POETRY EVENT -chicago - this WEEK

POETRY OFF THE SHELF Claudia Rankine: "An American Lyric" Saturday, October 31, 2:00 PM Northwestern University School of Law Thorne Auditorium 375 East Chicago Avenue

Tickets available at chicagohumanitiesfestival.org.

Claudia Rankine’s Citizen (2014) is an indictment of contemporary times. Using a poetic frame, the poet uncovers an insidious racism embedded in the everyday – from the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, to the lecture halls of the ivory tower. As Rankine’s observations move from bewilderment to disappointment to quiet ire, Citizen leaves readers unsettled, moved, and changed with every page.

POETRY ON STAGE Claudia Rankine’sCitizen: Poetry in Performance Saturday, October 31, 7:30 PM Museum of Contemporary Art Edlis Neeson Theater 220 East Chicago Avenue

Tickets available at chicagohumanitiesfestival.org.

As the country continues to reel from unending stories of police brutality and violence, hip-hop historian Jeff Chang(Can’t Stop Won’t Stop), jazz musician David Boykin, sound artist Christine Hume, scholar Lauren Berlant, and poetRoger Reeves, among others join Claudia Rankine for a powerful performance that reflects on race in the United States today.

YOUNG PEOPLE'S POET LAUREATE Jacqueline Woodson:Brown Girl Dreaming Sunday, November 1, 2:00 PM First United Methodist Church 77 West Washington Street

Tickets available for free at chicagohumanitiesfestival.org.

Jacqueline Woodson takes to the stage for a conversation about her life and influences. Brown Girl Dreaming (2014), Woodson’s memoir in verse, is a rich, poignant description of life as a black child in the 1960s. Her memoir has won both a National Book Award for Young People and the Newbery Honor. In 2015, Woodson was named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation.