Poet Gregg Shapiro Headlines Reading At Women & Children First

By Maggie Hellwig in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 24, 2012 3:00PM

National Poetry Month is coming to a close, but there are still some choice events left for the poetry enthusiast to enjoy. On Wednesday, April 25: Gregg Shapiro will read from his latest chap book, and will be joined by writers David Trinidad and Eva Marguerite Olsgard at Women & Children First Bookstore.

Shapiro is one of the more prominent writers within Chicago's LGBT community. He's been writing arts and etertainment for quite a while in publications such as Gay Chicago Magazine and En La Vida, and his poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies. In 1999, Shapiro was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame for all of these accomplishments. His new collection of poems, Gregg Shapiro: 77, is filled with a decade's worth of poems bridging the years of 1970-1980 with tales from Shapiro's childhood.

David Trinidad and Eva Marguerite Olsgard are also in on the reading. Trinidad is one of the Core Poetry Faculty members at Columbia College Chicago. He's published a handful of books, and recently edited a poetry collection by Tim Dlugos. Olsgard is currently enrolled in an MFA program at the Academy of Art University for Web Design and New Media, and is the author of the poetry chap book extended relative. She claims her identity as a writer, artist, and activist.

April 25, Women & Children First, 5233 N Clark, 7:30 p.m.