Featured Readers
Hussain AhmedHussain Ahmed is the author of three poetry collections, most recently Crossroad Mirror (2025) published by Curbstone Books / Northwestern University Press. Ahmed won the 2024 Gulf Coast Poetry Prize and the 2024 Black Warrior Review Poetry Contest. His work appeared in Poetry Magazine, Best American Poetry Anthology, The Nation, American Poetry Review, A Public Space and elsewhere. A Nigerian poet and environmentalist, he holds an MFA from the University of Mississippi and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Cincinnati.
Ali BlackAli Black is a writer from Cleveland, Ohio. She is the author of the poetry collection, We Look Better Alive (Burnside Review Press, 2025) and the poetry chapbook, If It Heals At All (Jacar Press, 2020). We Look Better Alive was nominated for a 2026 NAACP Image Award for outstanding work in literature for poetry. Ali’s chapbook was selected by Jaki Shelton Green for the New Voices Series and named a finalist for the 2021 Ohioana Book Award in poetry. Ali is the winner of the 2025 Cleveland Arts Prize in the emerging artist category. Her poems and essays have appeared in The Atticus Review, jubilat, Literary Hub, The Offing, The Adroit Journal and elsewhere.
Event Details
When Wednesday, September 16, 2026
6:00 pm
Where Haymarket House
800 W. Buena Ave., Chicago, IL 60613
PriceReading is free (registration recommended); the workshop is sliding scale with a suggested donation of $10 and requires registration.
About the Reading
Each event 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 7:15pm. The reading starts promptly at 7:30pm. Each open mic poet reads one poem or for three minutes, whichever comes first.
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 Curator
Helene Achanzar is a poet and editor whose writing has been published in The Georgia Review, Sixth Finch, Oxford American, and elsewhere. Winner of the 2022 New England Review Award for Emerging Writers, her work has been supported by the Mastheads, T.S. Eilot Foundation, and the Chicago Architecture Biennial. She is a senior editor for Poetry Northwest, a regional chair for Kundiman, and the director of programs at the Chicago Poetry Center.
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.
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.
A NOTE ON PARKING: Limited free and paid street parking is available near Haymarket House. The parking lot at Disney Magnet School is relatively close and is a paid lot; there are also locations nearby available through SpotHero.
