May Blue Hour Featuring Patrycja Humienik and Soham Patel

The Chicago Poetry Center presents BLUE HOUR, a free monthly in-person reading series and generative writing workshop. Our May featured readers are Patrycja Humienik and Soham Patel.

Each event takes place at Haymarket House (800 W. Buena) 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 p.m. The reading starts promptly at 7:30. Each open mic poet reads one poem or for three minutes, whichever comes first.

ABOUT THE FEATURES:

Patrycja Humienik is the author of "We Contain Landscapes" (Tin House, 2025), selected as a New York Public Library Best New Poetry Book. An editor and teaching artist, Patrycja has developed writing and movement workshops for Arts+Literature Laboratory, The Seventh Wave, Northwest Film Forum, Henry Art Gallery, and in prisons. Her work can be found in The New Yorker, Gulf Coast, West Branch, Poetry Daily, Poetry Society of America, The Slowdown Show, and elsewhere.

Soham Patel was born in the East Midlands of England and raised in the western regions of North Dakota. She is the author of the poetry collections to afar from afar (Civil Coping Mechanisms/Writ Large Press/The Accomplices, 2018), ever really hear it (Subito Press, 2018), winner of the Subito Prize, all one in the end—/water (Delete Press, 2023) and The Daughter Industry (Nightboat Books, 2026). They currently live on Tutelo/Monacan land in Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. with their wife and families.

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 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.

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