We host workshops and readings
led by established poets.
Linda Wallin © 2017
March
Open Mic
Saturday, March 25
3 – 4:30 p.m. (CST)
Via Zoom
FREE
Deadline to RSVP:
Monday, March 20
Open Mic Celebrating Women’s History Month
Saturday, March 25, 2023
3 – 4:30 p.m. (CST)
The theme is Women’s History Month commemorating and encouraging the study, observance, and celebration of the vital role of women in American history. Poets are encouraged to read poems inspired by this theme, but you are welcome to read any poem that moves you.
The event is open for all members and non-members, but only members are eligible to read.
To attend or to read at the open mic:
• RSVP by Monday, March 20 by e-mailing charles@24words.com.
• Readers will have up to 4 minutes, depending on the number of participants.
• The order of the readers and time allowed will be provided on Tuesday, March 21.
• A Zoom link will be sent to all those who RSVP.
If you have any questions, please contact Charles at charles@24words.com
Not a Poets & Patrons Member? It's easy to join. Just go to our Membership page to join online.
Past Events
Effective Poetry of Protest Zoom Workshop
Led by Marilyn Taylor
Saturday, February 25, 2023
Virtually everybody who reads poetry nowadays is undoubtedly aware of a vast—and relatively new—sub-category over the past few decades: the poetry of protest or resistance. This workshop was intended to help you avoid many of the potholes, sand-traps and bottomless pits that stand in the way of your poem. Poets submitted poems for critique.
Putting Yourself in Someone Else’s Shoes:
Persona Poems Workshop
Led by Pat Valdata
Saturday, August 27, 2022
In a persona poem, the speaker is someone other than the poet. It’s like playing pretend, with the added goal of revealing something interesting about our speaker. In this workshop, we read examples of persona poems that show how they reveal story and character. We discussed how to apply these techniques to our own work, and then we wrote a short persona poem.
Erasure Poetry Zoom Workshop
Saturday, June 25, 2022
Led by Bill Yarrow
“Erasure poetry is a type of found poetry in which the poet takes an existing source text and creates their own poem by erasing, redacting…or otherwise obscuring the words in the original text. It’s a creative process without any “new” writing.” (https://edgeeffects.net/cfp-the-art-of-erasure-poetry/). Bill Yarrow will discussed erasure poetry and led us in a writing exercise.
Joint Poets & Patrons & Illinois State Poetry Society Zoom Workshop
Haiku Checklist Critique Workshop
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Led by Michael Dylan Welch
Poets were invited to submit two haiku (or senryu) for critique by Michael and the group. Michael’s “Haiku Checklist,” at https://www.graceguts.com/essays/haiku-checklist was provided in advance to participants preparing poems for submission.
Saturday, April 30
I’ve Got a Story For You: A Haibun Workshop
Held in conjunction with Poetry Fest at the Harold Washington Library
Facilitator: Jennifer Hambrick
Participants drafted original haibun for critique. Those who had already written haibun brought haibun drafts for critique.
March 19, 2022
Poetry Open Mic Celebrating Women’s History, via Zoom
Hosted by Charles Kouri, P&P vice president
The theme of this zoom open mic was Women’s History, in celebration of the 101st anniversary of women’s right to vote. Poets were encouraged to read poems inspired by this theme.
February 26, 2022
Creating Effective Haiku
Led by Michael Dylan Welch
The first workshop we have sponsored about the Japanese artform. Led by Michael Dylan Welch, a noted haiku poet and translator from Washington.
August 28, 2021
The Villanelle: a Poetry Zoom Workshop
The villanelle is a poetic form both famous and unknown. Many poets know the villanelle as a workshop exercise and have followed its intricate moves, sometimes ending with a thud and occasionally unleashing the form’s magic. Led by Debra Bruce we did a close reading of some villanelles to better understand what makes this happen.
August 7, 2021
Poetry Open Mic
Poets & Patrons hosted an open mic via Zoom for its members. The event was moderated by
P & P board member, Curt Vevang. Singer / Songwriter Bill Johnson was featured during the intermission.
April 24, 2021
Creating Cento Poems Zoom Workshop
Led by Patrice Boyer Claeys A cento is a poem constructed from lines written by other poets. In this workshop, in addition to critiquing poems that were submitted, Patrice shared her passion for centos and helped us learn how to successfully create cento poems of our own.
April 11, 2021
Open Mic for National Poetry Month
Hosted by Curt Vevang, current members read their poems at the event.
