Poetry Mobile

Meet the Artists: Molly Van Avery and Adam Croft

Write a poem! Read a poem! Give a poem! Receive a poem!

The poetry Mobile is a moving writer’s studio complete with a poetry library and a typewriter. We invite you to participate whether you are a seasoned poet or new to the form. The Poetry Mobile has has a whimsical presence on the street and open walls in order to encourage participation and interaction with you.

Every poem written on the Poetry Mobile will be typed onto a door hanger and distributed to people’s front doors with the hope of delivering over 3,000 poems to the households throughout Powderhorn. Listen for the sound of wind chimes, that’s the Poetry Mobile riding down your block full of special deliveries for you and your neighbors. On one side of the door hanger is a poem, on the other is a piece of art by Powderhorn artist Eyenga Bokamba or Phillips artist Kevin Loecke. Hang this art in your window, on your fridge, or give it to someone you love.

Poet Adrienne Rich wrote: “The impulse to enter, with other humans, through language, into the order and disorder of the world, is poetic at its root as surely as it is political at its root.” This understanding of poetry is what drives the Poetry Mobile. The Poetry Mobile has a wide range of poetic styles/languages in its library whose work serves as writing prompts for both experienced poets and people who have never written a poem before.

Add your voice to the unfolding anthology of poems written in, by, and for the people of our neighborhood. If you want to contribute a short poem to this project (anonymously or not), please either find the poetry mobile and hop up to write it or email it to poetrymobile@gmail.com and we will add it to a door hanger and deliver it.

Some prompts to get you started:

• Based on the poem Indigenous Foods Allowed in Utopia by Heid Erdrich, write a poem about what foods you would bring or not bring to your Utopia.
• Based on the poem Translation Plundered by Arlene Kim, write a poem about a time when translation failed you or someone you know.
• Write a list poem about Chicago Avenue where every line starts with “On Chicago Avenue.” Make sure every line has an image. End the poem with the three words: “on Chicago Avenue.”

Location (Moving between 32nd and 38th Streets throughout summer 2013):

Events Associated with this Project »

• Time Travel
• All
• Bicycle Racks