The Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia (ABPBC) is excited to announce the 2019/20 Poetry in Transit poets.
Each year a collection of poetry car cards is produced featuring the work of BC-authored poets in Canadian-published books. Now in its 23rd year, this project, made possible through a partnership with TransLink and BC Transit, showcases ten local poets onboard the transit fleet in Metro Vancouver and around the province.
The 2019/20 Poetry in Transit poets are:
- Garry Gottfriedson (Kamloops) — Clinging to Bone, published by Ronsdale Press
- Eve Joseph (Victoria) — Quarrels, published by Anvil Press
- Michael Kenyon (Victoria) — Lamb, published by Pedlar Press
- Curtis LeBlanc (Vancouver) — Little Wild, published by Nightwood Editions
- Laura Matwichuk (Vancouver) — Near Miss, published by Nightwood Editions
- Hilary Peach (Gabriola Island and New Westminster) — Bolt, published by Anvil Press
- Barbara Pelman (Victoria) — Narrow Bridge, published by Ronsdale Press
- Pamela Porter (Sidney) — Likely Stories, published by Ronsdale Press
- Marion Quednau (Gibsons) — Paradise, Later Years, published by Caitlin Press
- Patricia Young (Victoria) — Short Takes on the Apocalypse, published by Biblioasis
Poetry in Transit has been running since 1996, making it the longest-running poetry on transit program in Canada. Poems eligible for the project must be by writers who reside in BC and published in book form by Canadian publishers. Poems are submitted by publishers and selected by a jury. The 2019/20 jury members were poets Evelyn Lau and Rob Taylor, and Shirley Dalton, Marketing Representative with TransLink.
“In the last few years, Instagram poetry has become extremely popular,” says Heidi Waechtler, Executive Director of the ABPBC. “In the same way that social media lends itself well to bite-sized encounters with poetry, the Poetry in Transit campaign offers passengers a window into a different mental space during their daily commute. We often hear from riders who remember seeing a poem from fifteen years ago and comment on how the words have stayed with them.”
This year’s campaign will be launched at the Word Vancouver festival on Sunday, September 29, 2019, at the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch. Former Vancouver poet laureate Evelyn Lau will host readings by Michael Kenyon, Hilary Peach, Barbara Pelman, Pamela Porter, and Marion Quednau, taking place at 1:45 p.m. in the Yosef Wosk Poet’s Corner.
Festival-goers are also invited to board the Poetry Bus, a vehicle displaying all of the 2019/20 poems. Poet Kevin Spenst will be onboard the bus from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. inviting attendees to create their own poems.
During September, the selected poems will also be featured on bus shelters around Metro Vancouver, with space provided through the City of Vancouver’s Transit Shelter Advertising Program.
Over the next year, transit riders are invited to tag their Poetry in Transit sightings on social media using the #PoetryInTransit hashtag to be entered to win a book prize pack.
Learn more about Poetry in Transit and check out this year’s car cards at www.poetryintransit.ca