Long before the Obamas and Oprah, Chicago had been deemed a cultural hub of the Midwest. I recently discovered that The Poetry Foundation, publisher of the highly esteemed Poetry magazine, has created a wonderful online poetry tour of the Windy City. This twenty-two part series not only combines maps, images and audio, but also has many poets reading their own work and discussing the Chicago poetry scene, past and present. It is thrilling to hear Gwendolyn Brooks read, and surprising to find the voice I have in my head differs drastically to what she actually sounds like when reading her work.
Go ahead, listen to it while you are supposed to be working at that boring office job, or if you are one of the funemployed. A wise artist once said, “If it is fun, it shouldn’t cost anything!” You’ll be happy to know this tour is F-R-E-E!
