Blue Hour poetry reading Oct. 16 featuring Joss Barton & Charif Shanahan

The Chicago Poetry Center presents BLUE HOUR, a free monthly in-person reading series and generative writing workshop. Our October featured readers are Charif Shanahan and Joss Barton.

Each event takes place at Haymarket House 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.

ABOUT THE FEATURES:

Charif Shanahan is the author of two collections of poetry, including "Trace Evidence: poems" (Tin House, 2023), which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award; longlisted for the National Book Award for Poetry; and winner of the Whiting Award, the Lambda Literary for Gay Poetry, and the Publishing Triangle's Thom Gunn Award. Originally from the Bronx, he is an Assistant Professor of English at Northwestern University.

Joss Barton is a writer, journalist, and spoken word performance artist exploring and documenting queer and trans* life, love, and liberation. Her work blends femme-fever dreams over the soundtrack of the American nightmare. Combining prose poetry, non-fiction confessional essays, drag artistry, and spoken word stage performances, Joss examines the myriad states of queer trans womanhoods from historical, political, and pop cultural identities of death, desires, dreams, and disco.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION: The mission of the Chicago Poetry Center is to connect people and poetry, equitably engage poets with communities, and foster creative literacy in the city and beyond. Learn more about our programs at www.poetrycenter.org.

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 [email protected] 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.

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.

Looking for the Workshop? Register here.

Host or Publisher Chicago Poetry Center