoor events, and the space is equipped with a professional air filtration system.
SEPTEMBER FEATURES:
Marianne Chan grew up in Stuttgart, Germany, and Lansing, Michigan. She is the author of “All Heathens” (Sarabande Books, 2020), which was the winner of the 2021 GLCA New Writers Award, and “Leaving Biddle City” (Sarabande Books, 2024). Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Best American Poetry, New England Review, Kenyon Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. She is an assistant professor of creative writing at Old Dominion University and teaches poetry in the Warren Wilson College MFA program for Writers.
Meghann Plunkett is a screenwriter and poet. Once an East coaster working at The New Yorker, she now finds herself based in Los Angeles. She was named a Best New Poet of 2018, the winner of the 2017 Missouri Review’s Editors’ Prize, the Third Coast Poetry Prize, Narrative Magazine’s 30 Below Contest, and the North American Review’s Hearst Poetry Prize. She has also been anthologized in the 2017 Best of Net Anthology. Her poems can be found or are forthcoming in Narrative Magazine, Best New Poets 2018, Third Coast, Pleiades, Rattle, Washington Square Review among many others. Her screen writing credits include Station 19 and Rebel and the short film “Zita Sempri”. She is currently adapting the novel “First Lie Wins” for television alongside Krista Vernoff and Octavia Spencer. Her poetry and prose can be found in various journals and in her new chapbook, “What We Did To Her Made The Water Rise,” which won the Black Lawrence Press Chapbook Prize.
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 web site 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.
