Tyne and Wear Metro showcase new poetry project at Longbenton station

Tyne and Wear Metro have unveiled a brand-new poetry feature, at Longbenton Metro Station.

Verses written by seven published poets are being displayed on large posters in the station, as part of Nexus’ Art on Transport programme.  The seven poets are Christy Ducker, gobscure, Harry Man, Phoebe Powers, John Siddique, Rommi Smith and Anna Woodford.

Award-winning poet Anna Woodford, who is from Gosforth, Newcastle, has previously collaborated with Nexus on poetry projects displayed at Longbenton Metro Station, and inhibited other poets working with the Royal Literary Fund to showcase their poems on the new project.

Anna said: “These poems don’t have any particular theme, but I asked the poets for short poems, or extracts from longer ones, with the idea being that they are easy for people to digest while they are passing through the station.

“We love the displays at Longbenton and have seen some fantastic poetry displayed there in the past. It’s a wonderful way to get poetry out to new audiences and hopefully enrich Metro customers’ journeys.”

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Customer Services Director at Nexus, Huw Lewis, said: “We’re thrilled to be displaying works from seven published poets on Metro this summer for our customers to enjoy.

“I’m always really impressed with the standard of poetry we receive for these displays, there’s always something which makes you stop and think, and these short poems are ideal for those travelling through the station.

“Metro has a long history of displaying art on the network. Placing art and poetry in public places like train stations, where people don’t expect to see it, is a great way of introducing it to the public.”

Nexus has supported National Poetry Day, which takes place in October for the past two years, hosting an open competition where poems are submitted under a certain theme. The work of the winners is then displayed in the station for approximately six months.

To keep up to date with the upcoming poetry competition, please visit the Nexus website and social media pages.