The Chicago Poetry Center presents BLUE HOUR, a free monthly in-person reading series and generative writing workshop. Our April featured readers are Diego Baez and Samyak Shertok.
Each event takes place at Haymarket House (800 W. Buena) and includes a brief open mic followed by two featured poets. Pre-registration is free and recommended. The open mic includes five readers drawn lottery-style from a hat that goes out at 7:15. The reading starts promptly at 7:30. Each open mic poet reads one poem or for three minutes, whichever comes first.

EVENT DETAILS FOR April 15:
* Workshop (registration required) begins promptly at 6 p.m., ends at 7 p.m.
* Performance space doors open and open mic sign-up begins at 7 p.m.
* Reading (registration recommended but not required) begins at 7:30, followed by community gathering time.
* Reading registration is free; the workshop is sliding scale with a suggested donation of $10.
* Register for the workshop: https://BHWorkshopApril2026.eventbrite.com
* Get your ticket for the reading: https://April2026BlueHour.eventbrite.com
* Livestream is available here. (Register for livestream reminders: https://April2026livestream.eventbrite.com)

ABOUT THE READING:
The Blue Hour reading features readings by two poets from Chicago and beyond, preceded by a five person lottery-style open mic and followed by community gathering time.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:
The Blue Hour generative writing workshop is suitable for writers and poetry fans of all levels. We will discuss a poem together, then Marty will guide the group through individual writing on an exploratory prompt that draws on themes from the poem.

ABOUT THE SPACE:
Accessibility, Health, & Safety:
– All restrooms at Haymarket House are gender-neutral, including single-user and stalled restrooms.
– Each event includes ASL interpretation. Haymarket House is ADA compliant and fully wheelchair-accessible; email curator@poetrycenter.org to ensure ramp access and with any other accessibility needs.
– Masks are strongly encouraged for all indoor events, and the space is equipped with a professional air filtration system.

APRIL FEATURES:

Diego Báez is a writer, educator, and abolitionist. He is the author of Yaguareté White (Univ. Arizona, 2024), a finalist for The Georgia Poetry Prize and a semi-finalist for the Berkshire Prize for Poetry. A recipient of fellowships from CantoMundo, the Surge Institute, the Poetry Foundation Incubator for Community-Engaged Poets, and DreamYard’s Rad(ical) Poetry Consortium, Diego’s poems have previously appeared or are forthcoming in Freeman’s, Poetry Northwest, and Latino Poetry: A New Anthology. Book reviews have appeared at Booklist, Harriet, Letras Latinas Blog 2, and The Boston Globe. Essays and other non-fiction have been published in The Georgia Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, and Los Angeles Review of Books. Diego lives in Chicago and teaches poetry, English composition, and first-year seminars at the City Colleges, where he is an Assistant Professor of Multidisciplinary Studies.

Samyak Shertok’s debut collection, “No Rhododendron,” was selected by Kimiko Hahn for the 2024 AWP Donald Hall Prize for Poetry and is forthcoming from the University of Pittsburgh Press (Pitt Poetry Series) in 2025. His poems appear in The Cincinnati Review, The Gettysburg Review, The Iowa Review, The Kenyon Review, POETRY, Shenandoah, Best New Poets, and elsewhere. His honors include the Robert and Adele Schiff Award for Poetry, the Gulf Coast Prize in Poetry, and the Auburn Witness Poetry Prize. Originally from Nepal, he was the inaugural Hughes Fellow in Poetry at Southern Methodist University and teaches creative writing at Hendrix College.

ABOUT THE HOST:
Marty McConnell is a poet, educator, and healer based in Chicago. She is the author of when they say you can’t go home again, what they mean is you were never there, winner of the 2017 Michael Waters Poetry Prize; her first full-length collection, wine for a shotgun, received the Silver Medal in the Independent Publishers Awards and was a finalist for both the Audre Lorde Award and a Lambda Literary Award. Her first nonfiction book, Gathering Voices: Creating a Community-Based Poetry Workshop, is available through YesYes Books. She is the co-creator and co-editor of underbelly, a web site focused on the art and magic of poetry revision. An MFA graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including Best American Poetry, Southern Humanities Review, Gulf Coast, and Indiana Review.

Accessibility: ASL Interpretation, Wheelchair Accessible

Website: https://www.poetrycenter.org/blue-hour-2025-2026-season/