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How Poetry In Transit Got Moving
How Poetry in Transit Got Moving
by Sandy Shreve (2007)
In 1995, I put together a proposal for a Poetry in Transit program in Vancouver. For years, I and many others wondered why we couldn't have poems in the buses all the time, the way they do, for instance, in London (Poems on the Underground) and New York (Poetry in Motion). At a certain point, I realised we needed two things: a plan - it had to be inexpensive and easy to administer - and sponsors. So, I brainstormed ideas with numerous friends, came up with an approach I thought might work and then pitched it to BC Transit and the Association of Book Publishers of BC, asking if they would sponsor the project if I committed to administering it. Both agreed right away - and that was that. (Later, TransLink also became a sponsor, and after the first three years the association generously took over the administration.) In September 1996, the first poems appeared on Vancouver buses. They were an instant success - so much so, that within a few months the project expanded to Victoria, and in the second year, spread to another 28 BC communities.
BC's was the first ongoing program of its kind in Canada - followed soon after by one in Toronto, and then more popped up all across the country. By 2002, with the start of a project in Montreal, the Canada Council for the Arts (which helps fund BC's as well as other similar projects) announced that more than five million Canadians could now enjoy poems on their daily commutes. By then, for example, we had Poetry in Motion in Calgary, Take the Poetry Route in Edmonton, Poetry in Motion in Winnipeg, Metroverse in St. John's, Poetry on the Way in Toronto, Transpoetry in Ottawa, Moving Write Along in Regina and Moving Words in Whitehorse.
Several years ago, 85% of riders in a transit survey gave positive feedback about the project. This came as no surprise, as year after year, people take the time to say how much the poems mean to them. One of my favourite stories is about how passengers on one bus burst into applause when a proud mother announced: "that's my daughter's poem."; And a favourite comment comes from a woman who said she knows a poem she saw on the bus by heart because she "wrote it down and memorized every word of it."; These, I think, speak to the essence of what George Sand meant when she said that anyone "who draws noble delights from sentiments of poetry is a true poet, though he has never written a line in all his life.";
by Sandy Shreve (2007)
In 1995, I put together a proposal for a Poetry in Transit program in Vancouver. For years, I and many others wondered why we couldn't have poems in the buses all the time, the way they do, for instance, in London (Poems on the Underground) and New York (Poetry in Motion). At a certain point, I realised we needed two things: a plan - it had to be inexpensive and easy to administer - and sponsors. So, I brainstormed ideas with numerous friends, came up with an approach I thought might work and then pitched it to BC Transit and the Association of Book Publishers of BC, asking if they would sponsor the project if I committed to administering it. Both agreed right away - and that was that. (Later, TransLink also became a sponsor, and after the first three years the association generously took over the administration.) In September 1996, the first poems appeared on Vancouver buses. They were an instant success - so much so, that within a few months the project expanded to Victoria, and in the second year, spread to another 28 BC communities.
BC's was the first ongoing program of its kind in Canada - followed soon after by one in Toronto, and then more popped up all across the country. By 2002, with the start of a project in Montreal, the Canada Council for the Arts (which helps fund BC's as well as other similar projects) announced that more than five million Canadians could now enjoy poems on their daily commutes. By then, for example, we had Poetry in Motion in Calgary, Take the Poetry Route in Edmonton, Poetry in Motion in Winnipeg, Metroverse in St. John's, Poetry on the Way in Toronto, Transpoetry in Ottawa, Moving Write Along in Regina and Moving Words in Whitehorse.
Several years ago, 85% of riders in a transit survey gave positive feedback about the project. This came as no surprise, as year after year, people take the time to say how much the poems mean to them. One of my favourite stories is about how passengers on one bus burst into applause when a proud mother announced: "that's my daughter's poem."; And a favourite comment comes from a woman who said she knows a poem she saw on the bus by heart because she "wrote it down and memorized every word of it."; These, I think, speak to the essence of what George Sand meant when she said that anyone "who draws noble delights from sentiments of poetry is a true poet, though he has never written a line in all his life.";
Submitted on September 24, 2015 in By David.
