Steppenwolf Theatre Actors
October 15 at 6:00
Art Institute
Free
Actors from Steppenwolf consider what it means to be American.

Cave Canem Poets
October 24 at 6:00
Art Institute
Free
Frank Walker, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Parneshia Jones, and Kelly Norman Ellis introduce their new anthology, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South. Cosponsored with the Poetry Foundation and the Gwendolyn Brooks Center.

Kwame Dawes
January 10 at 6:00
Art Institute
Free
Kwame Dawes spent most of his childhood in Jamaica and now is the programming director of the Calabash International Literary Festival, which takes place there each year. He is Distinguished Poet-in-Residence at the University of South Carolina. Cosponsored with the Poetry Foundation.

Four Notable Latino Poets
January 24 at 6:00
Art Institute
Free
Francisco Aragón, Brenda Cárdenas, Blas Falconer, and Gina Franco read recent writings and comment on their work. A booksigning follows. Cosponsored with the Poetry Foundation.

Robert Pinsky
March 6 at 6:00
Art Institute
Free
In addition to reading selections of his own work, recent Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress Robert Pinsky provides insights into other landmark American poets such as Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. A booksigning follows. Cosponsored with the Poetry Foundation.

Revisiting "Four Saints in Three Acts"
April 24 at 6:00
Art Institute
Free
Four Saints in Three Acts, the opera collaboration of composer Virgil Thomson and writer Gertrude Stein, is examined through production slides, musical excerpts, professional actors, and art commentary. Cosponsored with the Poetry Foundation.

Frank Bidart
May 1 at 6:00
Art Institute
Free
In addition to reading selections of his own work, Wellesley College professor Frank Bidart provides insights into poems by Robert Lowell. A booksigning follows. Cosponsored with the Poetry Foundation.

Edward Hirsch
May 22 at 6:00
Art Institute
Free
Prolific critic, essayist, and poet Edward Hirsch introduces his seventh book of poems, Special Orders, and provides insights into key American painters and poets, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Cole, Jackson Pollock, and William Carlos Williams. A booksigning follows. Cosponsored with the Poetry Foundation.