Black Poetry Day Readings & Reflections
About This Event
Join us for a free poetry reading featuring Chicago poets in honor of National Black Poetry Day! Admission is free for this program, which includes access to all of our exhibits at no additional cost.
October 17 is annually recognized as National Black Poetry Day to celebrate the contributions of Black poets and writers throughout this country’s history. It is celebrated on this day to honor the birth date of Jupiter Hammon, the first Black poet to be published in the United States in 1760. Learn more here.
Presented in partnership with the Guild Literary Complex, local Chicago poets will present readings from their favorite Black poets, emceed by Faylita Hicks. Additional readers include:
Wesley Frazier Keys
Kenyatta Rogers
Kira Tucker
Lotus Fulton
This program is offered to coincide with the Loop Arts District Festival. The AWM will be present during the festival, where we will explore the legacy of Black poets and engage with their work through interactive activations based on current and past exhibits, most notably Dark Testament: A Century of Black Writers on Justice.
RSVP today to reserve your spot!
About the Venue
American Writers Museum
As one of the most unique Chicago museums downtown, our mission is to celebrate the enduring influence of American writers on our history, identity, culture, and daily lives. American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. As the only museum devoted to American writers and their works, AWM connects visitors with their favorite authors and writings from more than five centuries, while inspiring the discovery of new works of every type – poetry, lyrics, speeches, drama, fiction, nonfiction, journalism, and more. The authors and works we present are not meant to be a definitive list of who is the greatest or most influential. Instead, we present authors and works as part of a continuum that will grow and change. We hope you will visit us often to see what authors and works come next! The American Writers Museum owes its existence to the vision, passion and tenacity of its founder, Malcolm O’Hagan. We are forever indebted to Malcolm for his generosity and his enduring belief that America’s great writers deserve a home all their own.
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