March 14, 2026
5:00 pm, Metropolis Cafe, 1039 W Granville
READERS:
Kai Ihns
is the author of two books of poems, sundaey (Propeller Books, 2020), and Of (The Elephants, 2024), as well as a number of chapbooks, most recently THE BIRDS (3 Count Pour, 2025). She’s worked as an editor at The Paris Review and Fence, and currently operates The Year, a chapbook press.
Michael McColly
is the author of two books of nonfiction: The After-Death Room, which won a 2007 Lambda Literary Award, and Walking Chicago’s Coast: A 63-Mile Journey to the Indiana Dunes. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Review, The Sun, and elsewhere. Michael has been awarded grants from Pen America and the Illinois Arts Council, as well as fellowships from Yaddo, Blue Mountain Center, Ragdale, and MacDowell. He has also taught in Indiana’s State Prisons and been a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal.
Tea Jones-Yelvington
is a transfemme writer and social justice worker. They are the author of five books, most recently the story collection Don’t Make Me Do Something We’ll Both Regret (Texas Review Press, 2022). Her debut story collection, This is a Dance Movie!, was one of the first books solicited by Roxane Gay for her micro-press, Tiny Hardcore, and was one of Electric Literature's 15 Best Story Collections of 2017. Their debut poetry volume, Become On Yr Face (2016) was the winner of DIAGRAM's chapbook contest. Tea lives in Chicago.
Dawn Angelicca Barcelona
is the author of Roundtrip (Finishing Line Press, 2025). Her poetry has been published in Atlanta Review, Brink, Epiphany, Tyger Quarterly, and elsewhere. She was a recipient of the SanFrancisco Foundation/Nomadic Press Award in Poetry and a finalist for the Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award. She lives in Rogers Park.
Katana Smith
is a poet and writer whose work has appeared in The Paris Review, AGNI, RHINO poetry, and elsewhere. She has served as Artist-in-Residence at Northwestern University and was a finalist for the 2024 FSG Writer’s Fellowship. Originally from Aurora, Colorado, she currently lives in Rogers Park.
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