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A project by researchers at The University of Nottingham has seen poetry displayed in prominent public spaces across Nottingham.
‘Words for Walls’ was created so that local writers and young people could have the chance of having their own words displayed in public spaces across the city.
After successfully attracting interest from hundreds of people from across the city, the final result saw the chosen poems placed on public transport, at various libraries across Nottingham city and in many other locations including; Nottingham Contemporary, on University park, in the Creative Quarter at Sneinton Market and in pubs and cafes throughout the city.
Printed postcards
The next phase will see 600 postcards printed with the poems, which will be available in local businesses and in libraries.
In total there were 14 different poems printed. The oldest was a translation from the 9th Century Anglo-Saxon chronicle and the most recent were written especially for the project.
‘Words for Walls’ was devised by two research students from the University’s Faculty of Arts – Nicola Thomas and Philip Jones.
Nicola said: “We're really pleased to see Nottingham's long history of wonderful poetry, and its exciting contemporary poetry scene, celebrated in public in this way. We hope people across the city will spot a poem that speaks to them in one of the numerous locations in which Words for Walls are being displayed.”
‘Cultural vibrancy’
Poems were also placed in 50 buses across Nottingham and in the bus stations, thanks to the support of Nottingham City Transport.
Richard Wellings, Acting Principle Public transport Officer at Nottingham City Transport, said: “By showcasing some of Nottingham’s best loved poets and poetry in Victoria and Broadmarsh Bus Stations as part of the Tunnel Vision digital art project, Words for Walls has provided a welcome injection of cultural vibrancy to our bus passengers’ daily commute.”
Panya Banjoko, one of the poets featured in the campaign, said: “Words for Walls is a brilliant way of making poetry accessible for all. Hopefully it will also spur people on to look up the featured poets and read more poetry.
As a poet it's fantastic having my work featured in a public space and knowing that people from all walks of life are reading my words!”
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with a “distinct” approach to internationalisation, which rests on those full-scale campuses in China and Malaysia, as well as a large presence in its home city.’ (Times Good University Guide 2016). It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and was named University of the Year for Graduate Employment in the 2017 The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide. It is ranked in the world’s top 75 by the QS World University Rankings 2015/16, and 8th in the UK for research power according to the Research Excellence Framework 2014. It has been voted the world’s greenest campus for four years running, according to Greenmetrics Ranking of World Universities.
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