Submissions Now Open for the 2025 Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards (GBOMA)
We’re excited to announce that submissions are now open for the 2025 Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards (GBOMA)! This annual poetry competition celebrates the legacy of Illinois’ former Poet Laureate, […]
Guild Literary Complex Awarded Sustainable Futures Grant from the Poetry Foundation
We are honored to share that the Guild Literary Complex has been selected as one of 12 organizations nationwide to receive a Sustainable Futures Grant from the Poetry Foundation. This […]
“Power Lines” Named Top Literary Event in Chicago for May 2025 by Newcity Lit
Newcity Lit has named our upcoming event, Power Lines Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Celebration, the top literary event in Chicago for May 2025! Presented in partnership with the Poetry Foundation and the […]
Congratulations to Guild Complex Board President, Faylita Hicks, for Being Named a 2025 Writing Freedom Fellow!
We are proud to announce that our very own Board President, Faylita Hicks, has been named one of the 2025 Writing Freedom Fellows by Haymarket Books and the Mellon Foundation. This prestigious […]
Poetry Foundation Spring Event Season Celebrates Lineages, Collective Power, and the Midwest
CHICAGO, February 5, 2025—The Poetry Foundation announces its roster of free public events for the spring 2025 season under the theme “Power Lines,” inspired by the landmark anthology of the same […]
Deadline Extended: Call for Proposals for SAY THEIR NAMES
In partnership with Guild Literary Complex and with the support of Healing Illinois, NON:op announces a call for proposals for commissioned responses to SAY THEIR NAMES. The commission is for two to three […]
The Guild Literary Complex Announces Faylita Hicks As New Board Chair + Programming Hiatus
New Board Chair The Guild Literary Complex announced Tuesday that critically-acclaimed author and Art for Justice Grantee Faylita Hicks has been elected Chair of the Guild Literary Complex’s Board of […]
Nikki Patin Nominated for 2024 Pushcart Award
Congratulations to Nikki Patin for her 2024 Pushcart nomination for Working on Me. The Guild was honored to host her book launch in April, and she was one of our 2019 Writers to Watch.
Guild Complex Celebrates Recent Grant Awards
The Guild Complex is excited to announce the recent award of several grants, including those from DCASE, the Field Foundation’s ART (A Road Together) program, the Illinois Arts Council, Illinois Humanities, the Crossroads Fund, and the Poetry Foundation.
Guild Complex Nominated for Best Poetry Organization in Chicago Reader!
The Guild Complex has been nominated (again!) for Best Poetry Organization under Arts and Culture in The Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago 2024.
Guild Complex @ Printers Row Lit Fest | 2023
Join us at Printers Row Lit Fest from September 9-10! The Guild Complex is excited to host and participate in a suite of events, including: Exhibit B @ Printers Row […]
BrooksDay 2023
June 7, 2023 marked the 10th anniversary of BrooksDay, the Guild Literary Complex’s annual celebration of Gwendolyn Brooks. This year, we joined forces with the Poetry Foundation to additionally celebrate […]
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: One Poem, One Chicago
June 2023 One Poem, One Chicago, an opportunity to engage Chicagoans in poetry and foster a sense of community through reading, will launch with a reissue of Gwendolyn Brooks’s landmark […]
2023 Programming Intern
The Programming Intern will assist the Guild Literary Complex in planning, outreach, and administration related to its core annual programs. This internship will be project-based, and the intern will gain […]
4.8.23 | “From the Mississippi Delta” Sneak Peek
Part of Lifeline’s season programming, join the actors, director and a member of the production team discussing the process with an excerpt from the play From the Mississippi Delta. A Q+A will follow with guest co-facilitator: Andrea Change, executive director, Guild Literary Complex.
