Blue Hour
January 18, 2023

The Chicago Poetry Center presents BLUE HOUR, a free, public monthly in-person reading series and generative writing workshop hosted and facilitated by Marty McConnell.

The Blue Hour reading includes a brief open mic followed by two featured poets from Chicago and beyond. 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.

The name comes from a line by Chicago poet Li-Young Lee, from a section of “The City in Which I Love You”:

I wait
in a blue hour
and faraway noise of hammering,
and on a page a poem begun, something
about to be dispersed,
something about to come into being.

EVENT DETAILS FOR JAN. 18:

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) 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, followed by community gathering time.

JANUARY FEATURES:
Kemi Alabi is the author of Against Heaven (Graywolf Press, 2022), selected by Claudia Rankine as winner of the Academy of American Poets First Book Award, and coeditor of The Echoing Ida Collection (Feminist Press, 2021). Their work appears in the Atlantic, the Nation, Poetry, Boston Review, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2, and elsewhere. Born in Wisconsin on a Sunday in July, they now live in Chicago, IL.

Jessica L. Walsh is the author of Book of Gods and Grudges (Glass Lyre Press, 2022) as well as two previous collections. Her work has appeared in RHINO, Whale Road Review, Cotton Xenomorph, and more. She is the Blog Mistress at Agape Editions. Originally from small-town Michigan, she now lives outside of Chicago with her family and teaches at Harper College.

Featured Readers

Jessica Walsh

I’m a poet and Professor of English at Harper College in suburban Chicago, but I come from Ludington, Michigan, a small town on Lake Michigan. I attended Kalamazoo College and University of Iowa.

My work is my way of connecting with the world around me, and I truly value my readers. I hope you find something among my poems that shakes and inspires you. I love doing readings in person and online, so please let me know if you’d like to arrange something.

My writing has appeared or is forthcoming in all kinds of places, including RHINO, Tinderbox, Sundog Literature, Midwestern Gothic, Ninth Letter online, Whale Road Review, Crab Creek Review, Rogue Agent, and many others.

Event Details

When

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Where

Haymarket House
800 W Buena Avenue <br /> Chicago, IL

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 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.

Select list(s) to subscribe to



CPC will not sell your email. By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from The Chicago Poetry Center. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact