Poetry In Transit

Now celebrating its 28th year, Poetry in Transit showcases BC poets on TransLink and BC Transit vehicles.

In partnership with TransLink and BC Transit, Books BC produces a collection of poetry car cards annually, which feature the work of BC-authored and Canadian-published poets. Now celebrating its 28th year, this project is an opportunity to share these wonderful poems with the larger community.

This much-loved project has been running since 1996 and in that time has featured hundreds of poems from established and emerging writers.

The 2024/25 featured poets are:

Michelle Brown, Vancouver, BC — Swans (Palimpsest Press)
Dina Del Bucchia, Fruitvale, BC — You’re Gonna Love This (Talonbooks)
Justene Dion-Glowa, Kamloops, BC — Trailer Park Shakes (Brick Books)
Svetlana Ischenko, North Vancouver, BC — Nucleus: A Poet’s Lyrical Journey from Ukraine to Canada (Ronsdale Press)
Donna Kane, Rolla, BC — Asterisms (Harbour Publishing)
Christopher Levenson, Vancouver, BC — Moorings (Caitlin Press)
Bradley Peters, Chilliwack, BC — Sonnets from a Cell (Brick Books)
Michelle Poirier Brown, Vernon, BC — You Might Be Sorry You Read This (University of Alberta Press)
Andrea Scott, Victoria, BC — In the Warm Shallows of What Remains (Raven Chapbooks/Rainbow Publishers)
Tiffany Stone, Maple Ridge, BC — Super Small: Miniature Marvels of the Natural World (Greystone Books)

Ways to get involved

#PoetryInTransit Contest

How it works
First, make sure to follow @readlocalbc on Instagram and like this post.

Then, one entry is granted for each of the following actions:
1. Post a photo on Instagram of any Poetry in Transit bus card (in the ad space on TransLink buses in Vancouver, or BC Transit buses all over BC). Make sure to tag @ReadLocalBC and use the hashtag #PoetryinTransit.
2. Comment below about a time you spotted a poem on the bus. Do you remember what it was called, where you going when you saw it, or how it made you feel? Tag a friend in your comment!

Contest is open to BC residents aged 18+ until January 31, 2025 at 11:59 PM. Winner will be drawn at random and announced the comments of the giveaway post on Instagram.

Winners receive copies of the poetry books by our featured 2024/25 Poetry in Transit authors.

Look for the Poetry in Transit bus cards on your next transit trip and follow the contest instructions. Winners are randomly selected and contacted early in 2025. Prizes are shipped to the mailing address you provide.

Want to hear Poetry in Transit announcements and future calls for submissions? Add your email to our newsletter signup.

Submissions for Poetry in Transit 2025-26 will open in Spring 2025.

Poems eligible for the project must be written by BC writers and published in book form by Canadian publishers. Poems are submitted by publishers for consideration in the project in the spring of each year.

Submission Details

Eligible works:

Poems must be published in printed book form (individual collections, chapbooks or anthologies, backlist or frontlist). We welcome submissions from anthologies and children’s poetry. Forthcoming books must be available by September 1, 2025.
Only poems that appear in books published within the last three years (September 1, 2022 to September 1, 2025, inclusive) are eligible.
Poems must be 14 lines or fewer, including stanza breaks (note that very long lines may not fit on a car card). Excerpts from longer poems are welcome as long as they stand on their own.
Poems from books previously featured in Poetry in Transit aren’t eligible for further submissions.

Author eligibility:

Poems must be authored by a BC poet. A “BC poet” is defined as an author who has lived in BC for at least three of the last five years. Please make sure that this is the case before submitting.
For posthumous submissions, the author must have lived in BC for at least three years in the five-year period prior to the date of their death.
Publishers may submit as many poets as they choose, with a maximum of 3 poems per poet.
Books BC encourages submissions from a diverse range of voices including the work of BIPOC writers, writers from the LGBTQIA2S+ community, writers with disabilities, and gender diverse writers.

Who can submit:

Submissions must be made by the publisher. With exceptions (see below), poets may not submit their own work.

Eligible publishers:
- Members of Books BC (Active, Associate, or Friends)
- Members of the Association of Canadian Publishers or, its regional affiliates (Book Publishers Association of Alberta, SaskBooks, Association of Manitoba Book Publishers, Ontario Book Publishers Organization, Association of English-language Publishers of Quebec, Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association)
- Members of the Literary Press Group of Canada
Self-published poems in book form that are published and printed in Canada are eligible. In this case, authors may submit their own work (assuming they meet the other criteria).
Books published by hybrid publishers, wherein the author has contributed to the publication costs of their work, are not eligible.

Selection criteria:

The poems will be selected by a jury of poets and a representative of TransLink.

Poems must be suitable for a general audience consisting of a diversity of ages, cultures, literacy, and interests.
Submissions must be consistent with TransLink’s advertising guidelines.
Poems must meet our length requirements.
Poems will be chosen for their excellence and, if possible, will reflect a variety of styles and forms.
Where possible, poems will be chosen by consensus among members of the selection committee; inability to agree will be resolved by majority vote.
No fewer than 60% of the poems (6 of 10) will be chosen from books published by members of the Association of Book Publishers of BC.

Selected poems:

If a submission is selected, Books BC will request three copies of the book to be offered as part of a community engagement contest, as well as written permission for Books BC to reproduce the poems and the book covers on car cards and in promotional materials. Excerpts may also be featured in promotions and community engagement activities at Word Vancouver.

The publishers of selected poems will receive reproduction fees. Poets will be offered an opportunity to read their work as part of the Poetry in Transit launch at Word Vancouver, subject to available programming space.

Questions? Contact Books BC.