The Poetry Salon at City Lit Books

Join us for the September installment of The Poetry Salon at City Lit Books in the heart of Logan Square. The open mic is open to all poets and sign-up begins at 6:15 and readings begin at 6:30. The feature poets this month are Lauren DeJulio Bell and Maud Lavin.
Lauren DeJulio Bell is a Chicago educator, writer, and actor. She teaches multiple courses in the Honors College and College of Education at the University of Illinois Chicago, including one entitled Who Tells Our Stories? Exploring Culture & Humanity through Graphic Novels, Poetry, & Young Adult Literature.
An emerging poet, Lauren leads a writing group every April (30 Poems in 30 Days) for National Poetry Month and shares her work in numerous open mics throughout the city. She is the co-editor of a short story collection, Growing Up Chicago (released 15 May 2022), and is currently working on a poetry book centered on the multiple layers and complexities of being a woman in the world.
Lauren is also involved in the theatre community; she’s a high school theatre teaching artist and is currently acting in a local indie film, “The Wrath.” Her passions include the arts, writing, building community, and advocating for humanity. She loves to chat with anyone who wants to connect and looks forward to future writing and learning!

Writer Maud Lavin’s most recent books are the eco-novel Mermaids and Lazy Activists: A Lake Michigan Tale (From Beyond Press), with a portion of each sale going to the Great Lakes nonprofit FLOW Water Advocates, and the poetry collection Swim Lessons (Tulipwood). She is also the author of Cut with the Kitchen Knife: The Weimar Photomontages of Hannah Höch (Yale UP), named a New York Times Book Review Notable Book; Clean New World (MIT); Push Comes to Shove (MIT); and Silences, Ohio (Cowboy Jamboree); and the editor of three anthologies. Her writing has appeared in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, Dutch, Finnish, and Spanish as well as English. Her work has been supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship and other grants--and residencies at Ragdale and the National University of Singapore.