Poetry in the Tube initiative launched

This is one of the biggest events promoting Polish literature in connection with Poland’s EU Presidency. The poems of nearly 30 contemporary Polish poets are due to be presented in the underground of eight European and Asian capitals.

This year’s edition of Poetry in the Tube is being launched on 4^th July 2011 in Warsaw. By mid-July, Warsovians and tourists visiting the Polish capital will be able to read fragments of poetry shown on display boards and in tube carriages. These include Tadeusz Różewicz’s ‘Jak dobrze’ (‘How Nice It Is’) and Czesław Miłosz’s ‘Miłość’ (‘Love’). On 22^nd July, the winners of the Haiku poem competition will be announced.

During the inaugural meeting at 5 pm at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw:

• Poetry in the Tube participantsJulia Hartwig and Jacek Dehnel will be reading their poems;
• a presentation of Czesław Miłosz’s Audiobook will be held;
• the organisers will explain details of the initiative in Poland and other capitals of Europe and Asia.

The Poetry in the Tube project was conceived by the British Council and Poland’s Book Institute. Its purpose is to present contemporary poetry in urban space, i.e. in locations where poetry is rarely present.
‘When the Book Institute and the British Council were first starting the project back in 2008, none of us thought it would take off as it has,’ reminisced Book Institute Director Grzegorz Gauden. ‘It is worth nothing that this is now the biggest exhibition of Polish poetic creativity in urban space anywhere in Europe.’

Apart from traditional poetry, the initiative also promotes other forms of poetic activity. Each edition has been accompanied by a Spoke’n’Word slam festival, as well as happenings and a Haiku competition devoted to Poland or its capital. Poems may be submitted until 17^th July. The prize of the competition is the display of the best poems in the Warsaw tune. Details are found at the project’s website: www.wierszewmetrze.eu.

Jacek Dehnel:

‘Since time immemorial, writing has been present in urban space: inscriptions gracing the façades of churches and court buildings, shop signs, political slogans and insulting graffiti scrawled on fences have been with us ever since writing began. However, in our era, large and small-size advertising has dominated the scene.Poetry in the Tube is one of those initiatives that restores to common space issues a bit more significant than which washing powder to choose or where to buy knickers.’
Besides Warsaw, Polish poetry is also heading for London, Paris, Madrid. Kyiv, Beijing and Tokyo. Amongst the authors whose verse can be read while travelling the tube are representatives of all generations, from Tadeusz Różewicz and Wisława Szymborska to Tomasz Różycki i Jacek Dehnel.

Schedule:

• Warsaw: 4^th July – 17^th July 2011
• London: 1^st August – 14^th August 2011
• Paris: 22^nd August – 4^th September 2011
• Madrid: 5^th September – 18^th September 2011
• Kyiv: 26^th September – 9^th October 2011
• Beijing: 24^th October – 6^th November 2011
• Tokyo: 7^th November – 20^th November 2011
• Warsaw: 5^th December – 18trh December 2011

as well as exhibitions of poetry at the European Parliament

• in Brussels and Luxembourg: 1^st October – 30^th October 2011

As Andrzej Mańkowski, Deputy Director of Warsaw’s City Promotion Bureau, put it:
‘We are delighted that in presenting Polish poetry in so many world capitals we will have an opportunity to show off Warsaw not only as the home town of Chopin are Madame Skłodowska-Curie, but also as a centre of high contemporary culture and a place of poetic inspiration.’

During this year’s edition, the poems of the following authors can be read: Czesław Miłosz, Zbigniew Herbert, Wisława Szymborska, Julia Hartwig, Ewa Lipska, Krystyna Miłobędzka, Tadeusz Różewicz, Adam Zagajewski, Ryszard Krynicki, Julia Fiedorczuk, Marzanna Kielar, Julia Szychowiak, Agnieszka Wolny-Hamkało, Marcin Baran, Wojciech Bonowicz, Ernest Bryll, Jacek Dehnel, Jacek Gutorow, Jerzy Jarniewicz, Zenon Jaskuła, Edward Pasewicz, Tomasz Różycki, Marcin Sendecki, Krzysztof Siwczyk, Piotr Sommer, Andrzej Sosnowski, Grzegorz Wróblewski, Bohdan Zadura and Adam Zdrodowski.

Poetry in the Tube has been inspired by similar projects taking place in Dublin, Paris, New York, Barcelona, Stockholm, Stuttgart and Moscow as well as in London, where the Poems on the Underground campaign has been held on a cyclical basis since 1986. In London, the poems of Czesław Miłosz, Zbigniew Herbert and Adam Zagajewski can be held.

The official website of the Poetry in the Tube project is: www.wierszewmetrze.eu.
Time: 4^th-11^th July, 5^th-18^th December 2011.
Place: Warsaw.
Inauguration: 4^th July, 5 pm, Adam Mickiewicz Institute (ul. Mokotowska 25).
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Warsaw Destination Alliance Institute and the Warsaw’s Capital City Promotion Bureau invite you to the inauguration of Poetry in the Tube with the attendance of Julia Hartwig i Jacek Dehnel.
  
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