- BY: Poetry Center
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Our silent auction is open for bids! We’re excited to be auctioning dozens of great bundles ranging in interest, all generously donated by staff, board members, and board alums! A few highlights: These are […]
- 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 any Illinois nonprofit organization employee or volunteer. Drawing on CPC’s decades of workshop facilitation, […]
- BY: Poetry Center
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Looking for a way to devote time and energy to your poetry without the distractions of your busy life? Apply to a writing residency! Join the Chicago Poetry Center as poet Keith S. Wilson […]
- BY: Poetry Center
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Let’s make it 50 for 50! With Your Support We Can Fund 50 Residences Next Year As we head towards the end of the calendar year and launch our annual campaign, the Chicago Poetry […]
- BY: Cai Sherley
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This week Lawndale’s 6th grade workshop was all about rhythm. After a lively game of “The Clap Heard Around The World” they read Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool” and used her work as inspiration […]
- BY: Leslie Reese
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For my second meeting with Swift 2nd graders, we discussed things we experience using our sense(s) of sight, taste, smell, sound, and touch. We also talked about the seasons, and some of the changes […]
- BY: Josie Levin
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This week in Ms. Smallwood’s 6th grade class and Ms. Hernandez’s 7th grade class we took a crack at concrete poems. We read “Spew Machine” by John Grandits and discussed the logistics of a […]
- BY: Ola Faleti
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Oh, nostalgia. It’s a powerful feeling, and one that 7th graders at Waters explored with the Aimee Nezhukumatathil poem “When I Was 6”. Before we read the poem, I asked students to think back […]
- BY: Ola Faleti
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Oh, nostalgia. It’s a powerful feeling, and one that 6th graders at Waters explored with the Aimee Nezhukumatathil poem “When I Was 6”. Before we read the poem, I asked students to think back […]
- BY: Timothy David Rey
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Students wrote ‘Where I’m From’ poems investigating the real and fantastical in poetry. Lesson Note: “What I like about this exercise is that it asks poets to look at what we think and think […]
- BY: Cai Sherley
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This past Thursday at Hyde Park Academy, a group of students came into the 4th floor art room for pizza and an open mic. What they got was a poetry workshop and an audience […]
- BY: Russell Price
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This week the young Viking writers used vintage photos to write stories in a poetic form about strangers. They used Warsan Shire’s poem “Backwards” as inspiration on how to write mirror poems. I’m proud […]
- BY: Cai Sherley
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This week was all about gratitude. After reading Kobe Bryant’s “Dear Basketball” (which sent the 8th grade into a very animated side quest about who the GOAT really is) students at Lawndale said thank […]
- BY: Poetry Center
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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 February featured readers are Elizabeth Strauss Friedman & Faisal Mohyuddin. […]
- BY: Joy Young
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After Holiday break, I returned back to the O-School on Monday to write poetry with two new groups (Groups A & B ) of students to kick start 2025. The theme for this week […]
- BY: Josie Levin
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This week in class we read the poem “The Gift” by Ocean Vuong and talked about the way this poem uses repetition and how to incorporate it into our own poems. Students wrote about […]
- BY: Timothy David Rey
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Students read ‘Thanks’ by W.S. Merwin before crafting their poems and musings on thanks! Lesson Note: “Being grateful is linked to higher levels of life satisfaction, optimism, vitality, helpfulness, empathy, forgiveness, and positive affect. […]
- BY: Ola Faleti
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For our 6th session with Waters 7th Graders, we explored the epistolary poem (ie, a poem in letter form). Our mentor text was “Dear P” by Victoria Chang. We talked about who P might […]
- BY: Ola Faleti
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We are all composed of the many places, people, things, and experiences that make us who we are. Which is why I love the George Ella Lyons poem “Where I’m From” and subsequent variations […]
- BY: Timothy David Rey
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Students read Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem ‘Truth Serum’ and then talked about wishes, wants, and dreams that might come true if they made a special serum of their own! Lesson Note: “Writers don’t need […]
- BY: Leslie Reese
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Happy New Year Greetings!Being invited to return to Swift for my 6th year brings me feelings of joy and humility. This year I have the pleasure of joining Ms. Pendola’s and Ms. Brist’s 2nd […]
- BY: Cai Sherley
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Lawndale’s poets were not in the classroom for our usual Monday workshops this week. Instead, they were visiting the Museum of Science and Industry for a field trip! And what better way to encapsulate […]
- BY: Russell Price
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This week the young vikings read David Berman’s “The Moon” https://poets.org/poem/moon-1 The poets were then challenged to brainstorm a typical day in high school but to subvert it with surrealism. I’m so proud of […]
- BY: Larry Dean
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As always, it was a treat to be back with Skinner West students. I introduced myself as well as the program and went over what to expect for the next several weeks. There were […]
- BY: Ola Faleti
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For our last session before the winter break and new year, 7th graders thought about ideal worlds. We discussed the fact that poetry can be a powerful tool for envisioning the world you want […]
- BY: Ola Faleti
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Before the break and subsequent new year, Waters 6th graders had an opportunity to consider the power of imagery. Ross Gay is a great poet in that respect, one who combines optimism with vivid […]
- BY: Timothy David Rey
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Our class began with a discussion of food and memory in preparation for studying Gary Soto’s Narrative-Style poem, Oranges. Nostalgia and feelings came up frequently in our discussions. What emotions are attached to memory […]
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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.”
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“Writing poetry is like your best friend.”
-Jessica M.
