The Chicago Poetry Center’s 50th anniversary was celebrated from June 2024 – June 2025. The year launched with a retrospective exhibit and documentary at the Poetry Foundation. Throughout the year, CPC hosted a free public Learning Series for poets, featuring poets who have taught and read for CPC over the years. We closed the year with a Summer Poetry Gathering featuring Martín Espada and honoring three Poets in Residence with the Gwendolyn Brooks Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Exhibition Images
Scroll to right to view images from our launch events.
Summer Poetry Gathering
Scroll right to view images from our closing event.
Learn More
Watch the Documentary
Learn about our first 50 years in this thirty minute documentary, A Bigger Table: 50 Years of The Chicago Poetry Center. Special thanks to director Moyo Abiona and the Poetry Foundation.
Explore the 50th Anniversary Learning Series
View a free public Learning Series for poets, featuring poets who have taught and read for CPC over the years.
Browse the Archive
Explore CPC’s 50+ years of poetry programming in our archive, and check out our early archive at the University of Chicago.
Shop the Collection
Explore CPC’s legacy of limited run artist print poetry broadsides and 1970’s and 80’s event posters.
Explore the Organization’s Timeline
Explore key markers in CPC’s history with our historical timeline.