We Have the Power by Selina Trepp
Program

POWER LINES: Poetry Foundation’s Spring 2025 Season

-
-
quoteRight
We thunder while our teeth
talk.
quoteLeft
— Elise Paschen

Twenty-five years ago, the Guild Complex, a grassroots Chicago literary organization, celebrated its first decade with Power Lines, an unexpectedly mighty anthology with a who’s who cast of poetry giants, many still early in their careers at the time. The Poetry Foundation’s spring 2025 season pays homage to this Midwest legacy and, following its example, takes as its theme POWER LINES: Lineage as a Source of Collective Power. 

Power lines run through our veins, an energetic current connecting us to the past, fueling us toward the futures of our imaginations. Regenerate with us.

Events

Archive(s) of Style

-
HybridmapMarker
A poetry reading featuring Cheryl Clarke, Harmony Holiday, Natalia Molebatsi, and Nikki Patin.
Events

Like a Hammer: Poets on Mass Incarceration

-
HybridmapMarker
A book launch featuring readings by contributors Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Nicole Sealey, John Murillo, Candace Williams, and editor Diana Marie Delgado.
Events

Powertripping

-
HybridmapMarker
An evening of performances and readings by Karen Finley, Jada Renée Allen, Odette Stout, and Ruby Que with Ále Campos.
Events

Blood Wolf Moon

-
In PersonmapMarker
An evening of poetry readings by Elise Paschen and Esther Belin plus artist talks by June Carpenter and Lydia Cheshewalla, followed by a reception.
Events

Escaramuza, the Poetics of Home Exhibition Opening 

-
Poetry FoundationmapMarker
Join us for a poetry reading, artist talk, and reception to celebrate the opening of the exhibition Escaramuza, the Poetics of Home. 
Events

Ghost Forest

-
HybridmapMarker
An evening of poetry readings by Ruth Lilly prize winner Kimiko Hahn, Sarah Ghazal Ali, Mónica de la Torre, and Rosalie Moffett.
Events

Power Lines 25th Anniversary Celebration

-
In PersonmapMarker
A 25th anniversary celebration with original contributors and editors of Power Lines: A Decade of Poetry from Chicago’s Guild Complex.
Events

Power Through

-
HybridmapMarker
A poetry reading with Midwest-based authors Oliver Baez Bendorf, Imani Elizabeth Jackson, Nathanael Jones, Vi Khi Nao, and Ruben Quesada.

In addition, our adult education program offers free workshops with visiting teaching artists open to the general public. Registration for these workshops opens a month in advance. 

Events

Forms & Features Community Reading

-
VirtualmapMarker
An online poetry reading featuring community participants from the Poetry Foundation's Forms & Features workshop series.

Stay tuned as this page is updated with additional upcoming events in the season.