News
18 March 2007
Poetry on the Bus week
From 18-24 March, Oxford Brookes teamed up with Stagecoach to bring poetry and buses together in an effort spark public interest in poetry.
Poetry on the Bus literally took poetry to the streets of Oxford, using the Brookes Bus network. The University works in partnership with Stagecoach to run the Brookes Bus network which caters for the public as well as students, and carries more than 1 million passengers every year. Oxford is known for its successful ‘bus culture’ and nearly 50 per cent of journeys into the city centre are made by bus.
In January and February this year, Oxford Brookes invited those who use the Brookes Bus network to write original poems on the subject Oxford Journeys. They received over 100 submissions, from a huge range of people - students, school children, members of the public, poets - and selected 24 of these to turn into posters which were displayed on the Brookes buses during Poetry on the Bus week.
Bus travellers were in for a surprise on Wednesday 21 March, World Poetry Day, when six poets climbed aboard the buses to perform their work and entertain passengers. The poets were renowned poet and performer Steve Larkin, Chumo Nwokolo who is poet in residence at the Ashmolean Museum, Alan Buckley, Helen Kidd, A.F. Harrold, and Phil Whitehead, Head of Creative and Performing Arts at Oxford Brookes.
As well as the onboard events, there was also a Poetry Slam held in Oxford compered by poet Steve Larkin on the evening of Wednesday 21 March.
The idea of Poetry on the Bus came from the Poetry Centre at Oxford Brookes. Rachel Buxton, Director of the Poetry Centre, said: "We want people who have never written poetry to write it; those who've never read poetry or heard poetry performed to enjoy it; and those who've never had their work published before to see their poems in print. We want to open poetry up to people in fun and thought-provoking ways."
The initiative has also gained the support of the acclaimed poet Benjamin Zephaniah who was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford Brookes in 2002. Zephaniah said: "We need buses and we need poetry, so Poetry on the Bus is a creative way of bringing the two together. The Poetry Centre at Oxford Brookes University has got straight to the point and has found a fantastic yet practical way of putting poetry back onto the streets. Oxford is going poetry crazy! I'd like to live there myself."
To read many of the poems that were submitted to Oxford Brookes, see the Poetry on the Bus website.
Poetry on the Buses: a feature written by Louise Tickle after she spent the day travelling on the Brookes bus during Poetry on the Bus week.
