Summer season of poems on the Underground launched

Transport for London (TfL) will bring live poetry readings to a railway station on Monday to mark the launch of a series of new poems on its network.

Writer and poet, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, will read his poem, By Yourself Boy 1988-2007, and Imtiaz Dharker, co-director of Poems on the Underground, will read her poem, Carving outside the front of Covent Garden station on Monday morning.

Mr Parkes’ poem is one of six poems selected by Poems on the Underground which will feature on Underground, Overground and Elizabeth line trains this summer.

Mr Parkes, said: “Having grown up in a West African culture that values community, it is always an unparalleled honour when my poems are chosen to be part of Poems on the Underground, especially because the Underground is such a pivotal means of transport in London, carrying thousands of locals and tourists daily. 

“It tells me that my art has not lost its connection to the real world, and it gives me great comfort to know that someone’s dull day might be brightened by looking up to read my work.”

Poems on the Underground has entertained millions of commuters, tourists and Londoners since the first posters appeared on the London Underground in 1986. 

In February, the archive of Poems on the Underground, which includes posters, eclectic memorabilia and letters from poets over the past century, was donated to Cambridge University Library, home to the archives of Siegfried Sassoon, Anne Stevenson and many other renowned poets.

Ms Dharker, said: “It was a great moment for me when my poem, Carving, went up on the London Underground and now it’s as exciting to see each new set of poems coming up, new work from living poets as well as old favourites. 

“These Poems on the Underground give us a moment of stillness on a busy commute, something we need now more than ever. It still stops me in my tracks when I see them or see someone else reading one.”

Pictured top: Charring Cross railway station (Picture: TfL)