South Side Community Arts Center
Established in 1940 by the WPA's Federal Art Project, the South Side Community Art Center has provided a second home for the city's African-American a...
Chicago Poetry Tour Podcast
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About
From the neighborhood library of Gwendolyn Brooks, to the Union Stock Yards, where Chicago became Carl Sandburg’s “Hog Butcher for the World,” to the birthplace of slam poetry, the Chicago Poetry Tour explores the city’s history through its dynamic poets and poetry.
Hall Library
One of the 20th century's most significant poets, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about race in America, often from the perspective of her Bronzeville neighbor...
Bronzeville
Margaret Walker's signature poem "For My People" encompasses the strengths and struggles of blacks not only in Chicago but throughout America.
DuSable Museum
The DuSable Museum is one of the nation's premier institutions dedicated to the history, art, and culture of the African diaspora. Quraysh Ali Lansana...
Pilsen
Pilsen was a diverse neighborhood in Chicago long before anybody used the word “diversity.” Stuart Dybek and Ana Castillo read poems inspired by their...
The Green Mill
Marc Smith conceived the worldwide phenomenon of slam poetry at the Green Mill in the 1980s. Audience participation encouraged.
Danny's Tavern
The neighborhood of Bucktown is home to Danny's Tavern and Myopic Books, two hot spots in the local poetry scene. Srikanth Reddy and Peter O'L...
The Newberry Library
The Newberry Library is an independent research library, and has twice served as the home for Poetry magazine during its prestigious and often surpris...
New Chinatown
Li-Young Lee grew up in this immigrant neighborhood, and his poem "The Cleaving" depicts his struggles with identity, violence, and universality.
Graceland Cemetery
This tour stop includes poetry addressed to graves in Chicago's ritzy Graceland Cemetery. Carl Sandburg, Vachel Lindsay, and Harriet Monroe meditate o...