About this Event
Join us for a poetry event with Rob Macaisa Colgate, Gabrielle Grace Hogan, Chen Chen, & Sam Herschel Wein!
Winner—Chicago Review of Books “CHIRBy” Award for Poetry
“Dazzling. . . . An extraordinary document in care, mutual aid, and access.”—Claudia Rankine
An imaginative and unforgettable debut poetry collection about the joys and complexities of the disability community from 2024 Ruth Lilly fellow Rob Macaisa Colgate.
Brilliant and innovative, Rob Macaisa Colgate’s debut poetry collection, Hardly Creatures, takes the form—visually and metaphorically—of an accessible art museum. Through nine sections that act as gallery rooms, the book shepherds the reader through the radiance and mess of the disability community.
At the heart of the collection is an exploration and recognition of access intimacy. Marked with universal access symbols to guide the way, poems mimic sensory rooms, tactile replicas, benches for resting, and more; “the body of a poem” itself is reimagined through formal experimentation, as abecedarians are scrambled out of order and sestinas are pressurized into new sequences. These poems also play with pop culture allusions, social media posts, and the infinite possibilities within queer love and deep friendships. With lyrical clarity and attention to language, Hardly Creatures reaches out and offers inventive, heartfelt insights for all readers, and celebrates the disability community through the lens of a visionary new voice in poetry.
Chen Chen and Sam Herschel Wein are poets who love to frolic, collaborate, and eat dim sum together. They are the authors of two chapbooks, GESUNDHEIT! (Glass Poetry, 2019) and the forthcoming LOVE THAT FOR US (& Change, 2026). They co-edit Underblong, which they co-founded, in their non-cohabitating co-creative lives. They have both published a lot of their own stuff too, but that’s for a different bio.
Gabrielle Grace Hogan (she/her) and Rob Macaisa Colgate (he/she/they) both received their MFAs from the New Writers Project at UT Austin. They both serve as poetry editors at Foglifter, both work silly day jobs, and both live in Logan Square with their cats and gay partners. Not to be that guy, but they were both lowkey early to Chappell Roan.
Accessibility: This event is hosted at the bookstore, which is a wheelchair accessible space. Masks are required. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis. To request ASL interpretation for this event, please email [email protected] by no later than 14 days before the event. For other access needs please email .
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Women & Children First, 5233 North Clark Street, Chicago, United States
USD 0.00
