2019: Gwendolyn Brooks

One City, One Poet is back 2019 with big plans for National Poetry Month. Our featured poet this April will be the inimitable Gwendolyn Brooks, a Pulitzer Prize–winning Chicago poet whose work is both widely read and deeply influential.

(Unaffiliated with the Gwendolyn Brooks estate.)

Some Events

Poetry Writing Workshop with Timothy David Rey
April 6 • 1–3 p.m. • Ethereal Confections • $30
Get your tickets here .

Yoga and Poetry
April 7 • 1–3 p.m. • The Yoga Lounge • $25 in advance, $30 at the door
Register here.

Poetry and Wellness Workshop
April 13 • 10-11:30 a.m. • Woodstock Public Library • Free
Register here.

Follow the Atrocious Poet — Pub Crawl
April 26 • 6-10:30 p.m. • Check in at Read Between the Lynes • $20
Buy tickets here.

Wild Woodstock Walk (a collaboration with the Land Conservancy of McHenry County)
April 27 • 10 a.m. • Donato Conservation Area • Free; no registration required

One City, One Poet Finale Party
April 27 • 7–9 p.m. • Old Courthouse Arts Center • Free

Cut poems from air: poetry inspired by gwendolyn brooks

Our inaugural poetry contest brought out some excellent poems from poets across the country. We’ll be publishing the winners’ work individually as broadsides and collectively as a chapbook. Broadsides will be available early April.

The grand prize winner is “Back Then, Gwendolyn Brooks” by Kathy Z. Price.

The finalists (in random order) are:

"We Real Chill” by Terry Dugan

“hiraeth” by Mia Willis

"Before I Complain” by D.E. Sievers

"Unite in the Brilliant Light” by Kobina Wright

"Gen Y Love Poem I” by Phill Provance

“Covenant” by Tim Stiles

"Bronzeville Women” by Kimberly Reyes

"Mother Jimmie Ruth Holloway” by Myron Stokes

"Casting Off” by Karen Mandell

"Been Buried” by Alex Shapiro

"The Sweater” by Roger Sippl

"sonnets for the restless” by Sheena Raza Faisal