Acclaimed poet Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000), the first Black American to win the Pulitzer Prize, subsequently poetry consultant to the Library of Congress, and longtime poet laureate of Illinois, published one novel. Maud Martha appeared in 1953. Its title character still matters today. Maud Martha may be just the ticket we need to surmount pandemic fatigue and several other hurdles in our lives. We’ll take it easy through the thirty-four segments of this work of experimental fiction.  Maud Martha is seven when we meet her. She is pregnant with her second child when we last hear from her.

Registration deadline: Oct. 26