An Evening with Illinois Poet Laureate Mark Turcotte

Join us for a reading and Q&A by Illinois Poet Laureate Mark Turcotte. Several local poets will open with readings of their own poems. Mark's books will be available for purchase (cash or Venmo).

About Mark Turcotte

Named in July 2025 as 6th Illinois Poet Laureate, writer Mark Turcotte (Turtle Mountain Band Anishinaabe) lived his earliest years on North Dakota's Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation and in the migrant camps of the western United States. Later, he grew up in and around Lansing, Michigan, then spent most of his 20s living and working on the road.

Turcotte is author of the books The Feathered Heart and Songs of Our Ancestors; a chapbook, Road Noise; a bilingual collection, Le Chant de la Route; and Exploding Chippewas (Northwestern Univ Press). 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. Turcotte was the recipient of a 2001-2002 Lannan Foundation Literary Award and his work is included in the NEA/Poetry Foundation project Poetry Out Loud. 

He lives in Chicago with his wife, Susan, and since 2009 has been Senior Lecturer and Distinguished-Writer-In-Residence in the English Department at DePaul University.