Nostaligc duo bring poetry back to Toronto transit

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The TTC may not always be on time, but at least now it has a rhyme.

This week, poetry began to be repeated on Toronto transit buses, subways and streetcars for the first time since 2012. This was the year the much-loved 'Poetry on the Road' breathed its last after adorning the city's public transport. decade, since 1998.

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The end of Poetry on the Road remains a literary mystery, but its beginnings are well documented. It was the brainchild of Denis Denot, a Toronto resident and publisher who wanted to bring attention to poets, especially Canadians.

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He, in turn, was probably inspired by the “Underground Poems” initiative, which began in 1986 in the British capital and continues to this day. Other cities celebrated, notably New York, which named its Poetry in Motion program, and Vancouver, which celebrated its 28th anniversary this year with Poetry in Transit.

Now Toronto has rejoined the club with Poems in Poems. Co-founders Adres Haile and Latif Murji grew up in Scarborough and were in their high school years when Poetry on the Road was taking place.

“I took it to school for most of my childhood,” says Haile, “and it was a great way to kill time and get inspiration every time I saw these poems.” So for us, the really good memories were the biggest reason we did it.”

He adds, “We saw the TTC get a little darker, the whole city felt a little darker, post-pandemic. The fond memories of seeing these poems on the way to school made us want to bring it back.”

“Our partners have given us great support,” says Murji. “It was almost a convergence of the right people and partners at the right time to bring this spring to life.” Partners include the TTC (of course), the Aga Khan Museum, the Toronto Poetry Slam, and Pattison, the company that handles all vehicle and station advertising for the transit system.

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The first year of Poems in Poems – and the founders hope there will be many more – includes dozens of poems from a diverse group of writers. These include Indo-Canadian poet and illustrator Poojita Verma's references to the Toronto skyline; and the aptly-titled My Love at Old Mill Station by Andrea Josic, described on the project's website as a “crazy, crazy, Bosnian-Canadian poet, performer, journalist and GTA-based arts educator.”

“Either a love letter to the city, or themes of tolerance and healing,” Hale described the selections, and his research into New York's transit poetry showed that heavy or overly sad poems were not popular with commuters, as well as fun. travel fee. “It makes sense intuitively, but we were able to learn quite a bit from them,” he says.

The 12 poems in the collection will be printed 1,500 times and will appear on 75 percent of TTK buses, trams and subways.

“We want everyone, all passengers, to have the opportunity to think, be inspired and even sit with the words of our famous artists,” says Murji. “They represent the diversity of the city, and it's really important for us to promote those artists. voices”.

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