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Poetry in motion

Public transport poster campaign

Poetry written by both staff and students from MMU is being exhibited on buses and at train stations across Manchester.

Posters featuring the work of students alongside that of well known writers and University academics Carol Ann Duffy, Simon Armitage and Michael Symmons Roberts have gone on display throughout the city.

Already on site at Deansgate, Oxford Road, Victoria, Piccadilly and Manchester Airport train stations, poems will appear on 60 Stagecoach buses at the end of the month.

Inspired by London and New York

The poster campaign is the brainchild of MA Creative Writing student Bob Doughty, who was inspired by similar initiatives on the London Underground and New York Metro. Poems have appeared on billboards on the London Underground since 1986.

Bob, 62, from Nantwich, is a designer studying part-time at MMU. He said: “I wanted to engage the public with poetry and decided the best way to do that was to provide a brief visual insight into each poem in public places.”

The ‘power of poetry’

Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate and Creative Director of MMU’s Writing School, said: “London and New York have been very successful in opening people’s eyes to the power of poetry, so why not Manchester?”

The poetry will be on display throughout August and September. Bus group Stagecoach and billboard firm CBS Outdoor agreed to donate space for the poetry posters, while MMU covered the printing costs.

Published Thursday, 19th August 2010