2017 Author’s Challenge Grant is here!
Dear Friends of the Guild, The 2017 Author’s Challenge Grant is here! For us, our camaraderie with authors here in Chicago is one of the brightest and most powerful reasons […]
Each Other’s Harvest, Annual Summit on Homelessness
Each Other’s Harvest, Annual Summit on Homelessness A 2017 Guild Literary Complex Applied Words Program Wilson Abbey 935 West Wilson Avenue, Uptown, Chicago, IL 60640 This event is free and […]
Transnational Poetics, Reading and Conversation | Chopin Theatre | Nov. 5, 2017 | 6:00 PM
THE GUILD PRESENTS A CONVERSATION ON TRANSNATIONAL POETICS Sunday November 5th 2017, 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM Chopin Theatre, 1543 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60642 STUART COOKE | NATANIA ROSENFELD | […]
Arts in the Dark Chicago with the Guild | October 21st
Arts in the Dark with the Guild and Partners — we are looking for marchers! Here is an opportunity to celebrate the literary arts! The Guild Literary Complex is looking […]
Brooks In Translation | Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Brooks In Translation | Wednesday, October 18, 2017 Come for a night of bilingual Brooks with poetry, music, conversation, and more! Join the Guild Literary Complex in partnership with Our […]
Wicker Park Lit Fest Community Book Swap! Sunday, September 17
We’re baaaaaack. Your friendly Wicker Park Lit partners are back at the Farmers’ Market. Sunday, September 17th | 9:00–13:00 Wicker Park – Chicago Park District 1425 N. Damen Avenue, Chicago, […]
Community in Place – Audrey Petty & Vida Cross, Sunday Sept 17th
Sunday Sept 17th, 6:30 PM- 8:00 PM Volumes Bookscafe | 1474 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60622 Join The Guild Literary Complex and Partner Volumes Bookcafe during Wicker Park Lit […]
Falling for Gwendolyn Brooks — This Sunday, September 17th!
Falling for Gwendolyn Brooks! With Brooks Permissions Sunday, September 17th, 2017 4:30-6:30 PM The celebration of the Gwendolyn Brooks centennial continues with a special look at the fall section of […]
GBOMA Submissions are OPEN! Deadline extended to Sept 10th –get moving folks
Exciting Announcement 24th Annual Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards 2017 SUBMISSIONS Extended to Sunday, September 10th at 11:59 PM! The Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Award competition is open to Illinois […]
Lisa Wagner talks with Dipika Mukherjee, Sonal Shukla, and Samantha Hoffman at the American Writers Museum, August 1 2017 | 5:00-7:00 PM
Tuesday, August 1st, 2017 | 5:00-7:00 PM at the American Writers Museum Join us for a reading and signing with Dipika Mukherjee (Shambala Junction), winner of the Virginia Prize for Fiction winner, […]
July 20th, Making the West Side: Community Conversations on Neighborhood Change
‘The Collection is dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the people of the West Side of Chicago” – Guildworks: Writings by the West Side Writers Guild, 1996 Join The Guild, OMB 100 […]
July Applied Words Rescheduled
Our July Applied Words (originally scheduled for July 10) has been moved to the Fall due to the likelihood of inclement weather, as well as the request of our moderator. […]
A Very Special Palabra Pura with Latinx Poets Dr. Grisel Acosta & Vincent Toro, June 22, 7:00-9:00 PM
Join us for a very special Palabra Pura with Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta and Vincent Toro–two amazing Latinx poets in from NYC!–as we talk about memory, language and the way […]
Let the 50th Celebrations Begin: Guild Books Remembered, Lit Forward
Let the 50th Celebrations Begin: Guild Books Remembered, Lit Forward We are kicking off the 50th anniversary celebrations of Guild Books’s beginning. When, you ask? Sunday, May 21, 2017! 2 to […]
Palabra Pura in May: We are the Night, “Sanctuary”
Poesía del “Santuario” Pasa abril llenando el mes con poesía, pasa abril dejando el gusto verde de los versos, cuando se despierta la maleza y las alergias, los poemas y […]