Presenting free poetry events, writing workshops, a new exhibition, and more.

CHICAGO, Aug. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Poetry Foundation announces its roster of free public events for the fall 2025 season under the theme "Facing Life." Inspired by its new art exhibition, the event season highlights visual art in interpretation of poetry, poets from Chicago and abroad, music, and new poetic forms.

Life and Poetry, Head-On
"Facing Life I take up this unbridled cry," exclaimed Peruvian poet and activist Magda Portal, whose life and work inspired the exhibition Victoria Martinez: Frente a la vida / Facing Life. Through murals, ceramic paintings, and a panorama that makes use of the Poetry Foundation's architecture, Martinez transforms the space into an expressive, abstracted terrain. On September 20, the Poetry Foundation will celebrate the opening of the exhibition with a conversation between artist Victoria Martinez and writer Nicole Kaack. 

On September 25, the Poetry Foundation partners with European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) for Chicago Transatlantic, a multilingual poetry reading in celebration of European Day of Languages. The event explores cultural exchange and the expansive linguistic and immigrant heritages of Chicago. Readers include Nick Makoha and Raymond Antrobus, contributors from the Black British Poetry folio in Poetry magazine's September issue.

On December 4, Chicago Poet Laureate avery r. young presents Chicago Soul Poem: A City That Writes Together. Throughout his laureateship, young invited Chicagoans to pay tribute to a person, place, or thing that is indicative of the Second City through the form of a soloem, a new poetic form he created. The event will include live performances and a screening of videos from Chicagoans who submitted soloems to the project.

"Like a mural, our season showcases the many faces of poetry's 'human sea' in Chicago and the Midwest," said public programs manager and season curator, Noa Micaela Fields. "Together we practice facing ourselves more honestly, while also facing the world and refusing to look away."

Poetry Can Be a Party
Music and spoken word are front and center on October 16 for the first anniversary of the Rapbrary, a Chicago archive preserving hip-hop as a literary art form. Rapbrary founder, rapper, and librarian Roy Kinsey curates an evening featuring Chicago artists Mister Wallace, J Bambii, Darius Caffey, and Mason Pippenger, and the inaugural Rapbrary Awards.

On October 24, the 2025 recipients of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, Pegasus Award for Service in Poetry, and Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism, who will be announced on September 10 and honored in a ceremony on October 23, come to the Poetry Foundation for a Pegasus Public Reading. Poetry lovers won't want to miss this opportunity to engage with this year's esteemed Pegasus Award honorees.

The season closes on December 11 when poets Pádraig Ó Tuama and E. Ethelbert Miller join the Fulcrum Point New Music Project for their 27th annual Peace Concert at Fourth Presbyterian Church.

These are just a glimpse into the Poetry Foundation's many offerings throughout the fall 2025 season; please subscribe to the Poetry Foundation's newsletters and visit PoetryFoundation.org/Events for the most up-to-date listings.

About the Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation recognizes the power of words to transform lives. The Foundation works to amplify poetry and celebrate poets by fostering spaces for all to create, experience, and share poetry. Follow the Poetry Foundation and Poetry magazine on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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SOURCE Poetry Foundation