The Association of Book Publishers of BC (ABPBC) is excited to announce the 2018/19 Poetry in Transit selections.
Each year a collection of poetry car cards is produced featuring the work of BC-authored and Canadian-published poets. Now in its 22nd year, this project, made possible through a partnership with TransLink and BC Transit, is an opportunity to showcase local poets.
The 2018/19 Poetry in Transit poets are:
- Susan Alexander (Bowen Island) – The Dance Floor Tilts (Thistledown Press)
- George Bowering (Vancouver) – Some End / West Broadway (New Star Books)
- Kate Braid (Victoria) – Elemental (Caitlin Press)
- Aidan Chafe (Burnaby) – Short Histories of Light (McGill-Queen’s University Press)
- Linda Crosfield (Ootischenia) – Refugium: Poems for the Pacific, ed. Yvonne Blomer (Caitlin Press)
- Leef Evans (Vancouver) – Sustenance: Writers from BC and Beyond on the Subject of Food, ed. Rachel Rose (Anvil Press)
- Emily Nilsen (Nelson) – Otolith (Goose Lane Editions)
- Arleen Paré (Victoria) – The Girls with the Stone Faces (Brick Books)
- Michael V. Smith (Kelowna) – Bad Ideas (Nightwood Editions)
- David Zieroth (North Vancouver) – the bridge from day to night (Harbour Publishing)
Poetry in Transit has been running since 1996, making it the longest-running poetry on transit program in Canada. Poems eligible for the project must be by writers who reside in BC and published in book form by Canadian publishers. Poems are submitted by publishers and selected by a jury. The 2018/19 jury included poets Evelyn Lau and Elee Kraljii Gardiner, and Jennifer Froese from Translink.
This year’s car cards will be launched at Word Vancouver on Sunday, September 30, 2018, at 2:20 p.m. in the Sunrise Suite tent. Join host Evelyn Lau for poetry readings by Susan Alexander, Aidan Chafe, Linda Crosfield, Leef Evans, Emily Nilsen, and David Zieroth. Festival-goers are also invited to board the “Poetry Bus,” a vehicle displaying all of the 2018/19 poems.
Over the next year, keep your eyes peeled for 2018/19 Poetry in Transit car cards on buses throughout Metro Vancouver, and share your thoughts using the #PoetryInTransit hashtag. When you tweet a photo and/or your response to the poem with the hashtag #PoetryInTransit, you’ll automatically be entered to win one of three book prize packs. Read the full contest details and find out more about the project at www.poetryintransit.ca.
The Association of Book Publishers of BC (ABPBC) is an association of provincially owned and controlled book publishing companies. The ABPBC works to support the long-term health and success of the Canadian-owned book industry in British Columbia.