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November 2, 2009
‘Poetry on the Move’ puts senses in motion

By Tania Dowdy

Can stairwells and shuttle buses be places for poetry? Recognizing that a university campus is a space of constant movement, the Emory Poetry Council is sending poems along for the ride.

The Emory Poetry Council presents its second iteration of “Poetry on the Move,” a project that places poetry in various sites of motion throughout campus.

The goal of the semester-long project is to make poetry more visible, and allow the Emory community to have “informal interaction with poetry,” says Abby Horowitz, Campus Life program development coordinator. “It’s an opportunity for people who don’t run into poetry on a daily basis.”

Passersby can find poems on posters, adhesive strips and magnets in the Woodruff Library, parking deck elevators, and in high-traffic buildings such as Callaway and Candler. To ensure poetry is literally moving, the poem magnets are free for the taking.

“We hope that poetry is popping up in places that people don’t typically see it,” says Bruce Covey, lecturer in poetry. “We want to see exactly what people do with the poems.”

“Poetry on the Move” features works by poets who have appeared in Poetry Council’s “What’s New in Poetry?” series, such as Jennifer Knox, Sandra Beasley and P.F. Potvin. Made possible with a grant from the Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts, the project includes poetry by creative writing professors Covey and Natasha Trethewey. It also features artwork by Jason Francisco and Laura Noel of the Visual Arts Department and Emory College student Charlotte Watts.

For upcoming Poetry Council events, visit www.college.emory.edu/poetrycouncil.