A Bigger Table: 50 Years of the Chicago Poetry Center Exhibition Opening

Join us for the exhibition opening of A Bigger Table: 50 Years of the Chicago Poetry Center. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Chicago Poetry Center (CPC), this event features a film screening, live performances, and an exhibition of historic broadsides, event posters, and treasures from the CPC archive. After a reception in the Poetry Foundation’s courtyard, watch the premiere of a new documentary, A Bigger Table, which follows the CPC from its roots as a platform for censored writers to its present-day mission as the organization continues to build a bigger table for poets in Chicago and beyond. Following the film, enjoy readings and performances by Marvin Tate, Helene Achanzar, former CPC student Layla Abdullah, and remarks by CPC executive director B. Metzger Sampson. The reception will begin at 2 PM and the screening and performances will follow at 3 PM.

Helene Achanzar is a poet and editor whose writing has appeared in Best New Poets 2023, Oxford American, Georgia Review, and elsewhere. Winner of the 2022 New England Review Award for Emerging Writers, her work has been supported by the T.S. Eliot Foundation, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, and the Mastheads. She is a senior editor for Poetry Northwest, Midwest regional chair for Kundiman, and director of programs at the Chicago Poetry Center.

B. Metzger Sampson is the executive director of the Chicago Poetry Center. B. has led the organization through its revitalization over the past decade, including the development of robust equity and transparency practices, innovations in board structure, and the addition of new programs online and in-person for children, adults, and working poets of every age. B. writes, lectures, and speaks on innovative education and nonprofit practices, including poetry as a liberatory practice. B. is also a writer of essays, poetry, and interviews, and frequently collaborates and shows with visual artists. 

Marvin Tate is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, and community educator. He has been active in the Chicago music scene since 1993. He has collaborated with visual artist, Theaster Gates Jr. and the Black Monks of Mississippi; video artist, Jefferson Pinder; and a motley crew of musical talents that includes Leroy Bach, Angel Olsen, Bill MacKay, and Tim Kinsella; jazz artists, Ben LaMar Gay, Angel Bat Dawid, and Mike Reed; French experimentalist,The Bridge; composer, Ernest Dawkins; and soundscape artist, Joseph C.Mills.

Layla Abdullah is a multi-talented young poet who loves to write and create art, whether it's words on a paper or something she's created with materials. She first got her start writing poetry through a program with the Poetry Foundation and her local public school. Layla is currently an honor roll student at Kenwood Academy High School where she plays water polo, soccer, and is a member of the swim team. Her other interested include acting, singing, and writing her own songs for the ukelele.

Moyo Abiona is a Nigerian-American writer and filmmaker. She is the media associate at the Poetry Foundation and the director of the short documentary, A Bigger Table: 50 Years of the Chicago Poetry Center.