Illinois Poet Laureate Mark Turcotte: Poetry Reading and Q & A

Celebrate National Poetry Month with Illinois Poet Laureate Mark Turcotte.  Named in July 2025 as the 6th Illinois Poet Laureate, writer Mark Turcotte (Turtle Mountain Band Anishinaabe) lived his early years on North Dakota’s Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation and in the migrant camps of the western US. He is author of several books, including The Feathered Heart and Exploding Chippewas.  His work has appeared in many national and international literary journals and anthologies, including the new and first ever Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry. His poem, “Dear New Blood,” was recently featured on the poetry podcast, Poetry Unbound. He lives in Chicago, and since 2009, has been Senior Lecturer and Distinguished-Writer-In-Residence in the English Dept at DePaul University in Chicago.