Chicago Poetry Tour

The Chicago Poetry Tour is a FREE multimedia tour of poetry written in and about the city of Chicago. Featuring the work of a range of Chicago poets past and present—Gwendolyn Brooks, Carl Sandburg, Li-Young Lee, Haki Madhubuti, Harriet Monroe, Sterling Plumpp, Ana Castillo, Stuart Dybek, and many more—and addressing a variety of neighborhoods and landmarks—the Loop, Bronzeville, Bucktown, Maxwell Street, Haymarket, Pilsen, and New Chinatown among them—the tour includes archival and contemporary recordings of poets and scholars, local music, and historic photographs.

In addition to the rich range of poets and poetry showcased, the tour also features Chicago native Scott Simon, who hosts the downtown tour; local musician Bucky Halker, whose music is featured on the Haymarket stop; the late legendary Chicago personality Studs Terkel; professor of Chicago literature Bill Savage; WBEZ’s Richard Steele; slam poetry founder Marc Smith; and wood-cut illustrations by local artist Kathleen Judge. A chance for Chicagoans and tourists alike to explore the history of the city through poetry, the tour can be taken online, or downloaded as mp3 files. With their mp3 players, people can take a guided walking tour of downtown, or visit any of the other tour stops, such as the Green Mill, Newberry Library, Graceland Cemetery, Union Stock Yard Gate, Maxwell Street, or DuSable Museum, as they listen to poetry and commentary and experience Chicago’s architecture, neighborhoods, and landmarks.

The Chicago Poetry Tour, an original production of the Poetry Foundation created in collaboration with Sourcelab, was written and produced by Ed Herrmann.