From Gwendolyn Brooks to avery r. young and Mayda Del Valle, and from Langston Hughes to Jamila Woods and Angela Jackson, Chicago is a city of poets. This summer, meet us on the Arts Lawn at golden hour for Poetry at the Pavilion, a monthly celebration of Chicago’s contemporary poets and the South Side writers who inspired them. 

Each month, the evening begins with two poets or spoken word artists offering an intimate reading of their own work, followed by selections from a Chicago legacy artist of their choice. Then it’s your turn, as the poets lead a guided writing session on the Lawn. Whether you’re a season writer or brand new to crafting a stanza, this creative space is open to all. 

Come listen, get inspired, and put your own pen to paper under the summer sky.

July features poet E’mon Lauren reading her own work and selections from Jamila Woods, and poet Harlem West sharing her work and selections from Patricia Smith and Phillip B Williams. 

E’mon Lauren

E'mon Lauren is a Chicago-based poet, writer, educator, and the city's first Youth Poet Laureate. She is the author of Commando (Haymarket Books) and a contributor to The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic. Her work has appeared in Poetry Magazine, Sixty Inches From Center, and Vogue. She is the director of artistic programming at #LetUsBreathe Collective and the founder of Word Is Bond, a community poetry workshop program rooted in Chicago's West and South Sides.

Harlem West

Harlem Masimba West is a sonic griot, curator, archival image maker from Out South Chicago. Their practice is anchored in analog media, and tethered to the portals that find black folks. Masimba is currently the Visual Arts Curatorial Resident at Elastic Arts, and artist fellow at Spudnik Press and ILA/Kimball Arts Center. Harlem is a Brooklyn Poets Fellow and Earthseed Family Archive fellowship alumni. Their poetry has been featured in the Chicago Reader through the Poetry Foundation, APOGEE journal, and their radio show archive can be found on 10PMradio.com. At their center, Harlem is an eldest sibling doing their best to honor the name they momma gave 'em.