Hip-hop poet Kevin Coval appeared on the cover of the Chicago Tribune magazine last December wearing all white, possibly to accentuate his already considerable whiteness. Coval, a 33-year-old of Jewish extraction from Northbrook, fell in love with hip-hop culture during high school, where he tangled with teachers over Eurocentric curricula. These days Coval writes his own syllabi; he has taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the School of the Art Institute, as well as leading countless workshops at high schools and colleges across the country. In 2005 he published his first book of poetry, “Slingshots (A Hip-Hop Poetica),” which focused on his childhood as a latchkey kid and his discovery of hip-hop and the city of Chicago. Coval will read poems from his next volume, “Everyday People,” at Victory Gardens Theater on July 31 and August 1. “These poems really aren’t about me, they’re about the city,” he says. Expect Coval’s takes on topics ranging from the CTA to his grandfather’s arrival at Ellis Island.
