December 13, 2025 - Catherine-Esther Cowie Poetry Reading + Poetry Open-Mic
Saturday, December 13, 2025
4 - 6 PM
@ Wayfarer Theater Office
1850 Second Street, Highland Park
Highland Park Poetry welcomes Catherine-Esther Cowie as our featured reader.
Catherine-Esther Cowie is a poet, fiction writer, and visual artist. Her debut poetry collection is Heirloom (Carcanet Press, 2025) which was shortlisted for a Forward Poetry Prize as well as the T.S. Eliot Poetry Prize. Her work has been nominated for AWP Intro Journal, a Pushcart Prize, and Best New Poets 2018 and 2019. Her visual art was nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology 2023. Born and raised on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, she currently resides in Illinois. Poetry open-mic follows features. Poets may bring up to 3 short poems to share, though HPP reserves the right to reduce the number read to ensure all participants have an opportunity. Come a few minutes early to sign up for the line-up. *Location* Next door to movie theater. Recommend using Renaissance Place 3-hour free underground parking garage. Stairs in southeast end take you to Second Street or follow signs to movie theater. This is a free event; there is no cover charge. We hope attendees will support the featured poets by purchasing a book as well as support the businesses that support us. Consider seeing a film at Wayfarer Theater before or after.
Catherine-Esther Cowie is a poet, fiction writer, and visual artist. Her debut poetry collection is Heirloom (Carcanet Press, 2025) which was shortlisted for a Forward Poetry Prize as well as the T.S. Eliot Poetry Prize. Her work has been nominated for AWP Intro Journal, a Pushcart Prize, and Best New Poets 2018 and 2019. Her visual art was nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology 2023. Born and raised on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, she currently resides in Illinois. Poetry open-mic follows features. Poets may bring up to 3 short poems to share, though HPP reserves the right to reduce the number read to ensure all participants have an opportunity. Come a few minutes early to sign up for the line-up. *Location* Next door to movie theater. Recommend using Renaissance Place 3-hour free underground parking garage. Stairs in southeast end take you to Second Street or follow signs to movie theater. This is a free event; there is no cover charge. We hope attendees will support the featured poets by purchasing a book as well as support the businesses that support us. Consider seeing a film at Wayfarer Theater before or after.
Upcoming Dates for Readings & Open-Mics at The Wayfarer Theater, 1850 Second Street, Highland Park, IL
January 10, 2026 - Katana Smith & George Jensen
February 14, 2026 - Donna Vorreyer
March 14, 2026 - Mark Turcotte, Illinois Poet Laureate
April 11, 2026 - Melissa Huff & John S. O'Connor
May 9, 2026 - Carol Alfus & Terry Loncaric
June 13, 2026 - Selected poets from The Songs of Summer: Poems About Baseball edited by Tom Erickson & Ed Werstein
July 11, 2026 - Teresa Dzieglewicz & Trudy Kleckner
August 8, 2026 - Lisa Low
September 19, 2026 - 2026 Winner of Prairie State Poetry Prize & Monty Mittleman - Note new date - not our usual second Saturday.
October 10, 2026 - Charlotte Digregorio
November 14, 2026 - TBD
December 12, 2026 - Holiday Open-Mic
If you are interested in becoming a featured poet, please reach out.
Other Local Poetry Events & Opportunities
Make it a full day of poetry and join Highland Park Poetry's reading with Catherine-Esther Cowie + poetry open-mic starting at 4PM - just one block north!
Some of these events are not hosted by Highland Park Poetry but we are pleased to share this information with our friends and followers.
Daily Poems from October 2025
Here are the poems posted on Highland Park Poetry's Facebook page from November 2025.
Thank you to our contributors to this special section: Marie Asner, Amy Barone, Greg Beatty, David W. Berner, Mary Beth Bretzlauf, Monica Cardestam, Pamelyn Casto, Jan Chronister, Linda M. Crate, Laura Daniels, Miranda Dotson, Lynn Fitzgerald, Mardelle Fortier, Bee Jay Grob, Cosmo Jones, Ariel Jastromb, Richard V. Kaufman, Elizabeth Stanley King, Arlene Gay Levine, Fay L. Loomis, Elizabeth Marino, Danielle Martin, Adrian McRobb, Tim Mueller, Carl "Papa" Palmer, Linette Rabsatt, David J. Rogers, Raj Shah, Sharon Suzuki-Martinez, and Peggy Trojan. Please also enjoy our Muses' Gallery. Join us on Facebook and Instagram.
Highland Park Poetry seeks submissions of shorter poems for our Daily Poem posts. Collaborations are welcome as are poems in non-English languages when accompanied by an English translation. Send 1 - 5 short poems as text in an email with "Daily Poem Submissions + your name" in the subject line. If you must, send only a single attachment - either .doc or .pdf. We don't do Google docs. Send to jennifer[at]highlandparkpoetry.org.
Celebrate words and carry poetry in your heart!
Thank you to our contributors to this special section: Marie Asner, Amy Barone, Greg Beatty, David W. Berner, Mary Beth Bretzlauf, Monica Cardestam, Pamelyn Casto, Jan Chronister, Linda M. Crate, Laura Daniels, Miranda Dotson, Lynn Fitzgerald, Mardelle Fortier, Bee Jay Grob, Cosmo Jones, Ariel Jastromb, Richard V. Kaufman, Elizabeth Stanley King, Arlene Gay Levine, Fay L. Loomis, Elizabeth Marino, Danielle Martin, Adrian McRobb, Tim Mueller, Carl "Papa" Palmer, Linette Rabsatt, David J. Rogers, Raj Shah, Sharon Suzuki-Martinez, and Peggy Trojan. Please also enjoy our Muses' Gallery. Join us on Facebook and Instagram.
Highland Park Poetry seeks submissions of shorter poems for our Daily Poem posts. Collaborations are welcome as are poems in non-English languages when accompanied by an English translation. Send 1 - 5 short poems as text in an email with "Daily Poem Submissions + your name" in the subject line. If you must, send only a single attachment - either .doc or .pdf. We don't do Google docs. Send to jennifer[at]highlandparkpoetry.org.
Celebrate words and carry poetry in your heart!
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