Join us for an Open Door reading with Gregg Bordowitz, Asia Calcagno, Terri Kapsalis, and Ugochi Nwaogwugwu. The Open Door series highlights creative relationships in Chicago, including mentorship and collaboration.

This is a hybrid event, which will be offered in-person and via livestream.

Gregg Bordowitz is a writer, artist, and activist. He currently serves as the director of the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in New York, New York.

Asia Calcagno is a writer and educator from Chicago. Calcagno’s writing has been featured in literary magazines and anthologies such as Third Coast, Poetry magazine, The Golden Shovel Anthology, West Trade Review, Smartish Pace, Black Femme Collective, and Respect the Mic. She holds an MFA from Bennington College, and spends her time educating, consulting, and using storytelling to create more effective educational spaces. She is a 2022 Luminarts Creative Writing Fellow and a 2022–2023 Ingenuity Constellation Fellow.

Terri Kapsalis is the author of Jane Addams’ Travel Medicine Kit, The Hysterical Alphabet, and Public Privates: Performing Gynecology from Both Ends of the Speculum. Kapsalis’s writing has appeared on Literary Hub and in edited volumes and journals, including Short Fiction, The Baffler, Denver Quarterly, Public, and Parakeet Magazine. A founding member of Theater Oobleck, she has performed in over 30 productions. Since 1991, she has been a collective member and health educator at the Chicago Women’s Health Center and co-founded TGAP (Trans Greater Access Project) and the Integrative Health Program. She teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Ugochi Nwaogwugwu is a multidisciplinary creative–a professional poet, singer, songwriter, composer, musician, poetry instructor, and teaching artist. Nwaogwugwu has executive produced, written, and coarranged three album projects, and her poetry has been been published in Storm Between Two Fingers and Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different, both international anthologies out of the UK. Her poems are also featured in TheGolden Shovel Anthology and Wherever I’m At. Ugochi created an original pan-African poetry form called Ike (pronounced ee-KAY) paying homage to her Igbo culture (Nigeria, West Africa). She also has written newsworthy essays including “Not My President,” published by Third World Press.

In-Person Attendance
All guests over the age of two must wear a mask inside the Poetry Foundation building. If you will not comply with this requirement, you will not be granted entry to the event. Please note that some performers may choose to perform without a mask. Guests are encouraged to register in advance.

Livestream Attendance
The livestream link will be shared with registered guests on the day of the event. In order to receive the livestream details, please register in advance here.

The Poetry Foundation’s events are completely free of charge and open to the public. This event will include CART captioning and ASL interpretation. For more information about accessibility at the Poetry Foundation, please visit our Accessibility Guide.

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Tags: Asia Calcagno, Chicago, Gregg Bordowitz, Near North Side, Open Door, Terri Kapsalis, The Poetry Foundation, Ugochi Nwaogwugwu