Community Reads
Harsh Readers Circle
In partnership with Chicago Public Library’s Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection at the Woodson Regional Library
Aug 15, 2026
Saturday, August 15, 2026 | Vivian G. Harsh Archives at Woodson Regional Library | 2:00pm
Lunch Provided from 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Free (Reservations Recommended)
Join the Harsh Readers Circle for this special convening as they explore their August selection: A Street in Bronzeville, the groundbreaking 1945 debut poetry collection by Chicago’s own literary giant, Gwendolyn Brooks.
About the Book
Published when Brooks was just 28 years old, A Street in Bronzeville launched her into the international literary spotlight and laid the groundwork for her historic Pulitzer Prize a few years later. The collection serves as an empathetic, unblinking portrait of daily life on Chicago’s South Side. Moving through sonnets, ballads, and blues rhythms, Brooks captures the vibrant humanity, persistent dreams, and quiet resilience of ordinary neighborhood figures, from workers and preachers to residents navigating the cramped confines of “kitchenette” buildings. By using what she called “off-rhyme” to mirror the structural inequities of a segregated city, Brooks elevates the everyday joys and struggles of Bronzeville into a universal masterpiece of American literature.
Photo by Ollie Photography.
Presented in partnership with  |
Participants
-
Facilitator— Courtney Becks