Poetry Foundation

The Poetry Foundation recognizes the power of words to transform lives and works to amplify poetry and celebrate poets by fostering spaces for all to create, experience, and share poetry. Located in River North, Chicago, the Foundation is the publisher of Poetry magazine, founded in Chicago by Harriet Monroe in 1912.

The Foundation building at 61 West Superior Street houses a poetry library with over 30,000 volumes, a beautiful gallery space for exhibitions, and a performance space for events. Designed by Chicago firm John Ronan Architects, the building opened in June 2011 and has been widely praised for helping the Foundation carry out its mission.

The Poetry Foundation hosts free public events including poetry readings, musical performances, artist collaborations, literary festivals, staged plays, lectures, book clubs, workshops, and celebrations of poetry. All events are open to the public with live captioners (CART) and American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters available, and many offer opportunities to connect virtually from anywhere.

Exhibition programming features rotating displays that interpret poetry through visual art. Recent exhibitions have included works responding to various poets and poetic traditions, featuring collaborations with visual artists and multimedia installations. The gallery transforms to showcase the intersection of poetry and visual arts.

The Foundation offers educational programming including writing workshops and community partnerships. Special events celebrate milestones in poetry such as National Poetry Month, poet laureate inaugurations, and literary award ceremonies including the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize and Pegasus Awards. The Pegasus Room is available to nonprofit cultural and arts organizations for private meetings.