PROGRAMS
Applied Words
The Applied Words program explores contemporary issues through a multidisciplinary lens. Poetry readings are paired with performances from other creative mediums, such as dance, theatre, and visual art.
By experiencing how different methods of artistic exploration intersect, attendees come away with a refreshed vocabulary for talking about old problems and a renewed sense of understanding and overcoming.
Past Applied Words Events:
April 7, 6:00 – 8:00pm CDT, Virtual Event
This reading was a part of the Guild Literary Complex’s Applied Words series of multidisciplinary events and conversations on contemporary social issues.
The work of these writers is informed by backgrounds, experiences, and research that reach across national borders. The memories and histories of persecution, migration, exile, and assimilation threaded through these authors’ poetry and prose are a welcome reminder that American writing is always already global.
Featuring: Dipika Mukherjee, Ines Bellina , Michael Zapata, Sahar Mustafah, Frances de Pontes Peebles, Fabiola Werlang
March 25, 2021:
The second Exhibit B of 2021 featured incredible performances from artists Jose Hernandez Diaz, Emily Martin, Ian Wojcikiewicz, and Shailen Mishra.
February 22, 2021: The Guild Literary Complex brought together some of the BIPOC writers from our 30 Writers to Watch to read a couple of pieces, chat about their work, and discuss how they’re charting their paths in an industry more embracing of their stories.
Featuring: Justin Howard Rosier, Nate Marshall, Ciara Miller, Nikki Patin, and Mojdeh Stoakley.
Magnitude and Bond – 2018
Creative Freedom: Writing In and Out of Prison – 2019
Segregation and Education in Chicago – 2017
Chicago, IL 60647 United States
« All Events Cocktails & Conversation 05/30/2025 @ 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM CDT Epiphany Center for the Arts Eric Charles May Recently retired, Eric Charles May is an associate […]
Chicago, Illinois 60608 United States
A special conversation and reading with award-winning authors Ananda Lima and Daniel Borzutzky about their latest releases, moderated by poet Alex Wells Shapiro.
Chicago, Illinois 60608
Exhibit B will be joined by artists using the Democratic Party platform as a prompt. We are proud to be part of DEMOCRAZY FEST going on from Aug 8-18th at […]
Chicago, Illinois 60608
Reading and panel discussion with book author, Marguerite L. Harrold along with Khari B, Discopoet, Founder of The Debauchery Ball and veteran House music DJ Michael Ikechukwu Ezebuku. Including a […]
Caring for ourselves helps us to be more present in the world. Becoming aware of those areas where we might need additional support and asking for help can be scary but, […]
Chicago, Illinois
A Map of My Want follows a nonbinary femme on their long walk home from a rural county jail as they contemplate how threesomes, quantum mechanics, beaches and nature hikes led […]
Join us for the book launch of Girl Work (Noemi, 2024) with author Zefyr Lisowski, featuring performances from Kemi Alabi, Donna "Dante" Marie Gary, and Robin Reid Drake, hosted by […]
Chicago, Illinois
Join author Fulla Abdul-Jabbar in conversation with Mika Yamamoto for a celebration of her new book, Who Loves the Sun, with performances from Samara Huggins and Sonnenzimmer. Who Loves the Sun begins as a study of the […]
Chicago, Illinois
Join the Guild Complex, RHINO Poetry, Kundiman, and Luya Poetry for a celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander month with an evening of poetry readings from AAPI poets. ***We ask that all in-person attendees wear masks […]
Chicago, Illinois
Christopher Stewart's latest book, What Came After is a poetic walk through grief, memory, and mental illness from a child perspective to adult understanding. It peers at life through the stain of […]
Chicago, Illinois
Join us for poetry and stories of the collective breath held by a grieving world and to celebrate Elsewhere: An Elegy with author Faisal Mohyuddin. "Faisal Mohyuddin’s Elsewhere: An Elegy is a memory palace of rooms […]
Chicago, IL United States
As writers, celebrating culture through our work is as easy as sitting across the table from grandma. That ancestral influence is undeniable, but for some it is more intentional. It […]
Chicago, IL United States
If your goal is to get over that writer's block and finally tell your story--hoodoo can help! Participants will walk away with a basic understanding of how to read tarot, […]
Chicago, Illinois
For National Poetry Month, the Guild Complex offers a special program featuring the newly minted Indiana State poet Laureate Curtis Crisler, alongside the current Illinois Poet Laureate and the most […]
Chicago, Illinois 60622
Join us for the book release event for Nikki Patin's new memoir, Working on Me. The event will include a reading and discussion with Denise Ruiz, owner and founder of […]
Chicago, Illinois
Author, Kathy Osberger will read from her new book I Surrender: A Memoir of Chile's Dictatorship, 1975, which chronicles her experiences in Chile two years into the violent authoritarian reign of General Pinochet. […]
Chicago, Illinois 60614
In collaboration with the Chicago History Museum, The Guild Complex celebrates 30 years of AlwaysRunning—the debut novel by author, poet, and founder/publisher of Tia Chucha Press, Luis J Rodriguez. There […]
Chicago, Illinois 60616
In honor of AAPI Month, the South Asia Institute and the Guild Literary Complex bring you TAKING ROOT. This arts event features an exhibition tour, poetry, music, book signing, and […]
Chicago, Illinois 60642
This program explores the poetics inspired by From the Mississippi Delta. Saunte Harden-Tate, Nikki Patin, Mojdeh Stoakley and members of the Guild Complex will perform works written by Nina Simone, […]
Chicago, Illinois 60626 United States
This event is one of several community events, performances and conversations supporting Lifeline Theatre and Pegasus Theatre Chicago’s production FROM THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA. For more details about the production and […]
Chicago, IL 60657 United States
In a city—let alone a world—of vast geographies, identities, experience and more, how do we understand our place? Using personal stories, our guest authors will navigate the territory of belonging […]
Chicago, IL 60610 United States
For this Applied Words event, we ask our featured artists to give us a dose of health-connected stories of the body and/or mind. Tonight's line-up includes two "Writers to Watch," […]
Friday, April 25, 7:00 p.m. Facets Multimedia 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. (Note: The same program takes place at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 26.) Al-Sheikh, Maarouf Voices of Protest, […]
Chicago, 60602 United States
Wednesday, April 23 6:00 p.m. Chicago Temple Building, Pierce Hall Helge Lunde 77 W Washington Street FREE Safe, But Not Silent: How ICORN helps persecuted writers A public talk by […]
Schubas Tavern 3159 N. Southport Ave. From left to right: Paul Gorski, Joe Austin II, PhD, Stephanie Levi (Curator), Anne Yoder, Vojislav Pejović. FROM THE CURATOR, STEPHANIE LEVI, PhD: I […]