February 27, 2021
Creating Memoir from Linked Poems
Led by Arlyn Miller
August 29, 2020
Variations on a Theme
Led by Mardelle Fortier
February 22, 2020
Travelogue, a workshop on Travel Poetry
Led by Jennifer Dotson and Maureen Tolman Flannery
August 24, 2019
Chaos In Fourteen Lines:
Writing Sonnets In Your Own Words
In Our Own Times
Led by Debra Bruce
June 22, 2019
A Moment in Time
Led by Donna Pucciani and Pamela Miller
April 27, 2019
The Name Game
Led by Gail Goepfert and Patrice Boyer Claeys
February 23, 2019
Noir, Now
Led by Jenene Ravesloot and John O’Connor
August 25, 2018
Time for a Turn
Led by Sandra Marchetti and Krystal Languell Saturday,
June 23, 2018
A Poem in Dialogue with Another Poem
Led by Jan Bottiglieri and Tony Trigilio
April 28, 2018
Verbalize It: How the Best Action Word Can Enliven Your Poem
Led by Poets & Patrons workshop chair Wilda Morris, author of Szechwan Shrimp and Fortune Cookies: Poems from a Chinese Restaurant.
February 24, 2018
Weaving Magic into Poetry
Led by Rockford poet Christine Swanberg, author of The Red Lacquer Room, Who Walks Among the Trees with Charity, The Alleluia Tree, and most recently Wild Fruition: Sonnets, Spells, and Other Incantations.
October 14, 2017
Golden Shovel Workshop
Led by Linda Wallin, president of Poets & Patrons and retired Special Education teacher.
August 26, 2017
Sonnets Are Fun!
Led by Mary Hanford, retired English professor and author of Holding to the Light (poetry), Dr. Sally’s Voodoo Man (novel), and Swimming at Villa Hugel (memoir).
June 18, 2017
Let Art Inspire Your Poetry: How to Be Ekphrastic
Led by Beth McDermott, Assistant Professor of English, St. Francis University, Joliet, and Associate Editor of RHINO
April 29, 2017
Speculative Poetry
Led by Caroline Johnson, Vice President and former President, Poets & Patrons of Chicago, and author of two chapbooks
February 25, 2017
What the Heck is a Prose Poem?
Led by Kathleen Rooney, Co-founder of Rose Metal Press and Senior Professional Lecturer, DePaul University
October 29, 2016
Music as Muse
Led by Wilda Morris, Former President, Illinois State Poetry Society, and Workshop Chair, Poets & Patrons of Chicago
August 27, 2016
Using Fairy Tale, Myth and Legend in Your Poetry
Led by Jennifer Dotson, Program Coordinator, Highland Park Poetry, and winner of Journal of Modern Poetry
Book Award
June 25, 2016
The Shape a Poem Makes
Led by Christine Swanberg, author of three books of poetry, workshop leader at The Clearing, Door County, WI
April 23, 2016
What We Can Learn About Writing Poetry from Shakespeare
Led by William Yarrow, Professor of English,
Joliet Junior College
February 27, 2016
In Praise of Praise Poems
Led by Tom Roby IV, President, Poets Club of Chicago
and creator of The Poetry Wheel, and Jenene Ravesloot, author of three books of poetry
October 17, 2015
Surrealist Game Poetry
Led by Pamela Larson, poet, artist and photographer
August 22, 2015
Musical Matters
Led by Debra Bruce, Professor Emeritus, Northeastern Illinois University, and Andrea Witzke Slot, prize-winning novelist, poet and essayist
June 27, 2015
Writing the Spiritual Poem
Led by Judith Valente, winner of the Aldrich Poetry Prize and a Catholic Book Award, and correspondent for PBS
April 25, 2015
Love Poetry with an Attitude
Led by Marilyn Taylor, former Poet Laureate of Wisconsin
February 28, 2015
Confessional Poetry
Led by Albert DeGenova, publisher and editor of
After Hours
October 25, 2014
The Fun Art of Haiku & Senryu
Led by Charlotte Digregorio, Midwest Coordinator,
Haiku Society of America and author of Haiku and
Senryu: a Simple Guide for All
August 23, 2014
Ekphrastic Poetry: Writing Poetry about Other Forms of Art
Led by Donna Vorreyer, author of 5 chapbooks and two full-length manuscripts, and Cynthia Gallaher, designated by Chicago Public Library as among its “Ten Top Requested Chicago Poets”
June 28, 2014
The Short Poem
Led by William Marr, author of more than 20 books of poetry and former President, Illinois State Poetry Society, and Patrick Dunn, Associate Professor of English,
Aurora University
April 26, 2017
Writing Chicago
Led by Caroline Johnson, author of two chapbooks, and Wilda Morris, author of Szechwan Shrimp and Fortune Cookies: Poems from a Chinese Restaurant
February 22, 2014
Persona Poems
Led by Martha Modena Vertreace-Doody, Distinguished Professor of English and Poet-in-Residence at Kennedy-King College, and Donna Pucciani, widely published, award-winning poet