Chicago's Poetry Magazine Celebrates 100 Year Milestone (PHOTOS)

PHOTOS: Poetry Mag Marks 100th Birthday With Loop Installment
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As far as milestones go, there's nothing quite like a 100th birthday celebration. This month, Poetry magazine, with help from the Chicago Loop Alliance, is celebrating its centennial by peppering State Street with poetry from the magazine's past century.

Poetry magazine was founded in Chicago in October 1912 by editor Harriet Monroe, a one-time freelance correspondent to the Chicago Tribune who eventually became the paper's art critic. According to the Chicago Poetry Foundation, Monroe worked the first two years as editor sans salary.

(Scroll down to view photos of the State Street installation.)

The foundation also states the magazine is the "oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world." For the centennial celebration, the Poetry Foundation is encouraging Chicagoans to tweet photos of their favorite quotes from the banners around town using the hashtag #looppoetry.

The Poetry Foundation has also rounded up a great collection of celebratory or commemorative magazine covers from the past century.

Before You Go

Chicago's Poetry Magazine Turns 100
(01 of08)
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Carl Sandburg's poem "Chicago" was originally published in Poetry magazine in 1914, just two years after the magazine's inaugural issue. (credit:Veronica Hinojosa)
(02 of08)
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A downtown banner for the Poetry magazine centennial includes an excerpt of Reginald Gibbons' "Train Above Pedestrians." (credit:Veronica Hinojosa)
(03 of08)
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A sign downtown features excerpts of poems from Poetry magazine contributors including Lisel Mueller's "A Prayer for Rain," and Alice Fulton's "Aviation." (credit:Veronica Hinojosa)
(04 of08)
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"Travel Papers" by Carolyn Forchèt is excerpted on a sign along State Street:"Who were we then? Sucha laughter as morning peeledits light from us! " (credit:Veronica Hinojosa)
(05 of08)
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A view of the Poetry Foundation banners hanging from street lamps along State and Monroe. (credit:Veronica Hinojosa)
(06 of08)
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Signage around downtown honors the Poetry magazine centennial. (credit:Veronica Hinojosa)
(07 of08)
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A State Street view of the Poetry Foundation's centennial banners. (credit:Veronica Hinojosa)
(08 of08)
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Working with The Chicago Loop Alliance, the Poetry Foundation is featuring poetry of, by and for Chicagoans along State Street for the magazine's 100th year. (credit:Veronica Hinojosa)