One Poem, One Chicago
One Poem, One Chicago, an opportunity to engage Chicagoans in poetry and foster a sense of community through reading, will launch with a reissue of Gwendolyn Brooks’s landmark poetry collection Blacks, which will be available via CPL and public programming. To complement Chicago’s collective reading of Blacks, there will be several free events and opportunities to learn about Ms. Brooks’s life and legacy.
No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks
Live performances of No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks will be held at the Harold Washington Library May 16 and 18. Written by Chicago poets Eve L. Ewing and Nate Marshall, No Blue Memories is a uniquely staged retelling of Brooks’s life using simple, illuminative paper-cut puppetry by Manual Cinema set to music composed by Jamila Woods and Ayanna Woods. Three matinees are designated for students and two evening showtimes are open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
Gwendolyn Brooks Panel: Reflecting on a Chicago Legend
On May 25, Nora Brooks Blakely, Gwendolyn Brooks’s daughter, will join Dr. Madhubuti and Dr. Kelly Norman Ellis for a panel discussion on the life and impact of Brooks’s poetry at the Poetry Foundation on May 25 at 7PM. Learn more and register.
Brooks Day
In honor of Gwendolyn Brooks’s 106th birthday—known as “Brooks Day” in Chicago—all are invited to a reading of Blacks and new poems by local poets on June 7 from 12-6PM at the South Shore Cultural Center. This 10th annual Brooks Day is presented in partnership with the Guild Literary Complex.
Before the marathon reading, please join us for an in-person Golden Shovel Writing Workshop at 12:15 led by Maggie Queeney. After the marathon reading, Brooks Permissions will host a virtual panel on Brooks’s only novel, Maud Martha, with insights from Dr. Joanne Gabbin, Dr. Sandra Jackson-Opoku, and Sandra Cisneros.
Free Resources
Can't wait to learn more about the work of Ms. Brooks? We have a number of resources available for your One Poem, One Chicago journey.
- For all things Gwendolyn Brooks, check out our new collection, Gwendolyn Brooks: A Chicago Legacy.
- Access the special June 2017 issue of Poetry, which was released in honor of Brooks's 100th birthday.
- The issue is also available for free download in the Poetry Magazine App this summer, so you can take it with you wherever you go. Available for iOS and Android.
- Follow the Poetry Foundation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for event information, and visit the building in River North to pick up One Poem, One Chicago-related materials.
If you want to get involved with programming via Chicago Public Library, please contact your local branch.
Doors open at 1PM.