Sudbury's poet laureate aims to make poetry more visible with new project
Submissions to be posted in business windows during poetry month in April
Kim Fahner first got the idea for the Sudbury Street Poetry Project back in 2012 when she was visiting Ireland for a writing retreat.
While she was in the village of Eyeries, in southern part of the country, Fahner noticed visual art in every window, including individual homes.
Then she read about Newcastle, England where every store on Newgate Street had a poem posted in its window.
Sudbury's poet laureate decided to try a similar project in the northeast.
"To me, it's all about bringing art into the streets really, and especially literary art...poetry," said Fahner.
She is asking for submissions for the project. The poems that make the short list will then go up in windows during national poetry month in April.
'People can write poems about anything'
About 25 businesses have already agreed to take part.
"People can write poems about anything," said Fahner, calling the initiative "poetic graffiti." She added that the point of the poetry project is to bring art out in to the city.
Fahner said when she speaks at local schools, many of the students tell her they don't understand poetry; that it's a different kind of language.
"I just think it's a different way of seeing the world through the eyes of poetry. It's how I see it regularly, to see the extraordinary in the ordinary."
The deadline to submit a poem is March 20, which gives Fahner and fellow poet Tom Leduc time to go through the submissions.
"I'm hoping people who think they can't write poetry will try to write poetry," she said.