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. 

Septembers featured poet are Amari Amai and semaj zion.

About semaj zion

semaj zion is a multi-hyphenate poet, musician, writer, dreamer, and remember-er. the origins of their artistry are rooted in the discipline of ancestral veneration. 

semaj zion comes from a found family of poets, musicians,  and witches known as LX, from Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep. This found family created a space inside semaj zion to imagine and explore what art could be, and what it can do for the living and for the dead. 

Coming from a legacy of giants such as Toni Morrison, Prince, Gwendolyn Brooks, Jamila Woods, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, B.B King, Eartha Kitt, and Miles Davis to name a few, semaj zion aims to blend their seemingly disjointed interests into something worth living for and sharing.